Chicago fishing: Take a sample of the area's full spring variety

May 4, 2024

Monroe Harbor break wall

Angler, Orlando Tardi

4 lbs 11 oz

Right time, right place in the Lake County preserves. From the deep edge (not from the well-guarded beds).

We should have a way of protecting the bass spawn.

Ever see a Rock bass this big?

Crisanto Cortez my first walleye ever he said while crappie fishing with my good friend Moe Perez with a nice crappie who helped him land the walleye measured it it was 21” and weighed 4 1/2 pounds #you like that hook set man!! Tampier lake

Hey I finally got a nice one on a crankbait, enjoy your weekend Dale.Rico Cantu

Crappies biting in inner city lagoons. You got to search for them and a lot of little guys which holds well for the future, but occasionally you’ll get something that surprises you!

Water levels are great with the amount of spring rains we have been getting. Bass spawning in full swing on most waters. Bluegill will be right behind them. Warming days has an early top water bite started.

Hey Dale,Here’s a recap from the last few days on lakes south of the I-80 corridor. Water temps have climbed into the upper 60’s. Bass are are in the middle of the spawn. I found males on beds with a few females still up courting. Best bait has been a stick worm on a Vector hooks 2/0 cut ssw. FINS Braids windtamer braid is the perfect match for this finesse presentation.Crappie are still on the spawn with some males on beds. The females are out in the main basin roaming and recouping. Early morning and evening they are easy to find as they are pinning bait fish up to the surface . The best bait has been an IJO Plastics pannie crawler. Bluegill will be starting as well in the next week or so.. . . TTYLKen “Husker” O’MalleyHusker OutdoorsWaterwerks fishing team

Hi Dale,Kane County Forest Preserves: I fished what is likely the smallest pond they have and some of the bigger lakes. When targeting bluegills, I caught largemouths; for whatever reason, they were interested in the small wet flies I usually use for bluegills and brook trout. When targeting largemouths on the bigger lakes, I got into a school of black crappies. Everything is getting active about now; the next few weeks should be prime.

Hi Dale,

The beautiful spring weather has the tulips and daffodils giving way to the bearded iris. Birds continue to frolic as geese tend to their goslings all around the lake.

My brother in law Tom Mccluskey came by Saturday to celebrate his retirement from teaching. He landed a big bluegill on as he says deadsticking a red worm on a plain hook. A rosebreasted grossbeak surprised us with an appearance at the feeder. I told him that was a hard bird to see and showed him the field guide with the bird on the cover. The bass are moving through the spawn and bluegill are making beds. Friday night i splashed the boat so the trailer was ready for scheduled maintenance Saturday morning. I caught one of my biggest bass from the lakle so far. A big female hit the wacky rigged senko like a freight train and i was glad i had a net. As i released the fish someone in the home above was tapping the window in approval. Saturday the bite was atiil good for bass until the storm hit. A real nice time now to catch multiple species on island lake.

I’m looking forward to my yearly trip to Millelacs Lake in Minnesota and the state size record smallmouth.

On the music front we will be doing some Sunday afternoon music sessions at Austins in Libertyville with the conscious rockers or as a duo trio or solo. Should be interesting and fun to get back to the roots of things. Gozortenplat still has a possibility of opening for the banned from utopia at shank hall in Milwaukee in addition to other scheduled shows. Midnite mile june 8th at mso in waucanda. Conscious rockers june 7 at mso. And the family fest at lily lake july 20 with midnite mile. Should be a rocking great summer

Tight lines and good health! Rob

Dale, here are a few Hybrids we caught in Braidwood today. The bite was hot and heavy early this morning. Caught 6 by the time the bite ended.Thanks!Steve Black

Hi Dale - Braidwood lake fishing Saturday with a couple keepers. Hot side in 80s low side mid 70s. Lake is still hit with pressure of high school tournaments and local tournaments as well so bass are skittish but can be caught using jigs with craw tails and crainkbaits. Main forage is shad along with crayfish, lures matching that can fool a feeding bass pressure or not. Catch weigh and release.

