Chicago fishing, Midwest Fishing Report: Ice fishing is near (“Thanks Ma!”) and perch fishing is variable

Jon Melone from Cary Illinois with a nice 31 1/2 northern pike also caught last week

Caught 12 kept 5, all over 9 biggest was 11. Caught on a crappie rig with a fathead minnow.

Perch still good from 105 st and up mix size perch but good action most days xl fatheads minnows best

Hey Dale, Here is a recap of this past week’s fishing. Area lakes-crappie remain decent along the outside weed edges. Minnows have been the better choice over plastics for bait choice. Fish continue to be scattered. Move around to find active fish. Most lakes locked up over the weekend. However, with the warmer temps and high winds should allow for a short window of open water opportunities midweek.

TTYL — Ken Husker O’Malley Husker Outdoors Waterwerks fishing team

Caught 12 [perch] kept 5, all over 9 biggest was 11. Caught on a crappie rig with a fathead minnow.

Fishing Report 12/20/2020 Mike Norris Big Green Lake – There is thin ice in Beyer’s cove and the ice is crystal clear. This is hampering ice fishing efforts. The main lake remains wide open though the weather has not been favorable to getting out in a boat. Xmas Eve high temps are forecast to only reach the mid-teens with single digit temps at night. That will thicken the ice in many of the area lakes. Little Green Lake - There has been a small contingent of hard water anglers fishing shallow water on Little Green Lake but there are plenty of wide-open pockets out in the middle of the lake. I am hearing reports of a few bluegills during the day but in general fishing is tough due to clear ice. Walleye anglers fishing early and late are having better results. Lake Puckaway – There is four inches of ice close to shore but with current flowing down the middle of the lake no one is venturing out far into the lake. In shore anglers are catching walleyes and northern pike on tip ups. Fox Lake - Hard water anglers fishing in Wedges Bay are targeting northern pike on tip ups while bluegill anglers are focusing on jigging green weeds off the Town Park public access. Walking on the clear ice is hampering angling efforts. Conditions should improve as the ice thickens later this week. For information on guide trips reach out to me via my Facebook page at mike.norris.7773 or email me through my website at www.comecatchsmallmouth.com

11.2 lb on our scale

Merry Christmas!! Guys getting steelies and browns off gov pier and johnson’s pier. Most guys are hunting and never expected this nice weather!!

Evening Dale Justin Lederer checking in from McQuoids Inn Millie Lacs Lake been out the last few days ice conditions are good on the bays with 6-9 in most areas the main part of the lake has been a different story you can get out to most of it by foot but there’s no need pike are still in the bays taking medium suckers picking them up from 6-15 of water. We have also been picking up walleye in the the 10-15 range also on medium suckers. Worked some deeper water with no success. As things change I will keep you posted. Have a great Holiday Justin Lederer

This may be payback for what Mother Nature threw at us last year, but whatever it is we will gladly take it! Thanks Ma! Ice conditions through out the Northwoods have gradually improved. A recent snow from last night (12/21) will stall ice production at these current temps but provide some traction when out on the ice. Ice not too thick (6-9+) but enough for good foot travel and light penetration… and active fish. Walleye: Excellent It’s toss up between walleye and crappies for top billing, but due to flags and size from reports and typical difficulty – they get #1 Good catches continue to come in from anglers fishing shallow weed flats and bars from mid afternoon thru dark. Medium shiners, river shiners, walleye suckers and even large fatheads/rosies on tip-ups and tip-downs. Jigging raps, slab raps, rippin raps, micro pro v’s and Acme hyper R.I.P.’s also producing well as fish are continuing to actively feed during this extended early ice period. Good #’s of eaters and multiple reports of walleye in the 25 – 28 range being caught and released, Way To Go Anglers !! Crappies: Excellent Most action taking place in 7-10’ narrow leaf cabbage by slow dropping plastics or waxies or setting up tip-downs with small minnows. Vary depth either technique as crappies have been found both high and low in weeds, moving up and down with varying light and barometric changes. Northern Pike: Excellent. Good flag action using large suckers and shiners. Anglers reporting very good #’s and size with several silver (spotless) pike and lots of musky (must be released immediately) being caught. Bluegill: Excellent – Very good. Bright jigs of orange, chartruese or yellow with waxies best. For targeting larger gills, work more subdued colors of red, brown or black tipped with moussee’s. If to many small gills, search deeper weed edges for larger fish. Yellow Perch: Good Not getting the attention yet, probably due to being scattered about weed flats and less concentrated over mud as we will see later in season. Largemouth Bass: Good. Not as targeted, but some really nice bass with one family catching and releasing 4 bucketmouths of 19 – 21 1/2 over the weekend. While they caught some jigging, most on tip-ups with medium shiners. Following this Wednesdays forecast for rain with a high of 38 degrees we won’t see above freezing temps for the next week, with lows of single digits to below zero for the next week plus. Ice will thicken and creepers will more than likely be needed once again. While questions of ice travel by use of snowmobile or ATV are frequently asked, we can’t say its totally safe! Some lager lakes have areas of only 3 and how ice thickens across and entire lake is a hard thing to judge. If forecast holds, we should see improved conditions through out the Christmas / New Year week!

Perch still good from 105 st and up mix size perch but good action most days xl fatheads minnows best Some action on lake trout and few browns and few cohos at portage river walk on skein and spawn sacks fishing the bottom Steelhead in area tributaries decent floating spawn sacks or voodoo jigs tipped with beemoth must cover water and move around Slezs bait shop open regular hours 5 to 5 everyday with exception on Christmas Day we will be open 5am till noon

Merry Christmas to you also. There’s a lot of people fishing, mostly bayous and smaller ponds. Some northerns, crappie,and perch being taken. I think with cold weather coming Thursday, will open up more spots to fish.