Winter arrives and builds fishable ice: Chicago fishing, Midwest Fishing Report

Monday the 7th went to a local pond near home, water temp 37.2 and caught the first 4+ of the New Year, a 3-1/2 and a smaller one. Went to same pond on the 8th and caught a nice 3.10oz and went back on Wednesday the 9th just to see how cold you could get a bass to hit a jerkbait and in 33.8 water temps caught 1, lol air temp 19, wind chill 8.

December 28th, January 6th, 7th and 8th we had banner days fishing jerkbaits in 35 to 36 water temps. On January 6th my partner Mike Fosco and I had to break through 200 yards of thin ice to get to open water

Groups in boats fishing past 100th street and farther did well on perch xl fatheads still best bait lots of perch way up in that river People fishing usual 92 and 95 th bridges it’s a lot slower and day to day as of weekend the big loads of perch way up in river

Hey Dale, Here is a recap of this past week’s fishing.Area lakes- recent cold nights locked up lakes out south. The snow over the weekend will slow ice building. Hopefully there will be a season still.I thought a would share a cool pic from the Lake house and cabin show this weekendTTYL—Ken Husker O’Malley Husker Outdoors Waterwerks fishing team

Hello and Happy New Year Dale. Hope you and yours had a great Holiday season. Using the same email string we used to talk back in June for reference lolSending you some reports for your entertainment. What a strange fall early winter we had. November was like January and killed our fall bite. Was able to get out once on November 24th and had a decent day catching LM’s on jerkbaits but the fun catch (snagged on a jerkbait) was an enormous 19-5/8 3lb 4oz shad. Too bad Illinois’s shad state record is for spear and bow fishing only, because this was 2ozs bigger than the current record. Pics attached for that.December 28th, January 6th, 7th and 8th we had banner days fishing jerkbaits in 35 to 36 water temps. On January 6th we had to break through 200 yards of thin ice to get to open water https://youtu.be/4hPmJ8ZLTlU we then caught a dozen bass and pike in 4hrs. Best 5 bass went 16-1/4lbs

BANNER MARSH: * THIS AREA Will CLOSE TO BOAT FISHING on Oct. 17th. With the Last Day to Boat Fish being Oct. 16th AND BANK FISHING ONLY ALLOWED AFTER 1PM but NO FISHING ALLOWED in EAST POINT ACCESS AREA, (lakes to the East) which is CLOSED TO ALL FISHING to provide a GOOSE REFUGE AREA during seasonCLINTON LAKE: An easterly area of Clinton Lake (The Waterfowl Refuge Area) between the DeWitt Bridge East (CH14) and the Rt. 48 Bridge . . . remains Closed typically until April 1st.COFFEEN LAKE: During the Central Zone waterfowl season: No fishing north of the railroad tracks (upper pool) until after 1pm daily through Jan. 31stDOUBLE T STATE FISH and WILDLIFE AREA:* THIS LAKE IS CLOSED TO FISHING – . . . till Feb. 1stEMIQUON PRESERVE: No boating, fishing or ice skating access before 12:00 pm during waterfowl hunting season. Oct. 27 – Jan. 31 Lake users should be aware that hunting might occur on the Preserve other times as well.HENNEPIN-HOPPER LAKES: * Lakes are CLOSED for season.. And will be Open spring 2019.McMASTER LAKE at – SNAKEDEN HOLLOW: Lake will CLOSE TO FISHING on Oct 15th . . . Lake will Re-Open on February 1st.NEWTON LAKE: As written in the fishing regs booklet : * The cold arm of Newton Lake shall be CLOSED daily from one-half hour before sunrise until 1:00 pm to all fishing and boat traffic except for legal waterfowl hunters during waterfowl season commencing with regular duck season through the close of the Canada goose and regular duck season. * For here – Regular South Waterfowl Season for 2018: Nov. 10 – Jan. 31RICE LAKE: Will Re-Open at end of Duck & Goose season.SANGCHRIS LAKE: * THE WEST & EAST ARMS OF LAKE and Small AREA NEAR DAM WILL CLOSE DURING WATERFOWL SEASON to boat traffic . . . through Jan. 31, 2018SPRING LAKE (South & North): Last Day of Boat Fishing in Hunting Areas is Oct. 19th As – THIS AREA will CLOSE TO BOAT FISHING in Hunting Area on Oct. 20th — with BANK FISHING ALLOWED ONLY AFTER 1pm– – AREAS THAT REMAIN OPEN TO BOATS ALL DAY ARE NORTH OF MAPLE ISLAND with ramp at north end at the Sky Ranch Road launch and IN PIKE HOLE with carry in boats — and Shore Fishing is allowed in entire lake after 1pm in Hunting areas or at boat ramps all day.

