Chicago fishing, Midwest Report: Canada, London, shore kings, smallies, big coho, catfish, sturgeon

Hi Dale, was out with my longtime fishing buddy, Tim Ledbetter, and my son, Beck, and Beck nailed his first big smallie, a nice 4.5 pounder on the lakefront Saturday morning.

Hope you enjoy, thanks

Matt Radenbaugh

Fact that there’s so many steelhead around makes the warm water easier to deal with. So far, casting spoons has been a grind.

Good morning Dale, Salmon and Trout being caught here and there, I hear of at least 1 a day. They seem to be jumping more also.

. . .

And the harbor is starting. Some smaller kings are coming in at night. Unfortunately I think the king run will be below average. But the cohos will come in soon after and I expect one of the best coho runs in Illinois history. This is the first year I can ever remember the boats specifically targeting coho instead of kings because of both the quality and quantity. I guarantee you will get anglers emailing you photos of their kings and they will be huge coho. I think lots of shore fishermen’s personal best coho will be taken this fall.

Capt. Scott Wolfe

schooloffishcharters.com 630-341-0550

Hey Dale,

Here is a recap of this past weeks fishing.

Area lakes-bass have been good during late afternoon and evening hours. Texas rigged power worms with a Vector offset worm hook worked over rock humps and deep weed lines have produced good numbers.

. . .

TTYL

—

Ken Husker O’Malley

Husker Outdoors Waterwerks fishing team

Hi Dale,

You can just make out the silhouette of a snapping turtle in the attached video. When the ducks became aware that a turtle who would like to eat them was in the immediate area, they got out of the water in a hurry. They concluded that they were safer standing next to us-they were within arm’s length-than in the water with a hungry snapper. By the way, we were there, at a park district lake, to fish for bluegills. We caught a few small ones, but the turtle and ducks were the highlight.

. . .

Fingers crossed for the upland game drawing later this week

Pete

Joe lamonica here. Had a great trip to Canada iron bridge ont. my friend Cris with a 24 inch walleye. Great dinner.

A great day in Saskatoon!!!!

Back at the riverwalk catching these big boys,

19 pounds 33 in

Delavan Lake 8/29/22 through 9/5/22

Fishing remains very consistent. Both panfish and gamefish continue to bite well. .

Largemouth bass are still on the rocky points. When you find a school, it’s possible to catch 15-20 fish. They can either be caught drop shotting small 4 inch worms or fishing nightcrawlers on a split shot rig. Look for the fish in 15-20 ft of water. The best location is by Del Mar or by the Yacht Club.

Northern Pike fishing has been very slow. I’ve been dragging suckers around all week and didn’t catch one fish. I still believe that the bluegills are so thick on the weedlines that the pike simply aren’t hungry for anything else. I’ve tried both lindy rigs and slip bobbers without success.

Bluegills for most of the week have been just outside the weed edge in 15-20 ft. However, on Sunday 8/29/10 they were very difficult to catch. I don’t know if it was the time of day or if the fish have moved. I was fishing anywhere between 14 and 27 ft without much success. Leaf worms or red worms have been producing and the best approach has been fishing straight beneath the boat or using slip bobbers. Try for them 1 ft above the weeds.

Crappies continue to be very active. They are on the weedline in 14-16 ft of water. They can be caught on small plastics. Chartreuse or purple have been producing most of the action. Look for the fish by Browns Channel or Willow Point. For live bait fishermen, if you find a nice school, a small fathead minnow fished on a Thill bobber will produce a lot of action as well.

Walleye fishing has been kind of slow. I’ve been catching them here or there but not in any great numbers with any consistency. Most of the time, I’ve been fishing in 15-17 ft of water. I think that the walleyes are a little deeper in 22-24 ft of water on the outside of the weedline. The best approach to catch them is chrome and blue jigging Rapalas.

Good luck and I hope to see you on the weedline. For guide parties, please call Dave Duwe at 608-883-2050

Hey Dale,

Got another one for you. 4.2lb smallie while wading through fox river in Aurora.

I was wading the river tossing a 1/2 jig with a craw trailer. The smallmouth were holding close to structure. Hooked into this one around noon.

Best,

Jack Stevens

Hi Dale,

. . .

I fished the Fox in downtown Aurora last week and got into some small smallmouths. They came out of surprisingly slow water-up until then, the fish I’d been catching came from in or near riffles. Levels and current were good for this time of year, but the water was taking on a green color again from an algae bloom. I haven’t looked yet, but would guess that yesterday’s storm and heavy rain flushed a lot of the algae downstream.

. . .

Pete

Lake Geneva 8/29/22 through 9/5/22

It’s the calm before the storm. Labor Day weekend is just about here so be prepared for a great deal of boat traffic on the lake. It will be much busier than it has been lately.

Smallmouth bass are starting to come off their sporadic summer pattern and starting to position themselves on the break lines in 15-20 ft. of water. The best presentation I have found is Carolina Rigging, watermelon or root beer colored Arkie crawling grubs or split shotting live night crawlers. Most of the fish being caught are by Coleman’s Point or by Linn Pier. As the water cools the small mouth bass will move shallower and concentrate on the main lake points, like Conference Point, Black Point and Rainbow Point.

