Chicago fishing: Braidwood reopens, early coho, return of winter, extended ice fishing

Hi Dale; Just checking back in before the Braidwood opener. The closest I came to catching fish this winter was meeting Ike The Thingfish Willis of Frank Zappa Fame at the Zappa Fest in Milwaukee. There I met Jon Liedke; guitarist extraordinaire who was playing guitar with Willis in the band Gozortonplatt. Jon Knows my friend joe Schatz from the Wisconsin Athletic Club where he worked. We met and he is now going to help me out with my original reggae music. Quite a strange set of circumstances to be sure. A broken kitchen faucet flood at my home in Merrill did not help the fishing either. After 224,00 gallons of water went into the home over 8 weeks i am amazed it is as dry as it is. So just waiting on ice out to hit the river again. The Anglers Choice Bass Tournament division held a meeting last Saturday and the division will have changes to the tournament schedule this year. There will be 4 events on Braidwood and 3 events on the Desplaines/Kankakee rivers system. The decision was based on several factors. One big factor was the heavy fishing pressure that occurs in tournaments during August and September of boats fishing on top of eachother in the Arrowhead area. I assume this is what used to be called the rearing pond or walleye pond. Also the Braidwood events will go out of the South Ramp. Things are also busy with the fishing Club with jerseys ready to be picked up and a trip to the Indoor Fishing Flea Market coming up on March 7th. I will be hitting Braidwood on Monday for Pulaski Day and will report!!! Tight Lines Rob

Tried to mimic last weekend adventures by putting some young guns on a few fish. Much slower weekend then last with just 6 bass and two northern caught on flags while catching some bluegills But all in a days fun

Hey Dale, Here is a recap of this past week’s fishing. Area lakes-ice continues to deteriorate across the southern region. Time to work on getting the long rods ready and the boat. Open water season will be upon us shortly. On a side note. Lincoln-Way East will have a fishing team competing in the IHSA for the first time. My son will be part of it as he will be an incoming freshman this fall. Exciting times ahead. TTYL — Ken Husker O’Malley Husker Outdoors Waterwerks fishing team

Fishing Report – 02/24/2020 Mike Norris Big Green Lake - I went out on Big Green for a morning trip late last week and did well for lake trout on a #5 Jigging Rapala. Jig this lure close to the bottom. Half-ounce Northland Buckshot Rattle Spoons also work well for trout. Enter the lake from Sunset Park on the east end of the lake. Head straight west from the park and fish around the shacks set out over 90 ft of water. Beaver Dam Lake – Walleyes are migrating north towards Hickory Point and anglers are catching them with small shiners set beneath tip-ups. Perch are active on small tungsten micro jigs and plastics. Bluegills and crappies are showing up also. Try fishing north of The Narrows. Little Green Lake – Perch had been elusive most of the winter on Little Green and other area lakes but are they are now showing up in shallow weeds areas. Micro jigs and plastics are your best choice for catching these tasty panfish. You can still catch a bunch of crappies in deeper water with a minnow on a split shot rig. Walleye fishing remains good with both eating size and trophies in the mix. Fox Lake (Dodge County) – Walleyes over 8 lbs., largemouth bass pushing 5 lbs., and northern pike up to 43 inches were registered in the Lion’s Club Fisheree just over a week ago. Walleyes are best on tip-ups in The Government Marsh. Fish this area after nightfall. Set your tip-ups in pockets surrounded by weeds. The Jug, located just north of the golf course, remains the best bet to fish for both bluegill and northern pike. Contact Mike Norris, Wacky Worm Guide Service, at 630-842-8199 for Big Green Lake and other south-central Wisconsin guided fishing trips.

Fishing didn’t suck. I froze 20 lb of filet this afternoon

There was no action from 7:00 to 8:30. I had practically given up hope when I notice a couple of raps on the fillet rod. I picked up the rod and gave the fish some slack. The line straightened out and I set the hook into a heavy fish. This fish was obviously not a burbot from the fight. After a bunch of zig zagging bulldogging runs, I was able to net a 35 14.6lb laker. After taking a few photos, she was released. That was the only fish yesterday AM. Enjoy the pics. Sey Jay

Sounds like browns and a few steelies of the rocks and some reports from the pier, things are looking good!!!

Spent some time out on the ice in Grundy County over the weekend. Mazonia/Braidwood State Fish and Wildlife Area to be exact. Unfortunately, the warm weather Sunday has taken its toll on the ice and there is not much left that is fishable. This may end up the last local excursion of my hardwater season... Dale Bowman

Warm temps (Yes! 40’s is warm up here this time of year) created some great weather to get out on the lakes. Past cold temps added ice thickness and firmed things up (at least until the warm up). With more anglers and access comes more reports. Some areas anglers still struggled for catches, but those who got on, or stayed on, the ice during peak times were rewarded. Crappies: Good-Very Good – Deeper bite picked up as anglers using tip-downs and rosies scored well over 18-28’ mud. Jigging using Z-vibes, Majic-Mans and K-rips tipped with waxies produced some big slabs to 14. Anglers slow dropping in weeds of 10-12’ produced catches on Lethal Cecils tipped with waxies or #8 rockers tipped with white, yellow or pink plastics. Yellow Perch: Good-Very Good – Mud flat bite using wigglers on Halis, Pimples or Clam Bombs. Ply the soft mud of 18-28’, Red spikes a decent second choice, but loving the mayfly larvae Northern Pike: Good-Very Good – Smaller lakes slow, but bays off of larger lakes produced some big Pike to 38 this weekend. Go big (shiners, suckers) swing for the bleachers, it’s the final week! Bluegills: Good – Best during early morning or late afternoon. Gills taking mousses, waxies and Beaver Tail on #3:#4 tungsten jigs. Start low, 1’ off bottom, but watch locator as fish moving up off bottom at times. Walleye: Good – Evening best, last hour prior to dark and first hour after. Suckers preferred by tip-up anglers. Warm temps helped improve action for jig anglers using Slab Raps, Jigging Raps and Chubby Darters. While off shore humps preferred, some good bites along weed edges of 10-12’ and even up in heavy weeds of 6-8’ from Walleyes probably feeding on little Perch. Largemouth Bass: Fair-Good – Best on medium shiners or large fatheads on tip-ups or tip-downs. This coming weekend is the last for the inland gamefish season in the Northwoods. Cold temps mid-week look to give way to nice warm temps for Sat/Sunday. While you’ll hear reports of trucks on the lakes (ice thickness avg 20-24+) be reminded that this is NOT solid ice. The top 6-12 on many lakes is white ice, very porous. Still use caution when traveling. We can’t recommend truck travel, though UTV, ATV and snowmobile travel has been good. Kurt Justice Kurt’s Island Sport Shop Like us on FaceBook

Over weekend good coho fishing boats at gary light trolling did easy limits trolling just about anything honestly Guys lined up from portage riverwalk all the way up to bass pro area of river skein and spawn on bottom jigs tipped with butterworms and squid best lots of fish caught Some crappie action already below 249 bridge near izzak Walton building on crappie minnows Michigan city ice was gone Sunday but fishing was slow there

Fish that where caught this past weekend crappies are doing very good and I was surprised muskie was caught yesterday

Getting into that time of year. The bite has been slow all over. People who are catching some walleye on Poygan and Partridge, are finding it hard to catch fish over 13. Saw a robin yesterday, hopefully open water soon