Chicago fishing, Midwest Fishing Report: Perch, more openings, real summer and summer fishing finally

Hi Dale. Went out this morning to Diversy harbor for the perch opener. Fished from 5 am till 7:30am. Caught 8 perch total. There where only a hand full of people out at Diversy. Caught enough for dinner.😀 👍🍀

A sport fishing license is required to harvest bullfrogs. Bullfrogs may be taken by hook and line, gig, pitchfork, spear, bow and arrow, hand, or landing net. No person shall harvest bullfrogs or any other reptile or amphibian by commercial fishing devices, including, hoop nets, traps or seines or by the use of firearms, air guns or gas guns or during bowfishing tournaments. All other species of unprotected reptiles and amphibians (excluding common snapping turtles and bullfrogs) may only be taken by hand. This shall not restrict the use of legally taken reptiles or amphibians as bait by sport fishermen. Any captured reptiles or amphibians which are not to be retained in the possession of the captor shall be immediately released at the site of capture, unless taken with a lethal method (such as bow and arrow, gig, spear, pitchfork) which does not permit release with no harm. All such taken common snapping turtles and bullfrogs must be kept and counted in the daily harvest. No culling of such taken species is permitted. No person shall harvest or possess any species of reptile or amphibian listed as endangered or threatened in Illinois (17 Ill. Adm. Code 1010 except as provided by 17 Ill. Adm. Code 1070). Season Bullfrogs may be taken only between June 15 and October 15, both dates inclusive. Daily Harvest and Possession Limits The daily Harvest limit for bullfrogs is 8 with a possession limit of 16. For indigenous amphibian and reptile taxon, which may only be taken by hand, (excluding common snapping turtles and bullfrogs) the possession limit is 8 collectively with no more than 4 per taxa.

Hey dale this fish was caught in southern cook county forest preserve lake on a topwater today Steve D

Hi Dale, Results of a few outings this week; Surface activity slowed down some this week with the much cooler weather and clear skies. Even the night time bite was subsurface. Downsize the flies and there were still plenty of bluegills and bass willing to bite. Warm stable weather returns this week, so it will be back to poppers then. With any luck the big bass will return to feeding on top. . . . Pete

Hey Dale, Here is a recap of this past weeks fishing. Braidwood- bass are good despite the 80-85 water temps. Focus on rock piles with square bill crankbaits and drop shot with gulp. Pitching chigger craws to shoreline structure with current have been the best patterns. . . . TTYL — Ken Husker O’Malley Husker Outdoors Waterwerks fishing team

Outfished again, today wasnt a total loss. Went back to the secret spot on the river

Delavan Lake 6/15/20 through 6/22/20 Although Delavan Lake is really seeing a lot of fishing pressure the bite continues to be pretty good. The Covid-19 Has everyone coming to the lake to fish. The most consistent bite has been for panfish. Bluegills are both in the shallows, 3-4 ft and off the weed lines in 18-20 ft. The best bait has been leaf worms or hellgrammites fished on a small hook or ice jig. The average size is still relatively small. You have to sort through a lot of 6-7 inch fish to get some keepers. Crappies are suspended in the 12-15 ft range right on the weed line. I caught most of my fish on either night crawler pieces or small plastics, purple or yellow are my favorites. The best location has been by Browns Channel or by the Yacht Club. Largemouth bass are biting very well. There are two patterns that are working. Dock fisherman are having good success. I have been getting large fish on the deep weed lines in about 16-18 ft. of water. I have been using a lindy rigged nightcrawler. The leader length varies, however I usually use a 18-24 inch one. Smallmouth bass continue to bite on the deep side of the break lines. The best depth has been 18-20 ft of water. I’ve either caught them lindy rigging night crawlers or by casting crank baits. White seems to be the best color this year. The best location is by Willow Point. Walleye fishing has been hit or miss. The most consistent method has been fishing leeches right along the weed line in 12-15 ft. of water. I’ve been using small painted hooks and 1/8 oz walking sinkers. The leader length that seems to be the best has been 18-24 inches. The best location has been by Browns Channel or by the Island on the west end of the lake. The Northern Pike fishing has slowed a bit with the weather. You can still catch fish, however the large numbers aren’t as available. With the temperature change, they are spreading out off the deep weed line to the shallow weeds and channels. I’ve heard of good catches of large fish in View Crest and View Crest Bay. Water was about 5-6 feet deep. I have still been working the deep weed line with suckers. The water I was working was 18-24 feet. The numbers are slightly lower than previous weeks, but you can almost guarantee a few fish. Good luck and I hope to see you on the water. Stay save with the Covid- 19. For guide parties please call Dave Duwe at 608-883-2050.

