Midwest Fishing Report: Lakes and rivers around Chicago fishing

– ANDERSON LAKE is CLOSED TO BOAT FISHING for the season– BANNER MARSH IS CLOSED TO BOAT FISHING AND AS OF OCT. 31st, BANK FISHING ONLY ALLOWED AFTER 1PM but NO FISHING ALLOWED in EAST POINT ACCESS AREA , which is CLOSED TO ALL FISHING to provide a GOOSE REFUGE AREA during season till Feb. 1st– DOUBLE T STATE FISH and WILDLIFE AREA IS CLOSED TO FISHING for the season and remains Closed till APRIL 1st, 2014– EMIQUON PRESERVE during waterfowl hunting season fishing is allowed only between Noon and sunset.– EVERGREEN LAKE – A SOUTHERN PART OF Lake AROUND DEER ISLAND and ALL OF SIX-MILE CREEK BAY IS CLOSED TO GAS MOTORS from Oct. 15th through JAN. 1st to allow for resting areas for migratory waterfowl. YOU ARE ALLOWED TO STILL RUN A TROLLING MOTOR IN THESE AREAS ONLY. – Also, the ENTIRE lake and park, with the exception of the campground, is CLOSED to general use Nov. 22-24 and Dec. 5-8 for the Deer Management Program.– RICE LAKE is CLOSED to boat fishing till end of Duck & Goose season– SNAKEDEN HOLLOW including McMASTER LAKE IS CLOSED TO FISHING for the Season till Feb. 1st– SPRING LAKE (South & North) IS CLOSED TO BOAT FISHING in Waterfowl Hunting Area with BANK FISHING ALLOWED ONLY AFTER 1pm– And Closed to shore fishing in hunting areas on Oct. 26th.. AREAS THAT REMAIN OPEN TO BOATS ARE NORTH OF MAPLE ISLAND with ramp at north end at the Sky Ranch Road launch and IN PIKE HOLE with carry in boats -On December 25th boat fishing and shore fishing in the waterfowl hunting area will be allowed after 1:00 p.m. through the end of Canada Goose season.– CLINTON LAKE the easterly area of Clinton Lake between the DeWitt (CH14) and the 48 bridges is CLOSED FROM OCT. 10th through MARCH 31st to protect fish and wildlife. It will Re-OPEN April 1st..– POWERTON LAKE IS CLOSED TO BOAT FISHING and CLOSES TO SHORE FISHING and ALL FISHING ON OCT. 26th (Last day for Shore fishing is Oct. 25th) and REOPENS TO SHORE FISHING ONLY ON DEC. 23rd AND NO BOAT FISHING till FEB. 15th– SANGCHRIS LAKE THE WEST and EAST ARMS OF LAKE and Small AREA NEAR DAM Are CLOSED DURING WATERFOWL SEASONto boat traffic through Jan. 31, 2014 (during this time fishing boat traffic is permitted in the center hot arm only).And the Entire lake will be CLOSED Nov. 22-24 and Dec. 5-8th due to firearm deer hunting on adjacent properties.The exception will be for hunting programs with restricted usage during this time period.For more info, contact site office at 217/498-9208 from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

River flow is a bit above normal , river is starting to freeze again in areas of lesser gradients. The slushy stuff to floating ice chunks are back in the water that did open up in those stretches. There are still places to fish and the access has improved with most of the snow gone from parking areas. The only trip where I caught anything so far was today{Monday}. Basically it was swimming boot tailed plastics on a jig slowly above the bottom. Multi species. pike, walleye and smallmouth at an inflow and the nearby area. Norm

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: — Lincoln Park Lagoon from the Fullerton Avenue Bridge to the southern end of the Lagoon, — Waukegan Harbor (in North Harbor basin only), — Winnetka Power Plant discharge area, — Jackson Harbor (Inner and Outer Harbors)

