Crappie, Ovid, coho, Wisconsin opener: Chicago fishing, Midwest Fishing Report

I know how you like pictures of fish with the city in them so here is Coach Ron [Ashlaw], the head basketball coach at The Waukegan, with an 11 pound steelhead caught right next to the lighthouse this morning. It was part of a quick 15 fish limit this morning. Tons of bait and tons of cohos between Burnham Harbor and the light house. There is less up north by Evanston.

Some off the piers and boats,,,,,till the weatjer got shirty!😞

Hi Dale I hope this isn’t late. I’ll make it quick. As you likely know the coho fishing off Chicago is as good as it gets now. The run is probably at its peak with coho stacked around Chicago light and the breakwall. Most are coming on peanut flies behind 00 red or yellow dodgers. I’ve heard about every different color for the flies that are made. Each boat seems to have their favorites. Fishing out of Waukegan was good, not great. Boats have been running to Great Lakes Navy base and south of there. Very nice catches of coho and big lake trout with occasional kings, browns and steelhead. Cohos have been in really shallow, 20 feet with the trout just outside of them. Black Liz and June Bug (iridescent black) Jimmy Fly trolling flies were best for us. The lakers moved from a Mo Rig (which is a Spin-N-Glo in front of a Jimmy Fly skirt) to a spoon bite. Most of our lakers came on Carmel Dolphin and Blue Glo pattern Warriors in Standard size and Flutter XL on leadcore presentations and downriggers. Sorry – I didn’t get any shore reports this week. Capt. Scott Wolfe School of Fish Charters 630-341-0550 www..schooloffishcharters.com

Coho fishing around gAry light great over weekend with few kings mixed in dodger fly and thinfish and spoons best baits fish too 12 ft of waterKing bite good for some just east of the doughnut to just west of the pink house down around Michigan city40 to 60 ft of water spoons and spindoctors and Flys best on riggers 200 coppers and dipsey fishing fishing mid way down

Currently………. Saganashki Slough…… wading for crappie….. STROKE !!!

Dale Bowman….. ya Diggg

Enjoying some Cook County Forest Preserve action with this beautiful white crappie @BowmanOutside @mullady21 @FPDCC @CrappieCrazycom @CrappieFishnJou

10:32 PM – 6 May 2019

Hey Dale, Here is a recap of this past week’s fishing.Area lakes- it was time intitiate high water techniques. Throwing lipless cranks and chatter baits parellel to the shoreline. Working the baits tight to shore is key. Emerging reeds held the most active fish. Also focus on in-flows and work the current seams.TTYL—Ken Husker O’Malley Husker Outdoors Waterwerks fishing team

Hi Dale, . . . On a local lake (on the Kane/DuPage border) last night, even in the stiff east winds and falling temperatures, bluegills were very active. They were aggressively hitting a foam hopper on the surface-a lot of fun on a 2 weight rod.

Hi Dale What a few days it has been since last Friday. The Penny Road Pub was a stoned gas. Our old saxophone player Chris Silver Conn Buchanan joined us on sax and she always brings it. Then On Saturday it was on To Braidwood to test the boat to make sure all systems were go for the Sectionals on Monday. With battery issues at the launch myself and Joe The Grasseater Schatz were again fishing the shoreline at Braidwood. As is becoming a regularity with Joe a big Bass came to hand. Again it was the squarebill crankbait getting the action. The Exelon Fishing for a cure was going on Saturday at Braidwood with 75 boats participating. Some reported a tougher bite. The winning weight was 10.07 lbs for 3 bass. The big bass of the event was a 4.42lb Largemouth. Lots of anglers flipping shaky heads with plastics. Water temps soaring into the high 80s. Sunday Braidwood was the site for the second Anglers Choice Braidwood division with 26 boats participating. The tourney was won by William Loftus and T. Christy. 4th place went to Frank Monnett and Chuck Sabia. Next event for Anglers Choice will be May 19th at Braidwood North Launch. The highlight of the extended weekend was the IHSA Bass Fishing Sectionals on Monday at Tampier Lake. My Leyden High School squad managed to land a fish and bring it to the scales. A 1.03 largemouth never looked so big. The event was won by St. Patricks with a strong showing by Taft High School. We took 7th out of 14 boats and I was very proud of my two anglers in their first competition. A big thanks goes out to Jim Phillips for getting things organized in the change of venue from Skokie Lagoons to Tampier. It was all topped off with a generous helping of Chauncey Nizol as the weigh master M.C. … Simply stupendous!!! If this is just the beginning of the season it is going to be quite memorable.Tight linesRob

To facilitate ongoing construction operations at the Stratton-Bolger facility, the lock will be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays (with the exception of Memorial Day on Monday, May 27) during the months of May and June. During the months of May and June, IDNR lock tenders will operate the lock on Wednesdays through Sundays from 8:00 a.m. until midnight.