Good Afternoon fellas Here is what I came up with as for an update on the ice fishing We are finally starting to get some ice cover here in Door County…now with that said, it’s not safe ice everywhere. The most stable ice is still in the backs of the bays which are…Little Sturgeon, Riley’s Bay and Sawyer Harbor. The weather looks like it’s going to take a turn for the better, meaning the forecast coming up looks to be quite cold and should start to add to the ice thickness and may allow fishermen to spread out and do a bit of venturing. We just hope the wind stays away so the ice stays locked in. So up until this point, the Perch fishing has been going pretty good especially when you can stay away from the large groups that make a bunch of noise. A wide variety of jigs tipped with minnows, waxies, spikes and plastics have been working and also tip up fishing with shiners and Rosy Reds working well at times The Pike fishing has also been providing some fair action in all of the same shallow bays. Suspending golden shiners, suckers and dead bait under tip-ups and auto fishermen has been the best method. And again, trying to stay as far away from the big groups and noise as possible is always a plus There have been some decent Whitefish reports coming in from the folks that are sneaking out to a bit deeper water. Now with that said, the ice is still quite iffy and anyone that goes out there should definitely fish with a buddy and really do some homework before heading out! Better areas for Whitefish especially once the ice becomes very safe include…Hederson’s Point, Riley’s Point, Sherwood Point along with the shoreline to the north of the Old Stone Quarry all good spots with massive amounts of Whitefish in those areas. A wide variety of jigs will work for those Whitey’s as they will pretty much eat anything. And tip your jigs with waxies, spikes, minnow pieces and plastics There have been a few Brown Trout reports also trickling in. Most of the reports have been coming in from guys fishing the very protected harbors and inside marinas that have walkable ice. Medium golden shiners under tip-ups and auto fishermen have been good. Also, jigging with spoons and rippin raps has been quite effective at times Not much to report on as far as the Walleye fishing is concerned mainly because of the lack of safe ice cover. As the ice does thicken over the so called Walleye Hot Spots Some of those spots include…Henderson’s Point, Sherwood point and Larsen’s Reef. OddBall jigs, Rapala jigs, rippin raps and slab raps all go-to jigs Thanks; Lance LaVine Howie’s Tackle 1309 Green Bay Rd Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235 Ph: 920-746-9916

The weather looks like it’s going to take a turn for the better, meaning the forecast coming up looks to be quite cold and should start to add to the ice thickness and may allow fishermen to spread out and do a bit of venturing. We just hope the wind stays away so the ice stays locked in.

Steelhead action better over weekend for a lot of fisherman section of creek near bass pro was ok along with 1/49 behind burns harbor police station back in woods off beaten trailVoodoo jigs tipped with butterworms or waxworms best spawn saks taking some fish also

While Snowmobilers and Skiers can’t be happy with the conditions in the Lakeland Area (not much for snow), anglers have everything to be happy about as local lakes are getting ice thick enough for truck travel. Lots of lakes reporting 13-16+ thickness, coupled with lack of snow, access has been great. Bluegill: Very Good-Fair – Excellent reports late into week until southeast winds seemed to shut things off. Good catches in 7-12’ weeds using #3 ; #4 tungsten jigs (Fiskas, Skandias) in greens, yellows and oranges tipped with waxies, spikes or green yellow or red plastics (J:S, TJ’s). Better reports on size as anglers catching nice 7-8+ Gills. Crappies: Very Good-Fair – Same type of reports, action slowed over weekend, most likely wind shift. Slow dropping Lethal Cecil spoons and small slender spoons tipped with waxies or plastics in white or silver. Tip-downs have been effective using small fatheads or rosies. Nice Crappies in the 10-13 range, best mid-mornings, again mid to late afternoons. Northern Pike: Very Good-Fair – Lots of flags flying according to reports. Big shiners, suckers on tip-ups in 8-14’. Fish have been active, so running baits 12-18 over weed tops has been very effective. Walleye: Very Good-Fair – Working humps and rises of 12-18’ using suckers on tip-ups, as well as jigging spoons (Flutter Spoons, Northland Rattle Spoons), tipped with a head of a medium to large fathead minnow. Nice catches before the weekend, including a reported 31er on a tip-up! Yellow Perch: Good-Fair – Lots of smaller Perch in 8-16’, but for larger Perch, fish deeper 16-28’+. Venom tungsten glow spoons, Halis and Pimples tipped with red spikes or wigglers. Tip downs with minnows also effective, though forecast for weekend (lows below 0 degrees) may limit tip-down success. Largemouth Bass: Good-Fair – Tip-ups with medium shiners in 7-12’ cabbage. Some action on jigging spoons with minnow heads. Midweek looks good to start, shift in wind, warmer temps, but dropping temps through weekend could make things tough. Being able to drive on most (but not all) lakes will help with access. Lack of mobility will be due to cold, but as ice builds, mobility will only get better. Kurt Justice Kurt’s Island Sport Shop Like us on FaceBook —

Groups in boats fishing past 100th street and farther did well on perch xl fatheads still best bait lots of perch way up in that river People fishing usual 92 and 95 th bridges it’s a lot slower and day to day as of weekend the big loads of perch way up in riverSteelhead action better over weekend for a lot of fisherman section of creek near bass pro was ok along with 1/49 behind burns harbor police station back in woods off beaten trailVoodoo jigs tipped with butterworms or waxworms best spawn saks taking some fish alsoCold weather coming end of week should be some ice shortly we have all ice gear in stock from augers to tip ups to all ice bait 5 to 5 everyday this time of year