MIDWEST FISHING REPORT
INLAND TROUT: Illinois fall trout season opens Saturday. Daily bag is five. Those 16 and older need a license and inland trout stamp. Northeastern Illinois sites are Axehead, Belleau, Busse North, Green, Horsetail, Sag Quarry East and Wolf in Cook County; Silver, Pickerel and Grove in DuPage; Bird Park Quarry and Rock Creek in Kankakee; Big Lake at Silver Springs SFWA in Kendall; Sand at Illinois Beach SP and Banana in Lake; Spring Grove Hatchery Pond in McHenry; and Lake Strini and Van Horn Woods in Will.
AREA RIVERS: Most rivers are in or coming off flood. FOX: River shot up, then dropped. Back to shoreline fishing. ILLINOIS: Coming off flood from Ottawa to LaSalle. KANKAKEE: Least affected by the record rains and in relatively good shape.
CHAIN O’LAKES: Triangle: Bluegills are ‘‘ great’’ shallow. Crappie are also good; try glow jigs at low light. White bass are fair; focus on windblown shorelines. Muskie are good.
COOLING LAKES/ STRIP PITS: Braidwood, Heidecke and LaSalle are closed for the year. So is Mazonia, except that Monster at Mazonia South is open year- round.
DOWNSTATE: POWERTON: Last day of boat fishing is Friday; last day of shore fishing is Oct. 27. EVERGREEN: Boat rental and bait shop is closed for the year.
LAKEFRONT: CHICAGO: Park Bait: A few kings at Belmont. Slow otherwise. Henry’s: A few salmon around the harbors. Perch slow or none. SALMON SNAGGING: Legal spots are the inner and outer harbors of Jackson Park, the Lincoln Park Lagoon south of Fullerton, the discharge area at the Winnetka power plant and the north basin of Waukegan Harbor. NORTHERN WISCONSIN: MINOCQUA: Kurt Justice: Fall arrived, and falling water temperatures brought good- to- very good muskie ( to 48 inches) and smallmouth ( start on gravel bars or windswept shores). NORTHWEST INDIANA: Slez’s: A few coho and dying kings in upper stretches of tributaries. Crappie steady inland. ROOT RIVER, WISCONSIN: Wisconsin DNR: Fishing picked up with increased flow from rains; best downstream of steelhead facility. SHABBONA: Lakeside: Water came up, then went down. Clarity is OK. Some crappie in cribs and brush piles. Muskie active in no- motor zone. WOLF RIVER, WISCONSIN: FREMONT: Guide Bill Stoeger: White bass going ( filled a cooler in 1.5 hours Tuesday morning). Hot bite expected to last two or more weeks. Good spots include near Poygan, Fremont, Rat and mouth of river. Some walleye upstream. Good crappie in brush.