Read your post about the Hennepin Canal the other day. It’s near & dear to my heart with childhood memories. Definitely not FOTW worthy but good little morning north of Sheffield. Wish I had a boat! Caught a nice channel cat, too.

Paddling and Fishing at the Dixon Refuge Hennepin & Hopper Lakes are now open for summer paddling and fishing! The opening was delayed this year because of COVID-19 but you still have plenty of time to enjoy the lakes before the season ends on September 7. As usual, the lakes are closed on Mondays during the summer season except for Labor Day. For all other paddling and fishing rules, please click here. And many thanks to everyone who has been following the special health guidelines while using the Refuge trails during the COVID-19 epidemic. We want all our visitors and restoration staff to stay healthy!

Hi Dale, Results of a few outings this week; . . . The Fox tribs looked pretty prime, at least where I was, late last week: cool water, normal levels and a little less clarity than usual. It was a quality-over-quantity outing. Smallmouth were near some surprisingly fast water. I landed a long torpedo shaped fish. Two steps upstream, next cast and another nice fish attacked the cottonwood seeds stuck on a knot in my leader, ignoring the white streamer a foot below. Oh well; at least I know where to find him next time. Pete

Lake Geneva Fishing Report 6/15/20 through 6/22/20 This past week fishing was up and down. The earlier half of the week the fish were very active and by mid-week fishing was slow. But with the sunny weekend the fishing on Saturday and Sunday was pretty good. This year has been very bizarre, the largemouth and smallmouth bass are all doing different things – some are done spawning, some are still spawning and others have yet to begin. Many of the tournament fishermen on the weekend were sight fishing the shallow waters. Largemouth bass fishing has been the most consistent bite on the lake. The fish are in the weeds or in the shallows spawning. Most of the fish are being caught in 8-10 ft. of water. The best location has been the buoys in Lake Geneva and west of Linn Pier. Live bait fishermen using nightcrawlers are having more consistent catches. Pre-rigged worms, purple or black, have also been working on the fish in the weeds. Sight fishermen are having success flipping jigs and grubs on the spawning beds. Most of the sight fishing that I saw this weekend was in Geneva Bay in the 10-12 ft depth range. Smallmouth bass have been kind of sporadic. Some days you can catch a bunch and the next day they are gone. My best luck last week was fishing nightcrawlers in 8-10 ft. of water. Some of the fish I’ve caught still had spawn in them and others were completely spawned out. The smallmouth chasing pods of minnows have been very easy to catch. The best bait has been either a jerk bait or free floating a nightcrawler. The hit has been very subtle. There has been some success fishing top water lures, like the Pop-R or the chug bug. The chrome and blue or chrome and black have been the best color type. Crappies are being caught and in pretty good numbers. They are starting to move out into a little deeper water. They are in the 12-15 ft. depth range. The best bait has been either small minnows fished with slip bobbers or the clear tube jigs 1/32 oz. The best location has been by the Geneva Inn or west of Conference Point by the buoys. Another spot that shouldn’t be overlooked is the east side of Williams Bay. Rock Bass and Bluegills are literally everywhere throughout the lake. The best depth of water has been 8-15 ft. of water. Nightcrawlers are producing most of the fish. It isn’t hard to go through 10-12 dozen nightcrawlers in a 4-hour guide party. I caught most of the larger rock bass west of Linn Pier. Walleye fishing has been very slow. I’ve only heard of one fish caught and it was on the deep break in front of Elgin club in 18 ft. of water. With warmer water, Walleye fishing should improve. Good luck and I hope to see you on the water. Be safe with Covid-19. For guide parties, please call Dave Duwe at 262-728-8063