As for the Chicago River Really active after the rain, managed alot of Rock Bass and White Bass on a drop shot with a fathead minnow, these white Bass were chunky, alot hitting between 1 and 1.5 lbs

Same with the Carp, shout out to our fishing member “Big” Ben for joining the 30 lb club.

Delavan Lake 5-4-24 through 5-12-24Opening Day has arrived. The best action continues to be the pan fish. The bluegills are biting in the shallow water about 3-4 feet. The best locations are the boat launch channel, the outlet near the dam, and near Lake Lawn Lodge. The best approach is a single hook with a bobber, fishing red worms or leaf worms. The bluegills are a few weeks away from spawning due to the cool spring.Crappie fishing has been good. The best success has been in front of Lake Lawn or near Township Park. The fish are suspended in 8-10 ft. of water. Two presentations have been producing the most fish. The first is a small 1/32 oz. Jig fished with a small Twister tail, white and yellow seem to be the best colors. The second is slip bobber fishing for them with small minnows.Walleye fishing is a bit slow right now. Some nice fish are being caught on slip bobbers in 8-9 ft. of water. The fish are just ending their spawn and will start to move out onto the weedlines. The best bait for this week are large fat head minnows. Check locations such as Willow Point, the Yacht Club point and Browns Channel.Largemouth Bass can be readily found in a pre-spawn pattern. The best depth is 3-4 ft. There is a lot of fish activity in the outlet and in Lake Lawn Harbor. The fish can be seen cruising all over, however, they aren’t biting that well. Like the bluegills, the bass should be spawning in the next few weeks, so the sight fishermen should start having great success.Northern Pike fishing has been really good in the weedy bays by Viewcrest and the Highlands. A lot of success is coming off of white spinner baits or trolling shallow diving crank baits. Work a water depth of 8-10 ft for the best action.Good Luck and I hope to see you on the water, for guide parties, please call Dave Duwe at 262-728-8063.

Hello Dale,. . . I was out on the lake this past Sunday for my first outing of the year and managed to catch 3 bass in spite of the 20 mph gusts that Mother Nature was doling out. This is the first time I’ve had an opportunity to fish Hennepin Hopper this early in the season. I was fishing over the submerged lily pads with a Berkley Stunna and a soft swim bait and got these two.It’s my understanding that the Musky are getting active. One of the regulars that I know to boated 2 on opening day.Tight lines,Gene JarkaPrinceton Illinois

I haven’t heard any good reports from bass anglers this year [2023], but the folks chasing crappie and catfish have done well. Finding the old ditches that are now underwater and fishing the bottoms for catfish or the vertical sides for crappie seems to be the strategy.

Hi Dale,A lot to report: things really picked up this week. I fished a couple of tributaries of the Fox late last week and over the weekend, before and after some heavy rain. Water levels rose to be sure, but not by too much; clarity was barely affected. The water was surprisingly cold; had I tried to wet-wade, it would’ve been a very brief outing. In addition to the smaller males that were around last week, some of the big girls have shown up: I got several fish in the 15-16 inch range. There were bigger fish than that on active redds-I gave them a wide berth and avoided the nests. Speaking of nests, I was a little surprised at the locations chosen. I thought it would be like salmon and steelhead: on a gravel bottom in flowing water to keep the nest free of silt that would suffocate the eggs. But all the nests I saw were in “frog water,” right next to the bank with almost no current at all. The fish had to clear out a lot of silt and algae to get down to the gravel substrate. It didn’t seem like prime areas, but they’ve been doing this successfully for a long time, so I probably shouldn’t be too concerned by it. A few days later on a different tributary, I found decent numbers of fish working their ways upstream to spawn. They were willing to hit topwaters in the warmer water.

Catfishing is very good on the Fox River, use cut bait or stink bait. Walleye are done spawning but can be caught on an extra large fathead minnow on a jig head. I like gold or chartreuse.

