Chicago fishing, Midwest Report: Illinois’ trout opener and punches of fall/winter

Opening day was a chilly but busy day at loon lake. Traffic arrived early and people came and went as they limited. Air temps were high 30s. Dock was fishable until about 11 or so when the sun was up and it wasn’t 40°. Everyone around me was catching trout. Some small, some mid size. I didn’t see any BIG ones caught. I was using small jigs with plastic. Some guys used powerbait or in-line spinners. It was awesome seeing the families and kids enjoying the day and catching fish. I saw a couple golden trout swimming around near me and I was able to pick up on their pattern. I was using A very bright colors bait so I could help sightfish one. Soon enough I got one to go. Up came a beautiful golden (palomino) rainbow trout. I was blown away by how pretty this fish was. An awesome catch I’m truly proud of. I felt like charlie when he got his golden ticket. Everyone on the dock took a look and admired the fish. It was a great moment. My dad and I limited out within 30 mins. It was tons of fun and I’m so glad the DNR puts the time and effort into these stockings. Also good to know the funds are being put to great use. What great day of fall fishing!

Thanks for reading! Take care dale!

-Alex Koepke

Hey Dale,

Here is a recap if this past weeks fishing.

Cold fronts, high pressure, and winds made fishing difficult at times this past week.

Area lakes-a few smaller bass can be caught pitching plastics into thicker green weeds with a jig and craw trailer.

Bluegill are best early afternoon hours on ice jigs tipped with an IJO Plastics money bug. Crappie have been scattered in the main basin. A few active biters can be caught on small twitch baits.

. . .

TTYL

—

Ken Husker O’Malley

Husker Outdoors Waterwerks fishing team

Hi Dale

With rehearsal in milwaukee and snow in Merrill last weekend I stayed in island lake. The water is rapidly clearing and cooling. The bluegill are still in shallow hitting trout worms On A micro jig with mylar hair. Some nice yellow bass were going before the cold front on the same worms. My brother in laws friend Blake and his son launched their two man kayak out back and fished for bass. They had 3 hookups but landed none. Hits came on 4 inch wacky rigged senko. Hopefully I’m heading to Merrill for one more river outing this weekend before bringing the boat home. Warm temperatures are predicted for Saturday...one more shot at the musky on the senko.

On the music front we will have a date for wild hare within the next day or two. The new owner is an avid angler and we talked a little fishing. Also we had our best rehearsal for the Zappa fest shows last Friday. Hopefully it will keep getting better..

Tight lines and good health !

Rob

Check out this lake cal pike

fishing an angler choice tournament and took a quick picture

Hit a chatterbait right at the boat

Hey Dale!

The fall bite is hot on the des plaines river! Fished Wednesday after the storms broke and caught smallmouth,crappie and sauger all on jigs with brown twister tails.the natural brown seemed to be the key.some crappie came on Chartruese but all other baits failed.

tight lines and thanks for your great articles!

Hey Dale, Oct 21st is the last day for boats to be on Spring Lake. Boat fishing will still be allowed from the Sky Ranch ramp up to the narrows throughout waterfowl season. The stoping point in the narrows will be marked with buoy markers. The youth waterfowl hunt is oct 23-24. Bank fishing will be allowed along the south Lake road after 1:00pm during waterfowl season. Thanks. Thad

Hi Dale,

I hadn’t targeted smallmouths in a while, so decided to give that a try this past week. The fish in the attached image came from a Fox tributary. I tangled with several in that weight class late on Sunday afternoon. All came out of slow, deep (deep being a relative term on such a small stream) holes. If there was any cover, especially wood, in the pools the fish were dug deeply into it but could be coaxed out. It’s not unusual to find crappies in similar water this time of year, but none were contacted on this outing.

As far as the Fox itself, I fished some water that I’ve ignored for years. It’s not very scenic and it’s right above a dam, so there is almost no flow; it’s more like a stagnant pond than a river. My thought was why fish current breaks when there is no current? That turns out to have been a mistake. Earlier in the Fall, I was messing around with a fluorocarbon leader. A gentleman working security at an event saw that and we started to talk about fishing. He showed me some pictures of impressive catfish and smallmouth and pointed me in the direction of a nearby bridge. He said to fish the pilings. It was good advice: Regardless of the presence or absence of current, smallmouths were holding there. Even in high winds, cold temperatures and some light rain, they were cooperative.

Pete

Dale,

Quick Fox River report...levels were a little higher over the weekend but still pretty low. Not as many fish biting, but deeper spots are still producing some smallmouth with artificials— mainly crankbaits.

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Fishing Report – 1017/2022

Mike Norris

Big Green Lake – Fishing for smallmouth bass was very good mid-week last week with my clients and I catching smallmouth bass up to five pounds. Then a nasty cold front with high winds descended into my area. Last Wednesday I was guiding clients in seventy-degree weather and by week’s end I was homebound and watching snowflakes blowing around in thirty mile per hour winds. Conditions are improving though, and we are entering the prime fall bite period for both largemouth and smallmouth bass. Try a tube bait or a jig and minnow in pockets of gravel and rock found in and around standing green weed beds. Lindy rigging with larger sucker minnows is also in play. A two-day Wisconsin Elite Series Championship took place on Big Green last weekend, and it took thirty-eight pounds to win the Championship. A number of the contestants reported success casting umbrella rigs parallel to and along deep weed edges.

