Midwest Fishing Report: Lakes and rivers around Chicago fishing

Hey Dale, Here is a recap from the weekend. Saturday I had the privilege of fishing a farm pond near Montgomery with a good friend. We had a fabulous morning fishing for bass and pike. More than twenty flags went off. It was non stop action until 11 and things went quiet. Fishing the weed lines in 8 feet was key. Ice was sloppy on top with a base of 4 inches. On Sunday I stayed closer to home and fished Wampum (CCFP) lake. Ice was very good at 5 inches. Bluegill and perch were good until the temps stated to drop. Early morning worked depths of 7-8 and gradually went deeper at 11-12. Finding green weed clumps was key. Not much size to the fish but good action all the same. All fish were caught on a tungsten jig tipped with multiple spikes. Attached are a few pics. Hope you and your family have a safe and happy new year Husker Outdoors Water Werks Fishing Team

(Head): Good action for walleye, northern, crappies and bluegills, and catfish hitting; in and amidst the lakes and the Wisconsin River in Wisconsin¹s Marathon and Lincoln Counties (near Mosinee and Wausau). The snow is piling up on the lakes in the central Wisconsin area and travel conditions are becoming an issue when it comes to getting to local ice fishing hotspots, but angers are still proceeding onto the ice and with that, they are doing quite well. The walleye bite in the central Wisconsin area has continued to be very good at nighttime with some decent catches of fish in the 15 to 18 inch range with a few nice fish in the 20+ inch range. Most of these fish are coming on tip-ups in shallow water related to weeds. Northern pike in the central Wisconsin area have been quite aggressive with some dandy fish being reported. Anglers are getting fish on tip-ups baited up with large golden shiners set right under the ice in 3 to 6 feet of water. The crappie and bluegill bite is very good in the central Wisconsin area with nice catches coming form 10 to 16 feet of water on tip-downs baited with small minnows or by anglers jigging small ice jigs and spoons tipped with waxies and spikes. Catfish are showing up more and more on outings in the central Wisconsin area and most of the action is coming from deeper water associated with the main Wisconsin River channel. Now normally you can’t get to the catfish this early in the year but with the early freeze up and good ice, anglers are venturing out to places they don’t normally get to until mid January and they are doing quite well.

Been having decent results the last couple weekends on the river. Its seems to freeze up during the week and then open up on the weekends with those warm ups we’ve had late in the week, just in time for my days off. Pike has been my main focus, they’re really tireless when you do find them this time of year. Clarity has been down so using firetiger and clown colored lures has been my go to. Sunnier days have been best even though something you read in book about fishing might tell you the opposite. I also attribute that to the fact it seems the bite really picks up once you start getting closer to noon. Can’t seem to find any pike at sunrise lately. Well here’s a picture of my last good one of 2013. A really heavy 32inch that jumped 2ft out of the water with out unbuckling somehow. Caught on a J-13 Rapala in firetiger up in Lake County. Marcus Benesch

– 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.– 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 (reopening for boats on Feb. 15), but reopened to shore fishing.– 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). For more info, contact site office at 217/498-9208 from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

River a tad over normal flow, off color, still a lot of ice on slack areas. Second day of a warming trend, nice not to have ice in the guides or chips flying off the line in your face. Overcast, ended up with some rain. As I was driving to the area I was going to fish I saw some herons feeding in an area of water willow bed remnants. I figured they knew better than me, so I joined them, much to their disgust. I started with a weighted keeper hook and an Erie Darter , dragging and dropping into the water willow remnants where I saw minnows hanging out. No dice with that , so I tossed it upstream of a riffle that came off the bed. I let it slide down into the slack spot at the bottom of the front edge of the riffle and let it sit for a bit. On the fourth cast doing that I picked up a decent smallmouth, maybe 16 inches. I didn’t measure as I left it in the water while I popped the hook out. I worked the front and back end of that riffle for about another 20 minutes or so but that was it as far as catching any more fish I continued up, working the outer edge of the willow bed with the jig/darter and may have had a light pick up. if I did, I missed it on the set or was just too slow to react. I worked up to a spot in the bed that was a little deeper, cobblestone and no weeds growing in it. First cast, got another nice smallmouth about the same size as the other. I fished another riffle that was about half a decent cast detatched from the willow bed. No more fishand out of time. norm