Fishing Report – 06/14/2020 Mike Norris Winning weights for two bass tournaments on Big Green Lake last weekend verify what I said all along. Dirty water there continues to plague anglers on this south-central Wisconsin lake. Saturday’s tournament winners weighed in 14.55 lbs. for five bass. Sunday’s tournament weight of 15.76 lbs. was better, but still fell below the 20 lb. plus bags bass anglers are used to weighing in at Big Green. I’m looking for the bass fishing to improve with the arrival of warmer weather this week, but rain is once again predicted for this coming weekend. In the meantime, I’m continuing to concentrate my guiding efforts on Fox Lake in Dodge County where bluegills, largemouth bass and northern pike fishing is currently rated excellent. The bladed jig bite for bass and pike is dwindling, but my clients are doubling up on both species with swim jigs. Try redworms beneath a float for bluegill. Phone me at 630-842-8199 to book a guided fishing trip or contact me through my website at www.comecatchsmallmouth.com

Morning guys. Sorry I’m a day late, but we have been slammed! So here is a real quick update Fishing out on the big lake is really starting to get rocking. There are lots of Rainbows around and now the big Kings are showing up! So some really nice numbers of fish are being caught pretty much on a daily basis now. 150 out to the 300 foot mark has been the best depths and fishing the top 90 foot of the water column which is about par for the course this time of year. Howie Flies behind flashers along with an assortment of spoons has been the top baits up until this point Perch fishing is also starting to get going as our water continues to warm and the weed keep growing. Sawyer Harbor, Downtown Sturgeon Bay, The Flats, Little Sturgeon, Riley’s Bay and some of the deeper mud spots down around Chaudoir’s Dock all good areas to try. Fatheads, Crawlers and leaf worms are the best live baits Bass fishing is normal bass fishing for this time of year. To the south of the county most fish are post spawn and have slid out do a bit deeper water like in that 8 to 15 foot range. And to the north, they are in all stages of the spawn yet so you have to fish all water depths from as shallow as 2 feet out to 15 feet. Howie’s shorty tubes, paddle tails, hair jigs, spinner baits and spy baits just some of the good baits to have in the box Thanks; Lance LaVine Howie’s Tackle 1309 Green Bay Rd Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235 Ph: 920-746-9916

Hey Dale, Here is a recap of this past weeks fishing. . . . Heidecke-smallmouth have been good on top water baits early. As the sun gets higher, go deeper with a drop shot with a gulp leech. Water temps are 71. Crappie continue to be the hot bite according to guys coming off the water. Carp are up in the shallows spawning and are always entertaining to watch. TTYL — Ken Husker O’Malley Husker Outdoors Waterwerks fishing team

Pulled a solid eye out of the Kank just over 7lbs.

Kankakee river near normal and clearing. Smallmouth to 17 1/2 on spinners and crank baits. G. Peters

