MIDWEST FISHING REPORT
MUSKIE TOURNAMENT: Fox River Valley chapter of Muskies Inc.’s ‘‘Challunge on the Chain’’ is Saturday (frvmuskie.com/event/27th-annual-challunge-on-chain). AREA LAKES: Rapid changes. Many species will spawn this week. Ken ‘‘Husker’’ O’Malley: Bass good on flipping plastics to shoreline cover. Crappie going shallow. Pete Lamar: Bluegills much improved, taking a wet fly, with rapidly warming waters. BoRabb Williams: Crappie going at Saganashkee Slough, Maple and Arrowhead.
AREA RIVERS: CHICAGO: Jeffrey Williams: Catching big carp. Then brother Jesse Gonzalez caught 2-pound channel catfish downtown Monday. FOX: High, fast water made few try; water now dropping. Lamar: Tributaries dropped. Water still murky, but smallmouth being caught. Dicky’s: Some muskie below Montgomery Dam. ILLINOIS: Projected to be off flood Wednesday.
CHAIN: Triangle: Bluegills picked up; try ice jigs with red worms or waxies. Crappie dropped back in same 8 to 12 feet as white bass. Catfish (good ones recently) fair on crawlers or stinkbait. NOTE: Lower river is no-wake. DELAVAN/GENEVA, WISCONSIN: Capt. Dave Duwe: DELAVAN: Bluegill best bite; try shallow (3 to 4 feet). Largemouth are pre-spawn. GENEVA: Best action on smallmouth bass (suspending outside of drop-offs near spawning flats and chasing shiners). Perch still in 6 to 8 feet. Walleye ‘‘awesome’’ casting or trolling stickbaits shallow.
GREEN LAKE, WISCONSIN: BIG GREEN: Mike Norris: Walleye still shallow; troll crankbaits in 8 to 12 feet. PUCKAWAY: Smallmouth active in back channels and upper Fox on drop-shots.
HEIDECKE: Bob Johnson: Pecked out a couple of smallmouth on weekend. He expects lake to explode this week.
HENNEPIN-HOPPER: Reopens Sunday. Closed Mondays. Regulations at wetlands-initiative.org/dixon-paddling-fishing.
LAKEFRONT: Capt. Bob Poteshman: Out of North Point, ‘‘nice band of coho’’ (big ones) taking peanut flies and little yellow Dodgers. Out of Chicago, very scattered coho and lakers. Salmon Stop: In Waukegan, powerliners catching coho and occasional steelhead from pier. Casters working South Rocks. Capt. Scott Wolfe: Out of Waukegan, coho in 15 to 30 feet. When a mud line developed, it held bait and fish. Park Bait: A few coho Monday. Smallmouth here and there. PERCH: Closed through June 15 on Illinois waters of Lake Michigan. LaSALLE: O’Malley: When winds permit, trollers catching hybrids with crankbaits. Water temps rising through 70s.
NORTHERN WISCONSIN: Kurt Justice: Considering late ice-out, relatively warm water temps (upper 40s) for opener. Walleye (lots of action on males lingering shallow) excellent. Smallmouth and pike good incidental catches. Crappie staging for spawn or warming shallow.
NORTHWEST INDIANA: Slez’s: Decent coho in 30 to 40 feet from Burns Ditch to Michigan City; best on Dodgers and flies.
SHABBONA: Boondocks: Good bluegills. Some largemouth. Crappie in cribs and deep trees. Boaters finding some good hybrids.
ST. JOSEPH, MICHIGAN: Tackle Haven: Good salmon (mainly south) in 60 feet or shallower. In river, suckers and catfish at dam.
WOLF LAKE: Williams: Water warming rapidly through 50s. Better crappie. WOLF RIVER, WISCONSIN: Bill Stoeger: In Fremont, mostly male white bass with water near 60; spawn will start shortly. Gary Bloom: In Winneconne, some good walleye and bluegills in channels.