Largemouth bass fishing has been all right. Most of the bass are being caught in 12-13 ft. of water. The best bait is night crawlers fished on the split shot rig. A secondary pattern was the split shot rig with 5 inch zoom lizards, green pumkin/chartreuse seemed to produce the most. Many of the fish being caught were on the Geneva Bay break line or by Coleman’s Point.

Northern Pike fishing has been average. The fish are still deep but are starting to move shallow. Most of the northerns being caught this past week have been in 35-40 ft. of water. They are not as concentrated as they were in mid-August. Six inch chubs seem to be the best approach when fished on a lindy rig. Chubs will out fish the suckers about 5 to 1 right now. The best locations have been Cedar Point, the Narrows and Covenant Harbor point.

Walleye fishing has been very good. Some are still being caught at night in about 13 ft. of water. They are still associating with the weed flats. Crank baits or crawler harnesses remain the best approach. Look for them in Fontana Beach or Trinkes. Remember wind is still the key to success.

Panfish continue to be a constant bite. The key to catching them is a live night crawler fished on the split shot rig. The depth has been 10-13 ft. of water for the most action. I’ve caught good fish pretty much in every spot I’ve been fishing for bass.

Good luck and I hope to see you on the water. For guide parties, please call Dave Duwe at 608-883-2050.

Fishing Report – 8/28/2022

Mike Norris

Big Green Lake – Smallmouth fishing slowed down in the past week, so I spent most of my time focusing on and catching Big Green Lake’s oversized bluegills. Northern pike are also active, and I am catching them live bait rigging at or just above the thermocline. Troll just above the thermocline (30 to 35 deep) at a half mile an hour with a one-ounce slip sinker rigged twenty-four inches ahead of a 2/0 hook baited with a live sucker minnow.

Fox Lake – A local angler caught a fifty-one-inch muskie last week on this popular Doge County Lake. September is the best month on the lake to fish for muskies. Bass fishing is slow right now but should improve with cooler weather. A few anglers are catching crappies drifting across the basin of the lake with a split shot and minnow.

Hi Dale - Heidecke lake experienced even more pressure than normal with High School tournaments starting up. Good luck to these kids fishing competitively going forward.The Smallmouth were taking bladed jigs along with Rapala crainkbaits fished close to shore on riprap. I also caught a few on finesse baits along windy side of lake, the calm water is Less effective. The Bass were in good shape but smaller at around 2.5 lbs or under. Lake still has a summer stain and water temps were around 76.

Hey Dale,

Here is a recap of this past weeks fishing.

. . .

Heidecke lake-water temps are 76-77 with very little visibility. Throw top water baits at first light for smallmouth. Swim baits and spider grubs have been the most consistent bite.

Here is the nature pic of the week [below]. Sunrise on Heidecke.

TTYL

—

Ken Husker O’Malley

Husker Outdoors Waterwerks fishing team

Pete Riedesel (see Fishin Friend Guide Service on Facebook) texted the photo above and this:

How about that for a river surprise

Coho 14 .6 lbs caught by Mike Beirman on the Catchem Plenty III

Good morning Dale, Salmon and Trout being caught here and there, I hear of at least 1 a day. They seem to be jumping more also. There has been a big number of Northerns being caught. I have no Perch reports. Smallmouth still being caught by those fishing for them. Have a great week.

37 fish this morning from Chicago. 26-lb king

Lotta little cohos

Hi Dale. Your article this week about the huge coho was incredibly timed for me. About the exact time you posted it, Timothy Fee from Chicago landed a new boat record coho at over 15 pounds. The picture is attached. It came on a wire diver out 110 in 120 feet of water off Waukegan on a Stubbie dodger and white Stanley fly.

Fishing was excellent for both coho and lakers off Waukegan. Most of the coho were to the North, off the Illinois State Beach Hotel in 150 to 190 feet. There were occasional kings, lakers, steelhead, pinks and a rare brown trout there too. White or Aqua spoons and flys were best 25 to 60 down on downriggers and lead and copper lines. White flys behind chrome flashers or dodgers and Warrior spoons in Wonderbread, Spoiler, Hey Babe and any green/white combos worked.

Quick limits of huge laker trout are being taken to the South in 110-140. We had several over 20#. Jimmy Fly Mo rigs in Yellow Guy, Green Guy and blue green were great. 300 foot coppers with Magnum Warrior spoons in white or aqua, patterns of Hey Babe, Spoiler, and Two Face all worked well.

And the harbor is starting. Some smaller kings are coming in at night. Unfortunately I think the king run will be below average. But the cohos will come in soon after and I expect one of the best coho runs in Illinois history. This is the first year I can ever remember the boats specifically targeting coho instead of kings because of both the quality and quantity. I guarantee you will get anglers emailing you photos of their kings and they will be huge coho. I think lots of shore fishermen’s personal best coho will be taken this fall.

Capt. Scott Wolfe

schooloffishcharters.com 630-341-0550

Hi Dale. In England carp fishing is the thing. My grandson, Bode, (who lives near London) is happy with this catch!