Lake Geneva 5/4/24 through 5/12/24With the up and down temperatures, the lake remains pretty cold which is causing some inconsistent fishing. The best bite on the lake is perch and largemouth bass. Stable weather is predicted and that will help turn on the smallmouth bass and bluegills.Largemouth bass have been biting in the shallows in 3-4 ft of water. The best location has been Trinkes or Abbey Harbor. They can be caught on a split shot rigged nightcrawler or a green pumpkin Senko. With the chilly weather over the weekend, you need to fish really slow to get the bite.Yellow perch were biting in 6-10 ft of water. Small minnows fished beneath a slip bobber were the best approach. The best location was Belvidere Park or Rainbow Point. Overall the fish have been on the small size at 6-7 inches. You needed to catch a bunch to sort through to find decent keepers.Smallmouth bass have been spotty. Most of the fish are caught in 15-20 ft of water suspended about 5-10 ft of water. The fish are near their spawing flats. Look for the fish by the Elgin Club, the Military Academy or Crawfords Bar. The best approach is a white hair jig swam just underneath the surface of the water. The fish are chasing the pods of minnows so once you find the minnows the bass are sure to follow.Bluegill action has been slow. They are being caught in the shallows on leaf worms. The best location has been the Abbey Harbor and Trinkes or down in Geneva Bay by the Riviera. Look for the fish in 3-4 ft of water.Some northern pike are being caught in the weeds in 6-10 ft of water. The fish are being caught on slip bobber rigged suckers. The best location has been in Williams Bay or the beach in Fontana. I’ve been putting out quite a few rods to try and catch them. The best presentation is to anchor your boat and fan cast the area.Good luck and I hope to see you on the water. For guide parties, please call Dave Duwe at 262-728-8063.

Fishing Report – 5/6/2024

Big Green Lake: Walleyes are post-spawn, and early in the morning is a great time to fish for them with leeches suspended beneath a float. Or try trolling for them with crankbaits in 8 – 12 feet of water on sunny days. Bluegills can be caught under the piers in Beyer’s Cove with a red worm and float. Try chatterbaits for largemouth bass in the T-Channels. The water temperature is 53 degrees.

Little Green Lake: Weeds are developing quickly, and walleyes are active along the weed lines. Also, cast jig and minnow combinations along rocky shorelines and the submerged reef in the lake’s northern half.

Beaver Dam Lake: Shore anglers are doing well below the Beaver Lake Dam for nice-sized crappies. Walleyes are post-spawn. Try a jig and minnow along the rock-strew islands that dot the lake.

Lake Puckaway: Both largemouth and smallmouth bass remain active in the various lake channels and up in the Fox River. But the lake is starting to weed up badly, which can hamper presentations.

Hi Dale,

Keith the ‘Flyguy’ here, These are 2 smallies from this afternoon. Caught 10 minutes apart off the beach! Although there was a Northeast wind coming down the lake, the beaches were pretty clear and I could see the Bass cruising above the rocks just beyond the shore. So these fish were sightcast at!

Hi Dale. So managed to get out to Burnham for some Birthday Fish, it didn’t disappoint, went 5 for 6, biggest being shy of 4 lbs, started with a Ned Pod with a Googan Craw and never changed it

Hi,

This is transition time. Coho are moving out and moving north, so very slow here on shore, off shore well that’s a totally different story. Boat guys doing great.. Perch closed. Smallmouth are about the only thing to report. They are getting better day by day.

Have a great week!

Waukegan 5/6Hi Dale. Waukegan continues to be blazing hot. Coho are from Evanston to almost Sheboygan in Hughes numbers. Our boats in Waukegan limited out every trip this week. 30 to 50 feet anywhere at all. Everything on peanut Jimmy Fly Trolling Flys, Two Tone, New and Improved Two tone, Oz and Almost Oz. Any fly with Dark green was great. a key. Get the kids, new fishermen, folks that need quick action out now. They will be hooked.Capt Scott Wolfe312-933-0552

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) today announced that a new walleye regulation will go into effect on the Minocqua Chain of Lakes beginning May 7, 2024.

