MIDWEST FISHING REPORT
AREA LAKES: Kevin Greene: He and son Jonathan found active catfish and largemouth at dusk/dark, northwest suburbs when pond hopping. Ken “Husker” O’Malley: Early morning best for bass on Senkos or poppers; bluegill close to shore early and late on ice jigs and plastic. Pete Lamar: Bluegills aggressive tight to shore. CHAIN: Triangle: Channel catfish eating everywhere; muskie active outside the weed line, Channel, Catherine and Marie; flipping weedless jig and crawler piece outside weed lines in 8-10 feet producing walleye; panfish good off docks or along weed lines; some white bass in 15-20 on a jig and minnow or Gulp! under schools of bait.
AREA RIVERS: CHICAGO: Henry’s: Deep-running crankbaits working for the largemouth and smallmouth downtown. Jeffrey Williams: Brother caught a 14oe-inch crappie downtown. FOX: Dicky’s: Water came up, but dropping again; slow fishing. Lamar: On some tributaries, sub-surface flies best, other tribs dead. KANKAKEE: George Peters: Water up; find bass moving out of current to feed, smallmouth to 18 inches.
COOLING LAKES: Open 6 a.m. to sunset daily. BRAIDWOOD: BoRabb Williams aught both big blues (to 22 pounds) and eater-sized Monday. HEIDECKE: Bob Johnson: Best for bass was 3/8-ounce jig with crawfish tail or Texas rigged crawfish imitation. DELAVAN/GENEVA, WISCONSIN: DELAVAN: Dave Duwe: Bluegill best bite in 18-20 feet with leaf or wax worms; largemouth on deep weed lines (15-20). GENEVA: Arden Katz: Pumpkinseeds and bluegill good in Geneva Bay in 20-25, drop-shotting Nail Tails and spikes, weed through smaller ones, biggest pumpkinseed went 9½ inches; late night, drop-shotting points in 17-20 produced smallmouth. Duwe: Rock bass and bluegills everywhere on weed line in 15; walleyes night on large Rapalas in 15.
GREEN LAKE, WISCONSIN: Mike Norris: BIG GREEN: Smallmouth in 13-18 where cribs present, along dropoffs or outside edge of deep weed line; largemouth relating to weeds on main lake flats; pods of bluegill in 20-30.
LAKEFRONT: Capt. Tim Frey: On Massive Confusion, lakers to 26 pounds Tuesday straight out of Montrose in 160. Park Bait: Some drum at Montrose. Jason “Special One” Le: Good carp action while waiting on kings to arrive. Capt. Mike Fuys: Caught a harbor grand slam at Waukegan of smallmouth, largemouth and pike. Capt. Bob Poteshman: Out of Chicago, good lakers in 130-180; out of North Point, lots of lakers, with coho, steelhead, two mature pink salmon Tuesday in 200-300 on a smorgasbord; “really good fishing.” Capt. Scott Wolfe: Really good fishing out of Waukegan, not many staging kings, but limits of lakers with some big steelhead and occasional coho in 115-150; some steelhead out to 300.
NORTHERN WISCONSIN: Kurt Justice: Stable weather should make easier patterning; smallmouth (working edges in 16-22), largemouth (topwater picking up evenings, wacky-worming days in cabbage beds in 8-12), perch and bluegill (outside coontail edges in 16) are good. NORTHWEST INDIANA: Slez’s: A few Chinook just outside Burns Ditch, off-shore bite out in 150-200; Willow Slough still good on bluegill for boaters, some from shore.
SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN, LAKEFRONT: RACINE: Justin Breen: On a charter, son Chase caught two nice browns; a 20-pound king broke off at the boat.
ST. JOSEPH, MICHIGAN: Tackle Haven: Perch very slow; mostly lakers in 100-150; smallmouth decent and a few walleye in the river.