MIDWEST FISHING REPORT
TROUT: Fall trout opens Saturday. Daily bag is five. Those 16 and older need fishing license and inland trout stamp. Cook County: Axehead, Belleau, Busse North, Green, Horsetail, Sag Quarry East, Wolf; DuPage: Grove, Pickerel, Silver; Kankakee: Bird Park Quarry, Rock Creek; Kendall: Big Lake at Silver Springs SFWA; Lake: Sand Lake at Illinois Beach SP; McHenry: Spring Grove Hatchery Pond; Will: Lake Strini, Van Horn Woods. SHORELINE/TRIBUTARY SALMON/TROUT: CHICAGO: Park Bait: Some salmon caught before the storms and a few starting on bait. A few coho and trout, too. Henry’s: Some kings at South Side harbors. Some good ones last week. WAUKEGAN: Salmon Stop: Spoons and spawn sacs working for primarily kings. A few coho, too. NORTHWEST INDIANA: Slez’s: A few kings and coho, plus a steelhead here and there in all tributaries.
AREA LAKES: Cooler weather should help crappie bite. Ken ‘‘Husker’’ O’Malley: Before weather change, bass good on topwaters or twitching minnow baits over top of weeds.
AREA RIVERS: CHICAGO: Jeffrey Williams: Bass active on minnows. FOX: Dicky’s: Batavia dam ‘‘on fire’’ for smallmouth. A 28-pound flathead and a 40-inch flathead caught in North Aurora. Rains helped the levels.
CHAIN: Arden Katz: Vertical jigging (Saturday boat traffic prohibited trolling) with minnows or Mini-Mites for schooled white bass, yellow bass and crappie on Marie. Triangle: Muskie good in 15 to 16 feet (bucktails, suckers, big plastics). Bigger crappie shallow (15 to 20 feet). Big pike shallow. Channel catfish shallow. Perch ‘‘everywhere.’’ Walleye variable in numbers and depth. COOLING LAKES/STRIP PITS: Heidecke closed Tuesday. Friday is final day for LaSalle and Tuesday for Braidwood and Mazonia. Bob Johnson noted chances of trophy muskie went up on Heidecke. Daryl Turner sent a good late-season blue photo from LaSalle.
DELAVAN/GENEVA, WISCONSIN: Dave Duwe: DELAVAN: Crankbaits picking up for walleye on weed lines in 10 to 12 feet. Crappie suspending deep. Bluegills moved shallow. GENEVA: ‘‘Awesome’’; has not turned over yet. Bluegills very good, bigger ones in 20 feet. Smallmouth in 20 to 25 feet on crawlers. Perch in 10 to 12 feet. Largemouth in 10 to 14 feet.
GREEN LAKE, WISCONSIN: Mike Norris: BIG GREEN: Smallmouth scattered but big; focus on weed edges or rock-strewn points. FOX LAKE: Largemouth and pike shallow on Senkos and ChatterBaits.
LAKEFRONT: Henry’s: Some pike around harbors. Park Bait: Salmon anglers picking up some good pike. Capt. Bob Poteshman: Winds haven’t allowed lake to settle; focus on lakers around reefs out of North Point and Chicago. SNAGGING: Snagging for Chinook and coho open only at Lincoln Park Lagoon south of Fullerton, Waukegan North Harbor, Winnetka Power Plant or Jackson Harbor (inner and outer).
NORTHERN WISCONSIN: O’Malley: Smallmouth good on rock piles. Pike decent on Mepps spinners on weed lines. Kurt Justice: Muskie good on suckers; should keep improving. Crappie, perch, walleye (gravel/mud transitions) and smallmouth (best offshore reefs) good to fair.
SHABBONA: Boondocks: Some walleye in 7 to 8 feet. Trollers catching some catfish.
WOLF RIVER, WISCONSIN: Fremont: Bill Stoeger: White bass good on sand bars. More walleye showing up.