Through the approval of emergency rule FH-03-24(E) at a special Natural Resources Board Meeting held virtually on May 2, 2024, the current walleye catch and release season on the Minocqua Chain of Lakes in Oneida County will change to a daily bag limit of one walleye that is at least 18 inches in length, but fish between 22 and 28 inches cannot be kept. This slot limit exception aims to preserve walleye that can make the biggest impact on the fish’s spawning success and population growth.

The Minocqua Chain of Lakes includes Jerome, Kawaguesaga, Little Tomahawk, Mid, Minocqua, Mud and Tomahawk lakes, the Minocqua and Tomahawk thoroughfares and connecting waters. This regulation change will promote fair and equitable use of the walleye resource during the 2024 fishing season.

The 2024 Inland Gamefish Opener is in the books. Nice weather, compared to most openers, greeted early morning anglers the first day until the skies opened up late morning. Water temps of 46 degrees (large, deep lakes) to 52 degrees (smaller lakes and flowages) greeted open morning anglers. The urge to go shallow from past experiences (or reading this fishing post) did NOT pan out for most of us. Yet, Walleyes were caught and a LOT of anglers were out on the water!Walleye: Good – With most bodies of water in the “post spawn” time frame for Walleye, it was expected they would have the feed bag on in the shallows, gorging on young Perch and minnows. While some reports of success on smaller Walleyes in tight, better catches came from somewhat deeper water, many in 12-15’. Many of these fish were full of Mayfly larvae rooted out of the mud. Air temps fell overnight into Sunday, crept up, fell again into Monday then surged with the sunshine to reach into upper 50’s. Activity in the shallower water picked up, not fast and furious, but a show of what’s to come. Live bait in the form of large fatheads, Dace minnows, leeches (and even wigglers on a slip-float) a few anglers found Walleyes hitting #6 Flicker Shads and #6 Shad Raps over 10-15’ flats next to breaks. On larger, cooler lakes, Lindy rigging chubs or suckers (3-5”) in 18-25’ off known spawning habitat worked best.Northern Pike: Good – Not a lot targeted on purpose, but plenty of incidental catches on minnow/chub and jig presentations. Big River Shiners under a float good at this time of year. As focus spreads from Walleye, we will get more reports.Crappie: Fair-Good – Very temperature oriented, warm afternoon best. Hanging in 6-10’ weeds, yet moving into shallows at the warmest parts of the day to soak up some sun.Largemouth Bass: Fair - Not much attention, but like Crappies and Gills, moving up tight during warm spells. Wacky worms, jig and creature and swim jigs around shoreline cover.Yellow Perch: Fair - Few nice Perch (8-10”) picked up by shallow water Walleye anglers. Action should improve as these fish spawned after Walleye and should be getting hungry.Smallmouth Bass: Fair - Not being targeted. Still catch and release only until June.Bluegill: Poor-Fair - No reportsWhile the opener wasn’t as action packed as some others, there is still a very good post spawn bite building.In other news…Due to an emergency rule meeting with the Natural Resource Board and Department of Natural Resources last Thursday (5/2) and lightening fast signing from the Governor’s office, the Lake Tomahawk/Lake Minocqua Chain is open as of this writing (5/7) for hook and line angling for Walleye. Bag limit of 1 (18-22”) on the Chain per day.Kurt JusticeKurt’s Island Sports Shop– Like us on Face

Coho action from east Chicago to Michigan city has been all over the place from good to ok to slow slow. Some days best is 15 to 25ft of water down the beach other days 40 to 50 feet. Dodgers and flys and spoons best.

Crappie on lake George in Hobart using minnows.

Valpo chain of lakes starting to give up decent numbers of gills using crickets and red wigglers.

When coho fishing is slow plenty of lakers near bottom in 70 to 85ft of water from burns ditch to Michigan City.

The lilacs are starting to bloom, and that means it’s white bass time. The fish are hitting a variety of baits, flies, spinners, crank baits, plastics, and the old stand by, minnows. Walleye action is fair, crawlers working best.