Weather has been up and down here in the Northwoods a bit lately. High pressure and low temps (-9 to -20 degrees last night) put fish and anglers not in a good mood to bite or fish. Windows of opportunity spring up. Monday’s higher temps, lower barometer and better fishing follows. Pike: Good-Very good. Big suckers and chubs have been the choice4 on tip-ups. Anglers fishing the typical weeds of 8-12’ reported good action with nice fish. A pair of 35 silver pike (no spots) were iced yesterday. Another group caught 43 pike in 4 hours using tip-ups in a bay near incoming stream. Walleyes: Fair-Good. Some trophy fish over the weekend (which saw otherwise slow fishing) included catches of a 26, 27, 28 and 30 ½ by anglers mostly on tip-ups after dark. Action improved on Monday. Walleye suckers for the deeper fish (14-22’) as well as jigging raps in sizes #7 and #9. Anglers fishing the flowages and shallower lakes having better success on shiners and large rosies (slip-float rigs). Perch: Good-Very good. Angler plying slightly deeper waters (25-30’) catching nice perch on Swedish Pimples, Kastmasters tipped with waxies/wigglers. Up on weed bars small rosies used to tempt 9 plus perch. Crappies: Fair-Very Good. This species, as is typical, has been weather dependent. High skies and cold have brought poor catches requiring anglers to finesse with small #3 tungsten jigs tipped with tiny plastics to entice reluctant bites. On the other hand, days with warmer temps and clouds have anglers doing good on tip-downs with minnows as well as horizontal plastic jigs. Lots of good fish including a 16er this past weekend. Bluegills: Good. Better weather, better bites. Small #12 to #10 rockers tipped with single spike or plastics in 6-8’ bays. Nice catches of 7+ fish on Monday after a tough bite over the weekend. Largemouth Bass: Fair-Good. Warmer weather, better bite. Medium to large shiners best over weedy bottoms. Cold temps through Thursday look to be lifting to highs of mid 20 to low 30’s for Friday/Saturday. With new moon coming up for January 1st, combination looks good for anglers heading out to enjoy some holiday fishing. Kurt Justice Kurt’s Island Sport Shop www.kurtsislandsports.com

(Head): Walleye, northern and panfish all putting on a good to excellent bite in the Eagle River, Wisconsin area. The good to excellent early ice fishing continues in the Eagle River, Wisconsin. Ice is good and getting better, although caution is very much advised as snow cover and slush are concerns. Ice thickness varies from around six to 10 inches, and increasing. We are seeing some snowmobiles and ATV’s out on the ice, but the safest bet right now continues to be foot travel. Indeed, give yourself a break from anything but catching fish and having a fun, safe time on the ice: Hire one of Eagle River’s excellent and highly qualified licensed guides. Walleyes in the Eagle River area are off of break edges in 25 feet of water or less. Use a medium shiner or walleye sucker under a tip up, or use a jigging spoon tipped with a fathead minnow. The walleyes are tight to bottom. All day action with peaks at sunset. The bite remains good to excellent. Northern in the Eagle River area are in 10 feet of water or less in and around remaining weeds. Use a medium to large shiner or northern sucker under a tip up. All day action. The bite remains good to excellent. Some Eagle River area ice anglers are finding that fishing deeper at times will here-and-there produce a real lunker northern, but the action will be slower than if you fish somewhat higher in the water column. Panfish (crappies, bluegills and perch) are on mudflats in 15 feet of water or less, in the Eagle River area. Perch are tight to bottom. Crappies and gills are suspending (day and lake dependent) up and down the water column. Use a flasher, as it’ll give you the depth that the crappies and gills are locating at, at any given time and it will save you drilling a lot of holes that won’t produce. Use a waxie, spike or crappie minnow under a small jig or slip bobber. All day action. The bite remains good to excellent.

Hey Dale, Hit the ice on Shabbona yesterday. Ice is at 4 inches with another 1/2 inch to inch of frozen slop on top. I focused mainly on brush piles in 14 fow. I managed good numbers of crappie and bluegill with a bonus bass. All fish were caught on a tungsten jig tipped with colored spikes. It was great to be on the ice in December. I attached a few pics from yesterday. I hope the Bowman family has a Merry Christmas. Husker Outdoors Water Werks Fishing Team