MIDWEST FISHING REPORT
AREA LAKES: For bluegill, find shade spots, weed pockets or outside weed lines during pressured holiday events. Larry Jennings: Good panfish at Monee Reservoir, big-fish contest runs through Aug. 31. Ken “Husker” O’Malley: For largemouth, evening top bite on shallow running crankbaits, Senkos, frogs or poppers. Pete Lamar: Fly fishing success with cricket and adult damselfly patterns for bluegill and bass.
AREA RIVERS: DuPAGE: Brian Athern: Smallmouth on topwaters or weighted keeper jig and twin-tail grub. FOX: Freddy Castrejon: Caught and released 24-inch walleye at Batavia. Matt Dlouhy: Same day, nice flathead on swimbait on 8-pound line. ILLINOIS: Jared Gibbs caught a 10-pound bowfin in a Chillicothe backwater. Beginning today, closures are set for the Dresden Island, Marseilles, Starved Rock, Peoria and LaGrange locks. KANKAKEE: Iroquois at flood. George Peters: Good smallmouth; feeding on crayfish.
BRAIDWOOD: BoRabb Williams: Good blues (eaters and big ones). CHAIN: Bill Calvert: Caught and released a 45-inch muskie with Capt. Joe Kieser Thursday. Triangle: Catfish (crawlers, leeches, prepared baits); nice pike around areas with panfish; bass on weed edges and main lake areas; find shade, find bluegill; try drifting for crappie and moving water for walleye.
DELAVAN/GENEVA, WIS.: DELAVAN: Rob Abouchar: Largemouth bite on weed lines is on (weighted wacky worms or topwaters early). Dave Duwe: Walleye (leeches on a light Lindy rig or small jig in 18-20 ft.) and largemouth (working slop on sunny days, otherwise topwaters) lead excellent fishing; biggest bluegill in 15. GENEVA: Arden Katz: Schools of panfish in 23-18 on spikes on two-jig rigs; smallmouth and largemouth in 20-22 off secondary points on drop-shots or try in 8-12 off flats with wacky worms.
BIG GREEN, WIS.: Mike Norris: Clients catch 26-40 bass per outing on Senkos, tubes, Ned rigs, drop-shots and swim jigs, weedy and rocky areas in 6-12 ft.
GREEN/STURGEON BAYS, WIS.: Howie’s: Good smallmouth pushing deeper than usual (8-15 ft.).
HENNEPIN-HOPPER: Open Tuesday-Sunday, wetlands-initiative.org/dixonpaddling-fishing.
LAKEFRONT: Officially, Chicago lakefront closed, but plenty walking and biking in to fish. Mike Joho: Boated a few smallmouth in Cal Harbor; friends did better in river with some largemouth, too. Capt. Bob Poteshman: Very good fishing for big coho and a couple kings and steelhead in 50-60 ft. off Navy Pier and south; also fish in same depths off Highland Park; out of North Point, lakers deep (150-250) and coho in close (50-70). Capt. Scott Wolfe: Excellent out of Waukegan, too, coho dominate with occasional kings, steelhead and lakers in 50-100.
N. WIS.: Christian Howe: Leech bite, under lighted slip bobber, on for walleye on weed edges next to sand or gravel flats; crappie and bluegill deep (14); perch on mud flats. Kurt Justice: Largemouth (topwater action) are very good on inside weed lines or cabbage pockets); walleye, crappie, pike, bluegill, perch, smallmouth and muskie are good.
NW IND.: Slez’s: Perch going on mud line in 25 ft. outside of the Ditch and the Donut to Mt. Baldy.; salmon and trout solid from west of the Ditch to straight out of Michigan City in 70-110; some steelhead at Michigan City pier and Portage Riverwalk.
ST. JOSEPH, MICH.: Tackle Haven: Perch in 30-40, north or south; occasional steelhead (15 3/4-pounder Tuesday) off pier.
SHABBONA: Lakeside: Heat dampened fishing, catfish (bait on the bottom) and largemouth (weed lines) strongest bites; some walleye on rock piles and northeast weed lines.