MIDWEST FISHING REPORT
NEAR-SHORE SALMON/TROUT: CHICAGO: Heath Andre caught an 11-pound steelhead at Diversey Harbor on a green Oslo spinner. Park Bait: Chinook and coho doing well. A few steelhead. No browns yet. Henry’s: For Chinook and coho, ‘‘Lots of guys seeing them, lots catching them’’; Moonshines hot lure.
WAUKEGAN: Salmon Stop: Sporadic king catches in harbor, mostly on spoons, especially orange and chartreuse. Capt. Scott Wolfe: Expects coho to come in this week.
NORTHWEST INDIANA: Slez’s: Kings and coho in all tributaries; use spawn, skein and inline spinners.
PORT WASHINGTON, WISCONSIN: Wally Olson: Kings ‘‘on fire’’ at powerplant outflow on spawn sacs, skein or minnows.
SNAGGING: Snagging for Chinook and coho in Illinois opens Saturday only at Lincoln Park Lagoon south of Fullerton bridge, Waukegan North Harbor basin, Winnetka Power Plant discharge area and inner and outer Jackson Park harbors.
TROUT: Illinois’ early catch-and-release trout season opens Saturday. Nearby sites: Rock Creek at Kankakee River SP, Pine Creek at White Pines Forest SP; and Apple River at Apple River Canyon SP.
AREA LAKES: Ken ‘‘Husker’’ O’Malley: Bluegills most consistent; try Maki plastics along mud flats. Largemouth slowed with cold front; try late with slow baits, such as Senkos.
AREA RIVERS: CHICAGO: Jeffrey Williams: Some crappie and white bass on minnows. FOX: Vince Oppedisano: Good smallmouth on crankbaits last week, but cooler weather suggests time to switch to slower baits.
KANKAKEE: Bob Johnson: Quality smallmouth on dark finesse worms and Ned rigs. Son Chase caught and released a keeper-sized walleye, too. Water cooled to mid-60s.
CHAIN: Triangle: Crappie moving into channels; best on minnows or plastics on slip floats. Lots of catfish on Channel or Fox on cut bait. Bluegills mixed with crappie shallow on red worms or plastics. Walleye transitioning from moving baits to crawlers, bigger ones on crankbaits shallow on Marie. White bass good on minnows or small crankbaits. Suckers in stock for muskie or use big rubber baits.
LOCK NOTE: Stratton Lock and Dam switches hours Saturday to 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. for October.
COOLING LAKES: Final fishing days: Heidecke (Oct. 11), LaSalle (Oct. 15), Braidwood and Mazonia (Oct. 18).
GREEN LAKE, WISCONSIN: Mike Norris: BIG GREEN: Bluegills excellent outside weed edges and around cribs. Smallmouth and largemouth active on weed lines.
FOX LAKE: Crappie excellent at dam. Trollers catching walleye.
HEIDECKE: Johnson: Multiple species on Ned rigs.
LAKEFRONT: Park Bait: Smallmouth good for those trying in Chicago harbors. Capt. Bob Poteshman: Out of North Point, some salmon near ‘‘The Hill’’ in 80 to 120 feet. Otherwise, deeper than 180 for lakers. Off Chicago, good lakers in 120 to 180 feet. Capt. Wolfe: When weather allowed, lakers and small salmon in 170 to 300 feet out of Waukegan.
NORTHERN WISCONSIN: Kurt Justice: Muskie very good to good shallow on topwaters or bucktails on inside weed edges. Pike also active shallow. Smallmouth, walleye, largemouth, bluegills, crappie and perch good. Water cooling through 60s.
POWERTON: Hours switch Saturday to 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
SHABBONA: Boondocks: With cool-down, walleye should improve. Otherwise, chicken livers for catfish and hybrid stripers.
WISCONSIN DELLS: Hook-and-line sturgeon ends Friday.
WOLF RIVER, WISCONSIN: FREMONT: Bill Stoeger: River cooled into 50s. Crappie and white bass moving into river.