MIDWEST FISHING REPORT
AREA PUBLIC-SITE ICE FISHING: General: Ice fish at your own risk. Hours sunrise to sunset, unless noted otherwise. Ice fishing not permitted at the Chicago lagoons, FPD of Will County, Kankakee River Valley FPD and Kendall County FPD. FP COOK COUNTY: Ice-fishing lakes: Arrowhead, Axehead, Beck, Belleau, Big Bend, Bode south, Bullfrog, Busse main and south, Flatfoot, Green, Horsetail, Ida, Maple, Papoose, Powderhorn, Saganashkee Slough, Sag Quarry, Tampier, Turtlehead and Wampum. FPD DuPAGE COUNTY: Permitted most sites, not at Spring Creek Reservoir and Herrick. Late-night fishing allowed at Deep Quarry, must be out of preserve by 11 p.m. FPD KANE COUNTY: Only at Hampshire South FP, Oakhurst FP, Paul Wolff Campground and Grunwald Farms FP. LAKE COUNTY FP: Ice fishing permitted 6:30 a.m. to sunset at Hasting, Banana, Independence Grove south bay (catch-and-release), Carina; but 6:30 a.m. to one hour after sunset at Sterling. MAZONIA SFWA: Both units open. McHENRY CCD: Ice fishing only allowed Lake Atwood at The Hollows. SILVER SPRINGS SFWA: Enter through the east entrance, 7 a.m.-sunset. WILLIAM POWERS SRA: Normal hours.
DERBY: Hermann’s Rest-A-While’s Ice Fishing Derby, Saturday, Nielsen’s Channel, hermannsrestawhile.com. AUGER SHARPENING: For Fran Connelly’s blade sharpening, “Ice Auger Sharpening” on Facebook or drop at either Lee’s Bait & Tackle (Elk Grove Village or Carol Stream).
AREA LAKES: Dave’s Bait: As of Tuesday, 5 inches or more of ice in many places; channels, ponds and shallow bays have best ice; should have 8-10 inches by the weekend north. For panfish, waxies, red and white spikes or wigglers; for tip-ups, roaches or frozen jumbo smelt. Ken “Husker” O’Malley: South, found ice building rapidly from 3 inches or more. Keep moving for panfish, best on plastics just before dark; bluegill on weed flats; crappie over main basins. Rob Abouchar: Found 4 inches on Island Lake, building quickly.
CHAIN: Triangle: Proprietor Greg Dickson: “Things improving every minute.” Back channels, best option. ICE-FISHING ACCESS: See sidebar.
GREEN LAKE, WISCONSIN: Mike Norris: Should be walkable ice soon.
GREEN/STURGEON BAYS, WISCONSIN: Howie’s: Some ice on inner bays of Sawyer Harbor, Little Sturgeon and Riley’s Bay. At early ice, try pike and perch shallow.
LAKEFRONT: Weather limited effort, no fishable harbor ice.
MADISON, WISCONSIN: D&S: Waubesa and Kegonsa completely iced, considerable ice on Mendota and Monona. Early ice-fishing focused on Cherokee Marsh and Monona Bay.
MAZONIA: Jon’s Bait: Monday, 3½-4 inches on smaller pits; larger lakes only froze over Sunday night. NORTHERN WISCONSIN: Kurt Justice: Expect 10-13 inches of ice by the weekend. Crappie (in 22-30 ft., 5 ft. off bottom) and pike (weeds in 5-10) very good before the storm, then poor; walleye (expect fish to move deeper with thicker ice) very good before storm, then poor.
NORTHWEST INDIANA: Slez’s: ‘‘Ice ice ice fishing.’’ Some groups on local ponds; many others gearing up planning for weekend.
GO & SHOW
Muskie Expo Chicago: Kane County Fairgrounds, St. Charles, Friday-Sunday, muskieexpo.com/chicago/.
Musky Swap Meet: Saturday, Quad County Hawg Hunters chapter of Muskies, Inc., St. Charles Moose Lodge, Duane Landmeier, dlandmeier@frontier. com. Captain Dan Keating Salmon Schools: Lake Michigan Angler, Winthrop Harbor, Salmon Foundations, Saturday; Advanced Tactics & Seasonal Strategies, Sunday; captaindankeating.com.