MIDWEST FISHING REPORT
ILLINOIS FALL TROUT: Trout remain from opening weekend. Nearby sites include Axehead, Belleau, Busse North, Green, Horsetail and Wolf ( Cook County); Silver, Pickerel and Grove ( DuPage); Bird Park Quarry and Rock Creek in Kankakee River SP ( Kankakee); Big Lake at Silver Springs SFWA ( Kendall); Banana and Sand at Illinois Beach SP ( Lake); Spring Grove Hatchery Pond ( McHenry); and Lake Strini and Van Horn Woods ( Will). SHORELINE SALMON/ TROUT: CHICAGO: Salmon and trout seen inside harbors; catching tough.
WAUKEGAN: Salmon Stop: Spawn sacks or rattling plugs taking some kings and browns. INDIANA: Slez’s Bait: Winding down. Some salmon and a few steelhead well upstream in the tributaries.
SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN: Tackle Haven: Piers and river slow. Some steelhead at the dams.
SNAGGING: Legal spots are the inner and outer harbors at Jackson Park, the Lincoln Park Lagoon south of Fullerton, the discharge area at the Winnetka power plant and the north basin of Waukegan Harbor.
AREA RIVERS: CHICAGO: Capt. Pat Harrison: Good largemouth, crappie, bluegills, perch and catfish, mostly on eighth- ounce white jigs. ILLINOIS: Illinois Valley Outdoors: White bass starting on flats and mouth of Vermilion. Crappie good on brush behind islands and wooden barge tie- ups. Sauger and walleye fair around Clark Island and Senachwine. KANKAKEE: High and stained but fishable.
CHAIN O’LAKES: Triangle: Arden Katz: Bite will build as water cools through 60s. White bass, walleye, crappie and drum going in 10 to 12 feet on Marie and Bluff. Bluegills good shallow against shoreline on Channel; move to find best ones. GREEN/ STURGEON BAYS, WISCONSIN: Howie’s: Pike ‘‘ fantastic.’’ Perch good ( downtown Sturgeon Bay, Sturgeon Bay flats, Sawyer Harbor, Little Sturgeon and Riley’s bays). Bass transitioning.
LAKEFRONT: Shoreline salmon/ trout at top. CHICAGO: Park Bait: Small perch inside Montrose. Capt. Bob Poteshman: Slow. Mixed bag at Julian’s Reef. WAUKEGAN: Salmon Stop: Capt. Augie Ralph working 90 to 120 feet for a mixed bag. NORTH
POINT: Poteshman: Good fishing, mostly lakers with some Chinook, from the Hill to 200 feet; mornings best. NORTHERN WISCONSIN: EAGLE RIVER: Chamber of Commerce: Turnover is going in spots. Otherwise, muskie headed to suckers. MINOCQUA: Kurt Justice: Muskie ( suckers), walleye ( red- tailed chubs in heavy green weeds), crappie ( suspended in 9 to 11 feet) and bluegills ( green cabbage in 10 feet) are very good. SHABBONA: Jim ‘‘ The Crappie Professor’’ Kopjo: Fall crappie bite builds as water cools toward 60. Lakeside: Muskie moving to the smaller baits in the no- motor zone. Some largemouth on topwaters over dying weeds. Walleye on Flicker Shads or jigging spoons on underwater weed lines. Some perch.
WISCONSIN RIVER: PETENWELL DAM: Jason Fox: ‘‘ River is on fire’’ for white bass. WOLF RIVER, WISCONSIN: FREMONT: Bill Stoeger: Good white bass ( mixed sizes), especially from Rat to mouth of Poygan; best on river rigs with