Chicago fishing, Midwest Report: Nearshore salmon and trout remain the lead

Hi Dale,

Caught this chinook south of Northerly Island. Luckily there was a concert going on and I was forced to seek shoreline elsewhere! With cold weather coming in, it gave a good fight against 8# test and I had to walk him back to the beach to land, calling every pier goer to please witness. Caught on (now) silver kastmaster with chartreuse/red dressing.

Hope it makes the report. Thanks!

Ian Guen-Murray

21lbs

Team Krappie Inc. ... and I fish with 8lb test

Yessssirrrreee

I’m the King for a Night on the Southside!!

lol

Hi Dale,

Well, the same-same strategy wasn’t working, so I had to switch things up a bit. I’d lost 3 steelhead in a row that shook the trusty blue KO Wobbler while airborne or upon re-entry.

So, I switched rods, and even my hat Wednesday. Fortunately, this smaller steelie just didn’t have enough shake to throw the lure in two leaps, and so I was able to get the net under it, making for a Chicago shore fishing September to remember!

-Laurance

Good evening Dale , I hope all is well. This is a long time hardcore fishing friend Leon Malone with a stream lined powerhouse chinook that crushed a 3/4oz K.O wobbler a few days ago. Just ounces over 15lbs it hit the lure on its final approach alone the pier base and according to my other buddy lakefront Mike he looked like he Got electrocuted when this baby hit L O L. I asked Leon how did it feel and what did he do, he said he said no Hook hard as you know what and held on. And the rest is history. Even though we have fish for a long time together he’s very modest and I asked him could I share the story with you, have a great weekend thank you

Montrose moonshine glow spoon

Good morning

Salmon still hitting pretty good, kings and cohos. Still hitting spoons and cranks starting to make the switch over to bait. Spawn sacs, larger minnows and crawlers.

. . .

Have a great week.

Hi Dale

. . .

In the harbor the fishing improved slightly from last week, but the water is still warm and dirty and it was slow. Spawn and skein worked better than casting. A few nice trout are starting to arrive to feed on spawn. Fishermen will have a tough time finding areas away from snaggers to fish, a big problem after October 1 each year.

Capt. Scott Wolfe

schooloffishcharters.com 312-933-0552

Still lots of groups chasing kings and coho in area tributaries. Spawn saks, skein and inline spinners best bet.

Got this 6lber on a power worm out of a small pond in Lake County open lands. Had to wade in through the cattails to grab her.

We headed to Independence grove for the 1st time

Hey Dale,

Here is a recap of this past weeks fishing.

The fall bite is on and will continue to get better.

Area lakes-bass have been very good during afternoon hours. Working a lipless crank bait along the outside weed lines will take good numbers. Ticking the tops of the weeds will trigger a reaction strike.

. . .

TTYL

—

Ken Husker O’Malley

Husker Outdoors Waterwerks fishing team

Hi Dale

With rehearsal on Sunday for the Zappa fest I stayed home for the weekend. On Friday I had Art Sound Artist and his son Marcel out for some fishing in the back yard. We got some nice Bluegill , striper bass and a perch. All on the trout worms. The water clarity continues to improve and the largemouth are hitting a little better on 4 inch senkos in green pumpkin.

On the music front the first rehearsal is in the books for zappafest. Playing Joe’s garage is bringing back great memories of back in the day. Hopefully great memories will be made at the shows in December.

Tight lines and good health!

Rob

Dale.... it’s crappie Time in the Calumet River system!!!! .... plenty of bass... blue gill ..crappie and perch..... salmon... Steelhead... brown trout too..... near the Ford plant and grain elevators.

Dale, it seems the switch to fall pattern is complete already on Des Plaines River. Pike have come pretty shallow. Still chasing big lures and big baits, but most fish found in 3-5 fow this week. Literally seemed to switch overnight on the 22nd. Pretty neat

Last maybe the smallest smallie ever on a topwater, over the weekend on the DesPlaines. Good sign for the health of the river. Keep up the good work, always enjoy your column. Tight lines. Pete Starshak.

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

Hey Dale,

Fox River Kane County smallmouth fishing the past week...

It was slow going for several days last week, probably as the fish were adjusting to the dropping temps recently. Found a few bass on hair jigs & crankbaits but nothing of size.

By Friday it seemed to improve some. Found some decent sized bass targeting deeper pools and stronger current. Wasn’t finding many fish on the edges of shorelines, but hooked into this nice walleye on a crankbait along a concrete wall at just about last light.

Saturday morning October 1, only one fish over several hours but it was a beast...a hefty 21 inch smallie (pictured) on a crankbait. It nearly inhaled it— definitely a fish feeding up in the fall— but I was able to remove the hooks safely and she swam off in great shape.