Chicago River and Lake Michigan Report, Sorry I haven’t done a report for a couple weeks had a lot of things to get accomplished and missed the deadline. There really isn’t much of a report on the River due to it being high and dirty right now with all the rain we have had. My season is a bit behind at this point last year I started the end of January, this year I’m still on the trailer. I really don’t want to start until I get a chance to fish it a week or so to find my spots and fish. We need to a have some steady stable weather and the fish will start to move. The Lake is producing some Trout and Salmon from shore and by boat. Water temps are still down so fishing should really start to move with a little warm up. This year I am also going to be going out of North Point and Waukegan harbors and mixing it up a bit Bass Salmon and Trout. Trolling Yellow Birds and running a set of Cannon down riggers. Trolling will be up to 4 anglers but I suggest 2 angler trips to make it more fun not waiting for your turn to catch a fish. Looking forward to another Great Season once it gets started which should be in a week or so. Boats all checked tuned cleaned loaded and ready. Also added 4 new Grandt Rods 3 being Bait caster one being a 7 ‘ Spinning rod. There also a lot of new tackle to be put to the test. Have a Great Week, Capt. Pat

Delavan Lake 5/04/19 through 5/12/13 The yo-yo weather has been a constant factor this past week, it looks like stable weather is coming this week which will help the fishing tremendously. Water temps are in the low 50’s. When the weather is stable the fishing has been relatively good. Largemouth bass are in the shallows in 3-4 ft of water. The best location is in the west end in Viewcrest or Highlands Bay. The fish are being caught on a green pumpkin or root beer colored Senko. The water is pretty cold for the largemouth to spawn, with the warm weather predicted for this week the spawn is still probably a week to 10 days away. Walleye Pike fishing has been average. Saturday when I was fishing there were a few people that I spoke to that caught them in 23 ft of water. They were lindy rigging small suckers. Look for the fish on main lake points. The few fish that I heard about were in excess of 25 inches. Bluegill fishing has been good near the outlet dam or in the channels, such as Browns, Viewcrest and the Highland. The best approach is red worms fished beneath a bobber in 2-3 ft of water. Crappie fishing has been good in the mid range weeds. You want to fish them in 6-10 ft of water. The best location is by Browns Channel. You want to look for scattered weeds. With the water clarity, you need to make long casts so you don’t spook the fish. Small fathead minnows on bobbers have been producing most of the fish. They can also be caught on small plastics. Northern pike action has been in the shallows. I’ve been fishing them in 6-10 ft of water. I’ve been getting them on medium suckers fished beneath a Thill slip bobbers. The best location has been the buoy line in Viewcrest Bay or the Highlands Bay. Good luck and I hope to see you on the water. For guide parties, please call Dave Duwe at 608-883-2050

Hi Dale, At long last, I have something to contribute; I’ve finally been getting out. Thanks for the heads-up on the morels. I started looking as soon as I read in your column of people finding them, even though it seemed a little bit early. They’ve been found in their usual locations; not huge numbers, but always a few. Speaking of it having been early, the first morels of the year for me were the first ones I’d ever found with snow on the ground. I tried a Fox tributary far upstream, near the Reagan Tollway, late on Sunday afternoon, thinking that waiting a few days and fishing up near the source would’ve resulted in some dropping and clearing water. No such luck. It was still high and had a lot of color, maybe a foot of visibility. I tried pounding the slack water areas near the banks with poppers, but never found any smallmouths (By the way, I found a paper by Steve Pescitelli and Bob Rung in the course of a web search about this watershed; the paper was 15 years old but the information is still relevant and useful. There are/were a couple of dams in Plano that should prevent upstream migration of fish from the Fox River; if those dams are still there, it would mean the smallmouths I’ve been catching up there are resident fish and have not swum up from the Fox. But I think one or both dams have been removed).