Beaver Dam Lake – There are quite a few walleyes biting on the lake right now, though not all of them are legal sized. Crappie anglers are doing well fishing from shore along neck down areas where the lake crosses beneath area roadways.

Hi Dale - River is low but clear with temps in mid 50’s. Smallmouth fishing is good when conditions are right but Walleye bite is slow. Caught a 19 smallmouth and held on to it until the second one was caught for pic. Really good size Smallies in any body of water but catching them in the river with a current adds to the fight that much more. Fish are hitting finesse baits worked slowly down current breaks and over structure.

Catch and release

On a roll

It’s the beard

Hi Dale, these fall-run salmon are getting a bit darker which may signal that we’re getting past the peak of the season. However, they’re still in play for a few more weeks and can make the reel drag sing, so I’m still in the game. This one hit on a Wiggle Wart instead of the spoon this time.

Hope you had a nice week,

-Laurance

Chris Stromidlo, Al Skalecke’s friend—We are having fun [B.S.ing] and trolling aboard the Many Times 2 on Sweetest day AM

Hello Dale

STILL A LOT OF SALMON. KINGS AS WELL AS COHO. STILL HITTING ALL VARIETIES OF LURES AND CRANKBAITS AS WELL AS A BIG MOVE TO BAIT SUCH AS SPAWN, LARGE TO MED SHINERS & NIGHT CRAWLERS. STILL A LOT OF IN THE DARK FISHING BUT DAYLIGHT HOURS HAVE PRODUCED QUITE A FEW FISH ALSO. I’VE BERN TOLD THERE ARE QUITE A FEW STEELHEAD JUST A LITTLE NORTH OF MONTROSE AND AT DIVERSEY. NO PERCH REPORTS YET BUT STILL A FEW WEEKS EARLY. THOSE NORTHERNS ARE STILL AROUND AND ACTIVE AS WELL. NO SMALLMOUTH REPORTS LATELY.

OUR HOURS WILL CHANGE AS THE SEASON DWINDLES DOWN AND THE WEATHER STARTS TO CHANGE. AS OF RIGHT NOW OUR HOURS ARE 6am TO 7 pm 7 DAYS A WEEK.

4) Snagging for chinook and coho salmon only is permitted from the following Lake Michigan shoreline areas from October 1 through December 31; however, no snagging is allowed at any time within 200 feet of a moored watercraft or as posted: A) Lincoln Park Lagoon from the Fullerton Avenue Bridge to the southern end of the Lagoon. B) Waukegan Harbor (in North Harbor basin only). C) Winnetka Power Plant discharge area. D) Jackson Harbor (Inner and Outer Harbors).

Cold, rain, some snow and lots and lots of wind made the middle of October feel like the end of November here in the Northwoods! Only the hardy (or foolish) willing to suffer the weather. Yet those that did were able to pull off some good catches.

Walleye: Very Good-Good – While the winds made for more than the typical Walleye Chop, those who targeted Walleyes, and were able to hold their boats, were rewarded with some pretty nice catches. Deep gravel Walleyes that were stacking up along slides in 28-40’ were hammering ½ oz jigs tipped with chubs or suckers. The heaviest of jigging Raps and Shiver Minnows were needed to hold over fish (and no rod movement needed due to wind). Flowage Walleyes relating to the deeper wood taking chubs or large fatheads.

Crappie: Very Good-Good – While lakes were tough to fish for Crappies holding suspended 4-6’ off bottom along 14-18’ coontail edges (bait constantly blowing into weeds). Out where Crappies relating to wood easier to work with medium fatheads below slip-floats in 9-15’ of water. Nice eaters of 10-12 were abundant with some BIG slabs of 13-15 picture fish caught and released.

Musky: Good+ – Action was surprisingly slower than expected, but improved as the week progressed. Jerkbaits, Gliders and large swimbaits worked best for those casting. The tailed gliders (Smity Jerk and Phantoms) seemed to key more hits than the traditional baits. Suckers are picking up the better half of the fish being caught. Bladed rigs in this wind have out produced standard rigs and float rigs – but all catching fish. As expected, heavy fall fish, nice size (38-47 +) and good weight.

Those three species were all the reports we gathered for this week. With temps in the high 20’s to low 30’s, water temps fell as low as 48 degrees as of Monday (10/17). Many lakes past turn-over. Forecast for temps in the high 50’s/low 60’s for the weekend should bring more anglers out with far better conditions to fish in.

Kurt Justice

Kurt’s Island Sport Shop - Like us on Facebook

Groups still chasing salmon in the upper stretches of nwi tributaries. Skein, spawn saks and spinners best baits to try.

Loomis lake in valpo giving up panfish for those putting in the time. Jumbo reds and waxworms best baits.

Crappie around the bridges in lake George in Hobart using minnows.

Hi Dale, cold am temps and low water have made it tough, add the high winds and you need to get ready to hunt! Did get lucky with this 20 brute down on the Vermillion River , but not much else. G. Peters

Fishing one of your favorite spots, Nipple Beach. Crappie action was good over the weekend. White bass in the lower part of the river near the Rat river has been good. Water temp in the lower 40’s. Walleye action should pick up soon.