Hi Dale Fishing from Waukegan to the Wisconsin state line saw rapidly changing fishing last week. Early there was excellent coho fishing with a few steelhead and chinook in 70 to 100 feet with bait everywhere. Then the strong NNE winds moved the bait north into Wisconsin, mostly up to Racine. Over the weekend we found scattered fish in 110 to 140 feet with fair fishing and mixed species catches. On Monday the bait appeared to be moving back south in deeper water, 140 feet or deeper. We had good catches of coho and steelhead in the deeper water, 140 to 190 feet North of Waukegan. The best lures this week were Blue/Green/Gold Jimmy Flies behind 00 Red Dodgers on 5/8 oz. to 1 oz. keel weights, on Dipsey Divers 30 to 45 out and on shallow downriggers 13-30 down. Bright spoons the usually target steelhead like Warrior Riverside Stripers, Plum Dolphin, Super Jordo in Standard and XL sizes took coho and steelhead on 2 to 8 color lead cores and divers 30 to 60 out. The weather pattern looks terrific for the upcoming week, with West and Southwest winds. Large numbers of steelhead have moved into our area, as they usually do in June. The West wind should bring those closer to shore and should bring in chinook and more coho. Have a great week. Capt. Scott Wolfe School Of Fish Charters www.schooloffishcharters.com 630-341-0550

Despite some cold temps over the weekend, fishing action has remained strong – though not in the early hours when air temps dropped into mid-upper 30’s and water temps fell into low 60’s. But it’s June and fish got active by mid-mornings as temps rose and fish wanted to feed. Bluegill: Very Good – Pods of bedding Gills in the shallows, eagerly taking poppers, flys, thunderbugs, tiny jigs, small leeches and worms. Biologist are now telling us that those big bull males are just as, if not more, important as the big girls. They protect the genetics of those larger fish to hatch and survive the first few days of life. Have fun, but be selective, save some for future fun. Largemouth Bass: Very Good – Bedding has started on some lakes. Top-water action a blast using Torpedos, Chug Bugs, Skitter Pops, Zara Puppys and Phantom Spiders. Tube jigs, 3 & 4 Wacky Worms and ZMan Ticklerz, Crawz and Finesse worms also hot! Smallmouth Bass: Very Good – While most bedding is over, Great action on tube jigs, 3 swim baits and X-Raps outside of previous spawning areas. Set slip-floats with large leeches in similar location 6-10’ down for fun light tackle action. Musky: Very Good-Good – Smaller, fast moving bucktails (or tube tails) twitch baits and 6 gliders, hot! Top-water lures will make big splash (pun intended) as waters warm by week’s end. Crappie: Good – Work tall weeds in 7-12’ using small twister tails, Mini Mites or crappie minnows on 1/32 oz jigs. Fan cast weed beds, working small beetle spins through weed tops to locate fish first. Northern Pike: Good – Bladed baits such as spinner baits, chatter baits and #3 & #4 Mepps spinners. 4 swim baits and Daredevils also good choice just at weed top level. Jigging or soaking suckers and chubs working very well with the cool (below 70 degree) water temps. Walleye: Good – Bite had been best in 5-8’ weeds, but fish moved deeper (10-14’) with colder weather. Large-Xlarge leeches best on jigs or under slip-floats. Casting long, minnow style cranks at night into shallows of 4-6’ scoring nicer Walleyes (most in the release slot of 20-24)! Yellow Perch: Good – Not a lot of attention, but nice eater Perch (9-10+) being caught on lakes in 6-10’ weeds and on Flowages in 14-18’ drowned wood on medium fatheads and medium leeches. The LacDuFlambeau Tribe is set to open the tribal landings starting June 17th at midnight for those wishing to fish those waters. Temps in the low 80’s should make for a great Father’s Day Weekend. Get DAD out and take him fishing! Thank you, Kurt Justice Kurt’s Island Sport Shop Like us on FaceBook

Steelhead action on portage river walk pier and Michigan city pier day to day shrimp crawlers best under floats Boat action in 90 to 110 straight out of the ditch and East towards Michigan city mix bag Action on state line straight out of ditch and west towards East Chicago mix bag Willow slough still good for boat anglers must get to pockets to fish weeds take over fast there Valpo chain loom is and long lake giving up gills to those moving around and covering water Catfish good on Sonnys stinkbait aka triple s at portage river walk at night