Last place I’d want to live as a fisherman! Give me the Libertyville Fishing Club and our 20 outings each year any day!

I generally fly fish for esox and bass now and rarely use my bait casters.

This came while fishing for walleye and panfish. Not sure why I bother actively fishing for them when I get em like this most of the time. I guess I’m chasing the once in a lifetime trophy.

1/16 oz weedless jig with half a crawler

4 lb test on a light weight spinning rod.

Caught a perch, watched the musky chase it to the boat, dropped 4’ of rod into water and figure eighted nine or ten times before the rod bent over. From the way it came out I could tell it was a taker and not just a follow. they are always hooked in the top corner of mouth and are easy to release. One of the cooler ways I’ve caught a musky. Go pro does great stuff with fish pictures. Only 32+.

Walleye fishing fair, small mouth have been decent the last couple weeks( a number of 18-20 footballs) Expecting the patterns to shift soon as the birds, animals and trees are slowly showing signs of autumn in the Northwoods.

Watching baby loons trying to figure out how to fish and take flight is fascinating. Let’s just say some kids are not as quick to learn as others. In fact they can be very needy of their parents. One baby will go down and grab fish while the other waits to be fed. With that said loons are incredible parents. Lots of mushrooms everywhere. I think I relate to the old man in the woods that’s growing next to the cabin.

Acorns dropping over a deck with metal furniture can be annoying and sometimes dangerous if you sit in the wrong spot.

H

Some midweek sun pushed surface temps into the upper 70’s. Lots of sun and little wind made things tough for some anglers chasing Walleye, but some other species responded well to the warmth.

Bluegill: Very Good-Good – Good numbers and size being found in 8-12’ cabbage beds that are not showing signs of dying back. Fan cast small #0 Mepps, 1/32 beetle spins to locate (odd how they aren’t all over). Yet once found, these loose schools of Gills an be really fun on slip-bobbers and worms. Two-three feet down at weed top level. Most of these fish have been nice eaters (7-8) not your run of the mill dock Sunnys!

Largemouth Bass: Good-Very Good – Action seemed to have slowed from past couple weeks. Late mornings through afternoons best using Wacky Worms and jig/creature baits. Those hotter evenings did provide good top-water action. Despite less than top level action, Largemouth Bass still one of the most active bites this past week.

Smallmouth Bass: Good – Need to search a bit as they move back and forth between rock humps and coontail edges. Changes lake to lake and day to day. Ned jigs used to work TRD Worms and Crawz have been good. Drop-shotting 3 Wackys or 2 ½ Gulp Alive Minnows or even 2 ½ - 3 live muds or chubs working best.

Northern Pike: Good – Finally some good reports from guide Jason Heindl using spinnerbaits and #3 Mepps over green (or brown cabbage) weeds. Tops a 32 er with enough action to make things interesting.

Musky: Good-Fair – Fish location dependent on lake type. Big, deep lakes finding fish suspended following schools of bait fish. Shallower lakes, fish being found along both inside and outside weed edges. Smity’s new Wizard Spell bucktail has been hot with fish up to 45 this past week.

Crappie: Fair – Tall weed beds of 10-12’ mixed with grass. Cast tiny tubes, tinsel jigs or cover area with small minnows under floats. On Flowages, work wood, but keep in mind loose schools found cruising flats. Try drifting slip-floats with medium fats at varying depth until you can lock in.

Yellow Perch: Fair-Good – Mixed reports, usually being caught while fishing cabbage of 5-8’ using jig and crawler meant for Walleyes.

Walleye: Fair – Best on the larger lakes working 27-30’ gravel edges using chubs or whole crawlers on 1/4 - 3/8 oz jigs. When fishing these depths and deeper be careful to work fish up slowly. With the protected slots it’s more important than ever to protect those spawners!

Weather forecast looks good for the holiday weekend. Some cooler temps (highs in the 70’s Sat/Sun – 80 degrees on Monday should make for an enjoyable weekend on the water.

Kurt Justice

Kurt’s Island Sport Shop - Like us on Facebook

Kings, coho and a steelhead here and there are in close out of burns ditch and Michigan city fish 35 to 45 ft mag moonshine spoons and j plugs fished 30ft to bottom.

Kids in school kinda quiet

Labor Day weekend and Labor Day same hours here at slezs bait shop 5am to 6pm

Hi dale the signs of the season of change are here and in the north woods. Here the acorns are falling and the first nighthawks were seen yesterday. On island lake the fish were more active and hitting fathead minnows and live worms. My neighbor jim finally broke through on the bass and I added another species; a hybrid striper. Gills also good early and late in the day.

I returned to the north woods and the forest tansy and goldenrod or heralding the coming fall. Friday the conditions on the Wisconsin river Alexander flowage were as close to perfect as I’ve ever seen. I continued my quest to catch a muskie on a wacky rigged senko. I only got smallmouth but they were good size and fought hard. Best color for the wacky rig was green pumpkin with purple and green glitter. A few trees are showing color change and it won’t be long till more color comes to the north woods.

On the music front a show with Midnite Mile on Friday in Mundelein with fireworks to follow... one more Summer blowout before the cool change comes.