Ice fishing and back again, sorta: Chicago fishing, Midwest Fishing Report

Chicago River and Lake Report, As I’m writing this it’s 48 degrees out and climbing. The Chicago River is covered in ice and we just went through some of the coldest weather Chicago has had. Those that ice fish were searching for Safe ice and got in most places. Now with the snow cover on the ice for a few days and the thaw of the snow on land ice conditions are going to change again. Please be Safe out there what was good ice yesterday may not be today check very close. We also have some rain coming this week that won’t help ice conditions. There are guys doing well on the Chain the Pan fish bite is good. I guy was talking to me about Long Lake said the bite is decent there. Bangs has been starting to turn on to. A little weather watch tip wunderground.com is a free weather site where you can check past present and future weather for an area you want to fish. Also check out your fishing destinations on Google Earth you can see weather conditions in real time right on your spot. This coming Weekend is the Tinley Park Fishing Show. I will have my booth there talking fishing and the expansion of the locations and services I am adding for the 2019 season. Stop by say hello and let’s talk about the upcoming season. I am offering a 10%show discount with a trip booked with a $100 Deposit. Hope to see you at the show have a Great week. Thanks Captain Pat,

Dale, I’ve been consistently hitting the river all winter. As long as temperatures are north of 25 degrees, which is key for casting with out ice ups, I’m out there chasing pike for the most part.One of the few pluses of fishing an urban river is you can always find some open water during the winter months. With close to dozen wastewater treatment plants discharging into the river affecting flow and temperature, you can find these open water sections throughout Lake, Cook, and Will Counties.In a low gradient, low flow stream such as the Des Plaines, the effluent discharge from these plants make up a good percentage of the total flow in the stream. Without those discharges we would see a Des Plaines the Native Americans knew, one that would dry up by fall to a small creek, even creating disconnected pools of stagnant water. I’m not a discharge advocate, I’m only acknowledging how we’ve impacted the river not only with pollution, but by increasing its flow by upwards of 30% at certain times of the year.Seasoned anglers know why fish congregate at these discharge areas. The areas offer warm temperatures, great water clarity, and green weeds in winter. Most of these discharges on the Des Plaines release water into the stream between 60&70 degrees. When the Chicago area plunges into a polar vortex, you could imagine the heavenly oasis a section of 60 degree water can provide for wildlife and fish. Often times this effluent discharge is cleaner water than the river water it’s being released in.I remember once having a discussion with Norm (Minas), about whether certain game fish would make a habit of migrating to these areas surrounding the warm water discharges during the winter. Only the wise old fish, was his first reply. I find that to be more true as each winter goes by. Its certainly helps explain why a lot of good ones are caught in the dead of winter.A couple recent pictures of winter fishing on the Des Plaines River with my son Jackson.Marcus BeneschGurnee

Steelhead action in salt and lil cal decent over weekend on voodoo jigs and waxworms or spawn saks move around decent numbers of fish in creeksSome coho have showed also not a motherload but some in lower stretch’s of salt creek and around marinas catching them while steelhead fishing

A very nice break in the weather came over the weekend, just in time for a couple local ice derbys and before anyone got too much cabin fever. With temps soaring into the 30’s Saturday (2/2) anglers headed out to the ice in force, seems the fish were glad to see the weather break also. Crappies: Very Good – Lots of great reports as above freezing temps made tip-downs very effective. Rosie red and small fatheads on #14 trebles on tip-downs fished 2-4’ off bottom, in some areas as shallow as 14’ to as deep as 28’. Lots of slabs topped off by reports of fish to 15 this weekend. Jigging small #2 Raps, ultralight Rippin Raps (#3), Venom Inferno spoons and #2 pimples all working as fish very aggressive. Yellow Perch: Very Good – Best over deeper mud in 18-28’ using Halis, Venom Inferno spoons, Pimples or Northland Buckshot spoons tipped with wigglers or red spikes. Tip-down anglers also reporting good success on rosie reds. Some anglers finding nicer sized Perch roaming 12-14’ depth just outside of weed edges, catching larger (11-12+) Perch on tumbler spoons. Northern Pike: Good-Very Good – Flags flying as Pike action picked up. Tip-ups with big shiners or suckers. Talk about town is hot dogs on quick-set rigs – verdict still out: Oscar Meyer or Ball Park! Nice fish reported into mid 30’s. Some anglers jigging #9 Raps reporting action. Bluegill: Good-Very Good – Fuzzy jigs (VMC, Tungsten Fly, Northland Tungsten, K:E Hackle jigs) tipped with waxie, spike or Beaver bait doing numbers. Aggressive fish not needing much coaxing, could change as weather cools, so keep those #3 tungstens handy. Walleye: Good – For early February not bad. Action for those jigging Leech spoons, Slender spoons and #5-#7 jigging Raps good. Most tip-up anglers finding suckers and large fatheads over shiners in deeper sandgrass flats. Move to shallower edges at dusk best action in 16-22’. Largemouth Bass: Good – Showing up on tip-ups with medium shiners. Action will slow with cold by weekend. Most lakes averaging 24’ of ice (21 to 26), little snow as of this writing, but that could change mid-week. Access has been excellent, though ice/rain on Monday (2/4) put crust on snow making walking a little more difficult (and a lot more noisy) Just four weekends of the gamefish (Walleye, Pike, Bass) left, should see good ice well into March in our area, so plenty of time for panfish. Derbys Feb 9th – 1st Annual KISS High School Ice Fishing Tournament (Highschool teams only) – Lake Minocqua Feb 9th – 17th Annual Plum Lake Ice Fishing Tournament – Plum Lake in Sayner Feb 16th – 3rd Annual Rob Lemmer Memorial Ice Fishing Tournament – Lake Katherine in Hazelhurst Feb 23rd – 6th Annual Carrol Lake Ice Fishing Tournament – Carrol Lake in Woodruff Feb 23rd – 13th Annual Lake Tomahawk Family Fun Fisheree – Lake Tomahawk Feb 23rd – Annual Claus Kraetke Memorial Ice Fishing Jamboree – Donners Bay Resort Kurt Justice Kurt’s Island Sport Shop Like us on FaceBook —

Action over weekend at slough pretty good for a lot of groups tip up action for bass good with golden roachs and gills good front and back Size on gills is down from years past but still some good ones and a lot of action beemoth and spikes variety of ice jigsAs of today front is open back is closed as someone went in near weeds slough that isSteelhead action in salt and lil cal decent over weekend on voodoo jigs and waxworms or spawn saks move around decent numbers of fish in creeksSome coho have showed also not a motherload but some in lower stretch’s of salt creek and around marinas catching them while steelhead fishingValpo area chain of lakes had a ton of fisherman on them some decent gills caught mainly in the 8 to 12 ft of water again some decent catch’s a lot of slow catch’s with as many people on the ice

Hey Dale, Here is a recap of this week’s fishing.Shabbona Lake- Fishing was excellent with the warmup this weekend. Cribs and brush piles in deeper water yielded very good numbers for bluegill and the occasion crappie. The bigger bluegill came off the brush piles with tungsten jigs tipped with multiple spikes. Ice conditions were good as the average being 8-9 inches of clear ice with plenty of slush on top. Water clarity was slightly stained so go with brighter colored jigs.TTYL

—Ken Husker O’Malley Husker Outdoors Waterwerks fishing team