Great week till the bottom dropped out of the thermometer. A 62 degree temperature swing from Saturday December 28 through Monday December 30. Anglers were out in force on Saturday enjoying the above freezing temps and the holiday weekend. While there have been some conflicting reports, most reports were of good fishing though out the Lakeland area. Numbers and size was the talk of the weekend. Come Sunday, though, action and participation fell off precipitously. By Monday morning (-29 degrees) very few anglers ventured out. Walleye: Very Good-Fair. What started out as a great bite, slowed way down with the drop in temps, rise in barometer and lack of anglers due to cold temps. A very good bite during the warm days occurred oddly enough from noon till 2pm. Walleyes were found cruising 8-12’ weed flats by day taking shiners meant for pike on tip-ups. Several walleyes from 26 to 29 ½ were caught during that mid-day bite. Evening bites continued for anglers using suckers on tip-ups. Jigging raps, slender spoons and vibratos accounted for good catches also during the warm spell. Pike: Very good-Fair. During the warm spell flags were flying! Lots of good action on tip-ups baited with chubs, suckers and shiners. Big fish active as catches of pike in the 30-40 range were regular. Perch: Good-Fair. Tip-downs with medium fatheads/rosie reds accounted for nice catches of larger perch in 10-12’ weed/wood mix during warm spell. Deep water perch (20’+) taking wigglers presented on Hali jigs, Pimples. Cold slowed the action, but weed bite still produced Monday for angler using minnows inside shacks (too cold for tip-downs). Crappies: Good-Fair. Tip-down action good for crappies during warm spell. Also slow-dropping plastics on #10 rockers in white, chartreuse, and orange. With the cold weather, action stalled. Anglers hunkered in shacks picking up an occasional crappie on 3mm tungsten jigs with tiny red or purple plastic tail. Bluegills: Good-Poor. Warm weather promoted active fish and fishermen alike. Good catches using Gill Pills or Gill Getters tipped with waxies, spikes or mousses. Lots of action with enough eaters from the 7-10’ weeds to make effort worth it. With the cold, few anglers willing to target gills. Largemouth Bass: Very good-poor. The action for bass during the warm spell was exceptional, as expected during times of warmer temps. Few anglers target bass through the ice up here, yet they make their presence felt hitting shiners and suckers meant for walleyes and pike as well as jigging raps and spoons tipped with meat, but, the cold shut them down. This extreme cold is scheduled to lift by the weekend, with Saturday being the warmest. Hopefully with temps in the 20’s and a dip in the barometer, the bite will return to what it was last weekend. Kurt Justice Kurt’s Island Sport Shop www.kurtsislandsports.com

(Head): Northern bite excellent, with walleye and panfish good to excellent in the Eagle River, Wisconsin area. Ice conditions continue to improve in the Eagle River area. We’re seeing 6-10 inches of ice on most lakes, with some lakes running 12 inches +. We prefer to be conservative in our estimates. There is some snow cover and slush in limited areas. Snowmobiles, ATV’s and foot travel are all getting anglers out on the ice. A FEW are starting to try motor vehicles on the ice. Our guide sources strongly recommend not using motor vehicles at this time. We’ll keep you closely posted on when we are confident that the ice is safe for cars and trucks. A reminder that the Eagle River area has a wealth of excellent/qualified/licensed guides who will take you out on the ice, making sure of your safety, while having a lot of fun catching fish in the Eagle River area (ice fishing remains very good to excellent). Northern in the Eagle River area are in 10 feet of water or less in and around remaining weeds. Use medium to large shiners or northern suckers under a tip up, All day action and the bite is excellent (you’ll probably catch larger northerns fishing deeper, but the action will be less). Walleye in the Eagle River area are off of break edges and over adjacent mud flats in 30 feet of water or less. The walleye are tight to bottom. Use a small to medium shiner or walleye sucker under a tip up, or try a jigging spoon tipped with a minnow head. All day action, with peaks in the evening. Bite has been good to excellent. Panfish (crappies, bluegills and perch) are on mud flats in 15 feet of water or less. The perch are tight to bottom, with the crappies and gills suspending (save yourself time and hard work drilling lots of holes by using electronics- – a flasher – -to locate the depth that the fish are suspending at on any given day, as the depth will vary). Use a waxie, spike or crappie minnow on a small jig or under a slip bobber. All day action and the bite is good to excellent.

Ice conditions are still improving around the area. Panfish, pike action has been good