MIDWEST FISHING REPORT
SHORELINE SALMON/TROUT: Mixed bag. CHICAGO:
Park Bait: ‘‘Sporadic, like the weather.’’ More coho and steelhead than Chinook. WAUKEGAN: Capt. Scott Wolfe: Dirty water slowed harbor fishing. NORTHWEST
INDIANA: Slez’s: Some coho, steelhead and a few kings in Trail, Little Cal and Salt; spawn sacs or in-line spinners best. SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN: Tackle Haven: Slowed since the weekend at the pierheads and river, though mixed bag went through Berrien Springs ladder last week. MILWAUKEE: Arden Katz: Slow but caught one good king on a Rat-L-Trap. A few other boats did OK. Some starting to use skein.
AREA LAKES: Ken ‘‘Husker’’ O’Malley: Largemouth very good on inside and outside weed lines. Also, good topwater bite last hour of daylight. Pete Lamar: Most west suburban ponds/lakes surprisingly clear after the rains. Bass going on subsurface lures. Caught a 10-inch bluegill on a popper. AREA RIVERS: DES PLAINES: Receding slowly from
flood. FOX: Closed to boating from the Wisconsin line to the Bridge Street Bridge in Millington. Updates at dnr.illinois.gov/closures/Pages/default.aspx. ILLINOIS: Crested well under flood stage and is receding at Starved Rock and LaSalle. KANKAKEE: Best shape of local rivers. Remains wadeable in usual wading areas.
CHAIN: All three zones closed to boating. Updates at foxwaterway.com or (847) 587-8540.
COOLING LAKES: Oct. 8 is the final day of fishing at Heidecke Lake. Oct. 15 is the final day at LaSalle, Braidwood and Mazonia. Monster remains open yearround.
LAKEFRONT: See top for shoreline salmon/trout. Park Bait: Some really nice smallmouth in harbors. Drum in and around Montrose, including a 15-pounder last week by a salmon-caster at the harbor mouth. A few spotty perch reports. Salmon-casters getting occasional pike. Capt. Bob Poteshman: Lakers good out of Chicago, especially mornings. Some good lakers out of North Point in 180 to 220 feet, but a mixed bag in 300 feet and deeper. Capt. Scott Wolfe: Trollers targeting lakers on the offshore reefs. Lots of small coho around.
NORTHERN WISCONSIN: Kurt Justice: Water warming again with summer’s return. Muskie are good on topwaters, bucktails and spinners; sucker-bite starting. Good smallmouth on deep gravel humps. Pike are good in shallow, weedy areas on bucktails and spinner baits.
NORTHWEST INDIANA: See top for salmon/trout. Slez’s: Some perch in 18 to 40 feet outside the Ditch.
SHABBONA: Lakeside: Muskie picked up, mainly trolling, including a 40-incher last week. Bass decent on topwaters. Crappie in cribs, hitting minnows and plastics. Water is normal pool, foot visibility and around 70 degrees.
WISCONSIN DELLS: River’s Edge: A legal (60-inch) sturgeon checked in last week. River is receding. Walleye and white bass going.
WOLF RIVER, WISCONSIN: FREMONT: Bill Stoeger: Heavy rains have river rising, but they’re sparking white bass and walleye from Rat River to Poygan.