MIDWEST FISHING REPORT
CHICAGO HARBORS: Harbors and properties reopen Monday. Details at chicagoharbors.info/covid-19/.
FROGGING: Bullfrog-only season open in Illinois; daily bag, eight. AREA LAKES: Summer bluegill and largemouth set up. Steve DeGraw: A good largemouth in southern Cook on a topwater. Pete Lamar: Building heat will bring back the popper bite this week for big largemouth.
AREA RIVERS: CHICAGO: Riverwalk open, but no fishing. FOX: Lamar: Tributaries near prime: cool water, normal levels and less clarity than usual; smallmouth near fast water. KANKAKEE: NIAA is postponing the Kankakee River Fishing Derby to September. Kyle Lund caught a 7-pound walleye last week. George Peters: Near normal and clearing, smallmouth to 17½ inches on spinners or crankshafts.
CHAIN: Triangle: Bluegill “going crazy about everywhere”; good white bass and walleye in 8 feet or shallower on Marie (jig and crawler best or try leeches); catfish good in the river, but water low; muskie being caught evenings on Channel and Catherine; some walleye on lower river. NOTE: Stratton Lock and Dam closed Mondays and Tuesdays, operating Wednesday through Sunday, 8 a.m. to midnight.
COOLING LAKES/STRIP PITS: Open daily 6 a.m. to sunset. BRAIDWOOD: Ken “Husker” O’Malley: Good largemouth (squarebills or drop-shot with Gulp!) on rock piles or pitching chigger craws to shoreline structure with current. Water in 80s. HEIDECKE: O’Malley: Smallmouth going early on topwaters, then deeper with drop-shot and Gulp! leech. Water was 71. LaSALLE: Pete Riedesel: Good blue while bass fishing with a Texas-rigged worm.
DELAVAN/GENEVA, WIS.: DELAVAN: Dave Duwe: Bluegill most consistent, shallows (3-4 ft.) or off weed lines in 18-20; largemouth good either dock fishing or big fish on deep weed lines in 15-18. GENEVA: Arden Katz: Rock bass “suicidal” in 9-12 on jigs and maggots; some bluegills are mixed in, too; also catching smallmouth bass in 9-12 on drop-shot rigs. Duwe: Largemouth most consistent in the weeds or shallow.
GREEN LAKE, WIS. Mike Norris: Focused on Fox Lake for bluegill, largemouth and pike. Big Green bass should improve this week with warm-up.
GREEN/STURGEON BAYS, WIS. Howie’s: Perch starting to go; smallmouth south slide out 8-15 ft., north scattered from 2-15. LAKEFRONT: Officially, lakefront closed; unofficially fish being caught, including some nice perch early Tuesday. Capt. Bob Poteshman: Out of North Point, good mixed bag in 100-110 ft.; off Chicago, good coho and lakers from The Gong to Diversey in 100-120. Capt. Scott Wolfe: By Monday, good coho and steelhead in 140-190 north of Waukegan.
N. WIS.: Kurt Justice: Bluegill (bedding), largemouth (some bedding, some good topwater action) and smallmouth (outside of spawning areas) are very good; muskie are good to very good, topwaters should pick up by weekend.
NW IND.: Slez’s: Steelhead at Michigan City pier and Portage Riverwalk, best on shrimp or crawlers under floats; boaters taking mixed bag in 90-110 from Ditch to Michigan City or Ditch west to East Chicago.
ST. JOSEPH, MICH.: Tackle Haven: Few skamania off pier; walleye and smallmouth going in the river.
SHABBONA: Lakeside: Walleye on leeches and crawlers or jigging or crawler harnesses, by the rock piles; catfish good in the weeds or on the rock beds; bass in the weeds. Hours 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Lakeside (6 a.m.-7 p.m.) open with boat rentals (6:30 a.m.-6 p.m.).