Sunday, wading in deeper pools produced 27 smallmouth which put me over my 500 goal for the year. I would estimate about 90% of those were Fox River fish caught on artificials. Learned a ton by putting time in on the water as much as possible, goes to show the Fox is a very good fishery if you can put in the time and try to learn a little bit every day.

Fishing Report – 10/3/2022

Mike Norris

Big Green Lake - With surface water temperature dipping into the mid-sixties right now the fall bite for smallmouth bass is kicking into gear. In the last week, my clients and I have caught smallmouth bass up to five and a half pounds. I am locating smallmouth bass as shallow as eight feet and as deep at twenty feet, so I move around frequently to locate them. We are catching a couple northern pike and walleye in the same areas. Try casting Senko’s or Tube’s for shallow bass and an Umbrella Rig for deeper bass. The bluegill bite has dissipated but I suspect it will return as the water cools down into the fifties. The perch bite is good now. Lake trout season closed at the end of the day September 30th and will not reopen until January 1, 2023.

Hi dale!

Been watching your work since the 1990s.just a quick report on heidecke.very slow today,saw a few boats out,one anchored on a spot catching a few white bass.very little action did I see from bank anglers.but I did manage to get this small muskie on the east end of the bridge rip rap using a 1/4 jig and a 3 inch chartreuse twister tail grub.thanks for your time!

Nate toranzo elk grove village.

Hey Dale

I love this time of the year when the leaf’s change color and the air becomes crisp. . . . Heidecke lake still has some nice white bass roaming around and most are about 10 to 20 yards out from shore. Minnows have been my go to. I’ll be back out Wednesday.

Tight Lines

Hey Dale,

. . .

Heidecke lake-smallmouth are on fire right now with water temps at 60-61. Best baits have been a swim bait or a jig with a twin tail grub. Work the baits on mid-lake humps holding baitfish.

. . .

TTYL

—

Ken Husker O’Malley

Husker Outdoors Waterwerks fishing team

Hi Dale - Kankakee River Sunday morning with Water temp at 61 and clear. River is low! Smallmouth are still scattered but that should improve in the next few weeks with fall frenzy. Caught a 1/2 dozen smallmouth mostly on hair jigs snapping retrieve back to boat. Also caught a rock bass, 1 small walleye and 2 fresh water drum using same technique. I know how you feel about drum so added that pic. The big smallmouth was fun and weighed 3.39 lbs / 18.5 . Solid full grown river bass!! River fishing is best in the fall in my opinion, not as many bites but a chance for overall quality of fish.

Hey Dale

I love this time of the year when the leaf’s change color and the air becomes crisp. Catfishing on the kankakee has been good on cut shad between I 55 and the railroad bridge. Average fish is about 4lbs. . . .

Tight Lines

Good morning

Salmon still hitting pretty good, kings and cohos. Still hitting spoons and cranks starting to make the switch over to bait. Spawn sacs, larger minnows and crawlers. Haven’t heard of many northerns lately but I’m sure there are still a few around. Smallmouth still active at Diversey and other harbor areas.

Have a great week.

Hi Dale

Another week of very deep water fishing for boaters. Deeper water just off the Waukegan reefs produced laker limits in the mornings. The food bite stops about 9 am and the rest of the days is a struggle as the lakers are in spawn pattern where they feed early the worry about other things the rest of the day. Jimmy Fly Mo rigs on the Blue/green, Green/silver and Green/orange were best behind chrome or smoke Luhr-Jensen Dodgers. 150 to 180 feet off the reefs were best.

In the harbor the fishing improved slightly from last week, but the water is still warm and dirty and it was slow. Spawn and skein worked better than casting. A few nice trout are starting to arrive to feed on spawn. Fishermen will have a tough time finding areas away from snaggers to fish, a big problem after October 1 each year.

Capt. Scott Wolfe

schooloffishcharters.com 312-933-0552

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).

d) Disposition of Snagged Salmon and Paddlefish. All snagged salmon and paddlefish must be removed from the area from which they are taken and disposed of properly, in accordance with Article 5, Section 5-5 of the Fish and Aquatic Life Code.

Hey Dale ,

Caught this 36 Northern on a deep diving crank bait yesterday on beautiful Lac Court Orielles yesterday on a sun drenched day up here .Did not weight him but I’m guessing 15 lbs. he had some shoulders on him , did a bass trick and broke water once before I netted and released him. Hope next time he is caught he weighs 25 lbs.

Let me know if he qualifies for fish if he week or honorable mention.