Lake Geneva 5/04/19 through 5/10/19 With 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 608-883-2050

Good morning fellas, sorry for the delay. It’s been a mad house around here with the opener…. The long awaited bass season is finally here and there are tons of fishermen around chasing those giant Smallies around Door County. There are tons of areas to fish, but when the water is cold, early in the season like this, fishermen tend to gravitate to the southern part of the county looking for warmer water. Those areas include… the Sturgeon Bay Flats, Sawyer Harbor, Sand Bay, Riley’s Bay and Little Sturgeon. Look for bottom transitions in waters generally less than 15 feet and fish extremely slow. Shorty Tubes, paddle tails, ned rigs, suspending jerk baits like Megabass and Lucky Crafts all work extremely well as long as you fish super slow Walleye fishing has been excellent for the past couple of weeks up here and the county for both the day and night time fishermen and for both the trollers and fishermen that prefer to cast. At night, fishermen will concentrate their efforts fishing the primary shoreline drop-offs in that 5 to 15 foot range. And during the day they will slide out a bit and fish that 15 to 30 foot range. Best baits for trolling include…Smithwick Rouges, Bandits, Husky Jerks and Flicker minnows and shads. Best baits for casting include…Blade baits, Rippin Raps, Keitechs, hair jigs and Shiver minnows Pike fishing has been really heating up as it usually does this time of year. Areas to fish include right in downtown Sturgeon Bay, Sawyer Harbor, Riley’s Bay and Little Sturgeon. Large jerk baits, large plastics, spoons and sucker minnows all will work extremely well this time of year Thanks; Lance LaVine Howie’s Tackle 1309 Green Bay Rd Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235 Ph: 920-746-991

Dale i don’t have much for the river this week either. Its trashed and will get higher with more heavy rain coming. Sand will move and the river will change yet again and not for the better. Best advice if your itching to get out is fish creeks. They should be holding everything from smallies and pike to cats and walleye. If you veture out be careful and use your head. PFD IS A MUST. Luck affects everything. Let your hook always be cast. In the sream where you least expect it, there will be fish -Ovid

Opening day of smallmouth fishing on the Menominee River. The, water temp 43 degrees and the river is high and fast. Not a numbers day but we found some quality smallmouth. Case Lil Magic swims the top bait. Hard to beat a swimbait in cold water and less than ideal conditions. The best color was pearl shiner.

Eric Trousil with his big smallmouth of the day& and the first 20 inch Menominee River smallmouth in my new G3 boat. By the second and third week of May the pre-spawn bite will be hot!

Opener has come and gone. Not an overly memorable one, but better than last years and enough opportunities to give anglers a chance to get the boats and lines wet. Most focus is on Walleye for the opener, Northern Pike and Largemouth Bass are barely noticed. Conditions were good as far as timing – ice just out, Walleyes spawning or just finishing up – but opening day was a little too beautiful for most Walleye anglers. Walleye: Good – While some anglers reported hitting their spots just right, for many, opening day was a hot start, but spotty day once mid-morning arrived. Jig and minnow combos ruled the weekend, as most anglers plied the gravel/rock areas searching for spawning and post-spawn Walleyes. Some success from anglers casting shallow running stick baits and swim baits. A lot of the spawn took place quickly due to the late ice out. Overall, not an easy opener, but a successful one. Northern Pike: Fair – Reports got better by Sunday into Monday. Most action from the jig/minnow crowd. Largemouth Bass: Fair – Just a sprinkling of fish showing up in the shallow, dark bottomed bays. Crappies: Fair Yellow Perch: Fair Bluegill: Fair A hiccup mid-week as temps fall, but don’t expect things to be all bad. Walleyes recovering from spawn should be hungry soon, moving into shallows to feed. Don’t discount deeper mud though, stomachs of Walleyes caught in 14-17’ mud held wigglers (Mayfly larvae) and small leeches. Shallow fish and small Perch in their bellies. Kurt Justice Kurt’s Island Sport Shop Like us on FaceBook —

Coho fishing around gAry light great over weekend with few kings mixed in dodger fly and thinfish and spoons best baits fish too 12 ft of waterKing bite good for some just east of the doughnut to just west of the pink house down around Michigan city40 to 60 ft of water spoons and spindoctors and Flys best on riggers 200 coppers and dipsey fishing fishing mid way down

Water temp was 57 today. White bass were biting good along the docks, down river from Partridge lake. Jig and minnow best, some on spinners Don’t know if it will last, looking for 2 inches of rain,and temperatures in the 40’s Wed. and Thur.