MIDWEST FISHING REPORT
LAKEFRONT SALMON/TROUT: Shoreline and tributary fishing for fall Chinook and some steelhead have begun. Ralph Vulpitta Jr.: Saw four Chinook caught Sunday night at Belmont. Henry’s: Their first king was weighed Friday (Jesus Maya, 13 pounds, Montrose, Moonshine lure). Park Bait: A 14-pound king caught Monday morning, but spotty before. Salmon Stop: Kings in Waukegan on early bite (3 a.m. to an hour after sunrise). If west winds build, it will be an all-day bite. Salmon color good; some spawned out already. Fewer steelhead than recently. Slez’s: In Indiana, Some moving in the tributaries on No. 3 spinners, spawn sacks or skein. Tackle Haven: In Michigan, quick run of kings last week for a couple of late nights at St. Joseph pier before water warmed. A couple of steelhead and a few kings ran into the river. A couple of kings and a few steelhead off South Haven pier. AREA LAKES: Ken ‘‘Husker’’ O’Malley: Nights cooling, but largemouth still best mornings; topwaters early and Senkos on outside weed lines. CHAIN: Bluegills good, running shallower (5 to 8 feet). Catfish good overall on small-to-medium roaches or crawlers. Crappie fair; try Bluff. Walleye fair; look on main-lake flats with slip-bobber or splitshot rigs. Muskie fair; try Fox.
CHICAGO RIVER: Jeffrey Williams: Crappie, including a 1.12-pounder, and largemouth stacked up.
DELAVAN/GENEVA, WISCONSIN: Dave Duwe: DELAVAN: Largemouth on weed line in 12 to 14 feet; topwaters early, crankbaits otherwise. Crappie above-average in 30 to 35 feet. Bluegills average in 12 to 15 feet. GENEVA: Biggest bluegills in years in 22 to 25 feet. Smallmouth relating to hard bottoms in 21 to 25 feet. Largemouth in 14 feet.
FOX RIVER: Brad Wooten: Caught a 21.5-inch walleye on a swimbait. That’s encouraging for the fall bite. Dicky’s: Bite improved, especially for catfish, with the cooler nights.
GREEN LAKE, WISCONSIN: Mike Norris: BIG GREEN: Bluegills favorite now. Keep moving to find best schools on drop-shot rigs with half a redworm threaded on a small Aberdeen hook. FOX LAKE: Largemouth (Senkos around rocky shorelines) and pike (white ChatterBaits) picked up.
KANKAKEE RIVER: Bob Johnson: Water cooled to low 70s. Smallmouth numbers are down, but quality is good. Work soft plastics shallow to deep or use surface lures early (pike busted a buzz bait). O’Malley: River in perfect wading condition with slight stain. Smallmouth good casting lipless crankbaits along current seams and slate flats with larger boulders.
LAKEFRONT: Capt. Bob Poteshman: Out of Chicago, coho, an occasional king and steelhead and lakers here and there in 110 to 150 feet. Out of North Point, fish scattered from 110 to 250 feet. Capt. Scott Wolfe: Lakers outstanding in 110 to 140 feet. For steelhead, coho and 3-year-old kings, find cold currents.
NORTHERN WISCONSIN: Kurt Justice: Lake surfaces into 60s. Largemouth, bluegills and perch good to fair.
NORTHWEST INDIANA: Slez’s: Burns Ditch for kings and a few coho early. Perch spotty in Michigan City in 35 to 45 feet.
WISCONSIN DELLS: Hook-and-line sturgeon season runs through Sept. 30. No legals registered yet at River’s Edge; lots of shorts. WOLF RIVER, WISCONSIN: FREMONT: Bill Stoeger: Water high and in mid-60s. White bass and crappie near current breaks. Some walleye on crawlers around Fremont and Lake Poygan.