Regards

Mark Kosevich

Surface temps did not fall as much as expected this past week. Hail storm and near freezing morning temps last week were offset by bright, warm sunny skies. Shallower lakes cool the fastest (but also warm up quicker) so surface readings ran from lows of 54 to average highs of 59-62 degrees. Starting Thursday (10/6) thru Saturday (10/8) lows in upper 20’s to lowest of 30’s with highs in 40’s to low 50’s will bring sharper drops.

Northern Pike: Very Good-Good – The four mornings of frost slowed early mornings, but by mid-mornings the feed has been on! Pike fattening up on young of year Perch roaming shallow weeds of 3-7’. Jig and minnow, shallow crankbaits in Perch patterns and 1/8 – 1/4 oz spinnerbaits working best.

Musky: Good-Fair – Not as active as we had hoped. Fish still shallow. Best on top-water bucktails and small jerks with tails. Some sucker action, but hard to keep suckers in shallow where fish are without getting weeded up. This should change with impending cold snap (did I say this last week??)

Walleye: Good-Fair – Deep gravel/rock fish in 28-34’ on 1/4 – 3/8 oz jig/chubs and working #9 Jigging Raps and 2.5 Shiver Minnows. Lost of motoring around to locate fish…and fish found did not always relate to fish bites. On shallow lakes and on Flowages, Walleyes up tight to shores chasing small Perch. Tough on bright days, but dusk and windward shores providing action.

Yellow Perch: Good-Fair - Bigger Perch (10-12) cruising shallows picking up medium fatheads or 1/2 crawlers on 1/16 oz weedless jigs. Note: The smaller Perch mixed in are why predator fish are also shallow.

Crappie: Good-Fair – Weeds of 10-14’ best on lakes, while drowned wood on Flowages. Small to medium fatheads, as well as small feathered or plastic tailed jigs working well.

Smallmouth Bass: Good-Fair – Still the largest Smallies working shallow hitting top-water (Whopper Ploppers, Jitterbugs). Rock and gravel humps and down along slopes holding more, but less sizeable Smallies.

Largemouth Bass: Fair – Fewer reports though this past weekend lots of boaters (and some skiers) out for a last hurrah. Largemouth holding court along deep weeds as Musky remain shallow. Drop-shot and wacky worms prevailing!

Bluegill: Fair – Few reports as anglers turning to Musky, Walleye and Crappie.

Following this end of week cold snap (possible snow Friday AM) we will probably see a shift in fish movement as bait fish push out of the shallows and gamefish follow. If temps on the lakes drop below 53-55 degrees watch for signs of turn-over (roiled water, floating dead vegetation/leaves) and be prepared to head elsewhere. Lakes under 24’ max depth and Flowages with their moving, mixing water don’t have the turn-over issues. Larger lakes will take longer to turn, but with four days of under 60 degrees for highs and lows of 27–32 degrees change will come quick. Leaf color is not at max yet, but changing daily.

Kurt Justice

Kurt’s Island Sport Shop - Like us on Facebook

Still lots of groups chasing kings and coho in area tributaries. Spawn saks, skein and inline spinners best bet.

Crappie in lake George in Hobart on crappie minnows.

Crappie around the docks and near 249 bridge just down from portage public marina using crappie minnows.

Loomis lake in valpo giving up gills and crappie for boat fishermen using red wigglers, beemoth and crickets.

Hi Dale,

Instead of the usual Fox/forest preserve/Shabbona milk run, I did something different this week: a cast-and-blast in east Wisconsin. Two gentlemen from Kentucky and their dogs joined our usual group for a turkey hunt. All of the dogs did their typical magnificent jobs and found and scattered flocks of turkeys. The hunters didn’t do their jobs nearly as well, with all shots at flying birds resulting in misses. One turkey was harvested when it was called back after a scatter.

As far as the casting, I fished a Lake Michigan tributary. I’ll never be disappointed at catching a 16-17 inch smallmouth but notice the two-handed rod in the attached image: I was definitely targeting salmon, not smallmouths. I talked to a local and he said that the salmon that were being caught were being caught downstream, closer to the lake. The water was low in the upstream location where I fished, but it looked as if the salmon were beginning to make their way up that far. A few fish were porpoising and clearly charging upstream as the sun dropped in late afternoon. The clock is ticking-they’re going to be dead in a couple of weeks-so they can’t afford to wait for perfect conditions, which may never come.

Pete

The conditions on the river are perfect for fall fishing.Water temp in the mid 50’s, water level is down with low current. White bass are moving in, with good catches on sand near deep water. Crappie action is better then we’ve seen in 5 years. Small jigs tipped with a minnow or plastic working best.

I fished the Red Banks Crappie tournament Saturday, 25 fish, 18 lbs-14.5 oz. Thought we were good till the last boat came in with just over 21 lbs