Chicago fishing: Pleasant weather leads to a plethora of fish photos and reports

Hey Dale,

. . .

“A friend casting to shadows in northwest Michigan.” (October 19).

Got skunked in northern Michigan going after trophy browns this past weekend. Our fly selection was apparently poor, as every fish we saw spooked quickly and never returned.

Watched plenty of amped up Kings continuing their upstream journey on the Pere Marquette.

Take care,

Reilly

6lb bass this past weekend and 40 inch pike northern Illinois

Hey Dale,

Here is a recap of this past week’s fishing.

Area lakes-

I’m finding with those overnight temps nearing freezing that the early morning bite had been slow. The mid-morning bite has been a better choice especially on sunny days. Bass have been caught on bladed jigs and slow rolling spinnerbaits along outside weed lines. Today I decided to play the mid to late afternoon bite. Best bait was a weightless fluke rigged with a 4/0 Vector Hooks EWG. This allowed me to work the bait into shallow shoreline cover where I found active bass chasing small bluegill. Water temps are 57-59, but won’t drop much this week with record warm temps scheduled.

The fall bite is on and those water temps are finally going into the 50’s. With that said, It’s never to early to start scouting panfish for that magical time of first ice. I feel like we are going to go from early fall to winter in a blink of an eye. So here is a quick report. Bluegill were traveling in packs along the outside weed lines. The better sized gills were tight to isolated wood. A Wackem and Stackem Custom Baits split tail on FINS Braids crappie braid brought them topside. Looking forward to the chase in anticipation of drilling that first hole.

. . .

TTYL

Ken “Husker” O’Malley

Husker Outdoors
Waterwerks fishing team

Hi Dale

With the extended Indian summer conditions the good bite continues in Northern Illinois. The water Temps stayed steady in the 50s. Bass going on wacky rigged senko in green pumpkin with gold flake. Finding bait fish and look for active swirls from feeding bass and cat to the area. The bluegill bite is still good on red worms on plain small hook or ice jigs. Sone shore anglers getting panfish by bridge. We had the Leyden fishing team out on shabbona lake Saturday and the day was beautiful but the front passing through had fish inactive. I managed a bass on the og Rocco. One if the anglers had a musky following on the Rocco. Other action by kenn Becker of midnite mile on long lake hit a 44 inch long and lean musky. AND My home town boys mark Abernathy and Jim the wing king Schultz hit little sturgeon Bay and found big smallmouth still hitting topwater.topwater. Jim said it was a pb.

On the music front it’s full band rehearsals wit Gozortenplat in Milwaukee for zappa fest in December. We need to do promo video this week. And with the calendar changing to November the Conscious rockers are looking forward to the show at main Street outfitters in Wauconda on November 30th. Midnite mile will be playing at the Santa Cause event at crossroads in Ivanhoe on November 23rd. Plenty of music as we head into the holidays!

Tight lines and good health!

Rob

This 30" bowfin weighed six or seven pounds and gave me a great tussle on a 7 wt. fly rod. I didn’t even know they were in Long Lake!

With the water temperatures down 25 degrees from the summer time highs, musky fishermen are starting to drag a sucker around while they cast. The next 2-4 weeks should be prime time for a big fish.

Panfish are biting good on the Fox River and Chain O Lakes most of my customers are using extra Large Fatheads on a jig head. White bass and crappie are hitting the best.

Caught this 3 lb Talapia

Caught this beautiful 16.5 inch smallmouth off a topwater frog in the Des Plaines River in Wheeling. Put up a great fight too! Several jumps and a couple runs of the line.

JT Malloy

Lake Forest

Fishing is still open, but does not start until 12 noon during waterfowl season. Waterfowl hunting stops at noon.

Hi Dale,

I’ve been able to get out to the fox river a few times in recent weeks. The water is low but I’ve seen a good bite at dusk on topwater lures. Smallmouth aren’t plentiful but most are good size at 15-18 inches. Hoping for a little more rain before the season ends! Thanks, Aaron Funke

. . .

Panfish are biting good on the Fox River and Chain O Lakes most of my customers are using extra Large Fatheads on a jig head. White bass and crappie are hitting the best.

Smallmouth bass on the lower River are still hitting great. Top water and smaller crank baits will do the trick.

Fishing Report – 10/28/2024

By Mike Norris

Big Green Lake: Smallmouth bass fishing is on fire as we experience record warmth here in south-central Wisconsin. On recent guide trips my clients are catching and releasing up to 40 bass per outing. The majority of the catches range in the 2 – 4 lb. range, but they are catching one or two bass exceeding 5 lbs. each outing. Look for mixed areas of sand and weeds in 8 - 14 feet and work tube baits, swim jigs, and A-Rigs. Live bait rigging is another option. Northern pike are also active. Perch fishing is good with perch running up to 13-inches. Look for them where healthy weeds remain just outside of docks in Dartmouth Bay. Same for the bluegills. With record warmth pushing up from the south, we are experiencing days where the wind is exceeding 40 mph, so check the weather and wind reports before venturing out on this 7,900- acre lake. As of last weekend, the water temperature ranges from 52 to 54 degrees.

Kankakee today. Finally got out

Mike Gluecklich here. Caught this beauty on the pier at montrose using a pink mepps spinner.

I might not have a fishing report but i feel like this needs to be said for lakefront reports Be cautious in or around the harbors, 2 vehicles were broken into on saturday including our crew member T, both at Diversey harbor in broad daylight, only thing taken was fishing gear, so if ur out at the harbors, be careful and look around for anything or anyone tht looks Suspicious.

Hi

The few Kings I’ve seen this past week had eggs falling out so I think we have gotten to the near end of this Chinook season. There are still some around hitting spoons and now also spawn sacs.

Some really nice Steelhead coming in. Like the 1 in the pic. Wasn’t ours but Brian luvs a good photo opp. They are being caught on hair jigs with wax worms, some on lures and spawn sacs on slip bobber.

Smallmouth activity still good. No perch to report as of yet but with water temps falling could be soon.

Have a great week!

4) Snagging for Chinook and coho salmon only is permitted from the following Lake Michigan shoreline areas from October 1 through December 31; however, no snagging is allowed at any time within 200 feet of a moored watercraft or as posted: A) Lincoln Park Lagoon from the Fullerton Avenue Bridge to the southern end of the Lagoon. B) Waukegan Harbor (in North Harbor basin only). C) Winnetka Power Plant discharge area. D) Jackson Harbor (Inner and Outer Harbors).

Winding out the month of October 2024 water temperatures did not fall as much as I would’ve expected. Lows of 48° with the average around 52 to 53 and warmer temps on Tuesday and Wednesday from October 29 through October 30 will hold these temps up for now!

Attention is on musky with some walleye anglers still jigging about.

Musky; good to very good
Certain days and time periods obviously better than others! More of a sucker bite than previous week, though with a tip from fellow Guide Jason Heindl, tossing a Fat Bastard back in the boat, netted a 47 inch beaut on Tuesday with another 47 incher on a sucker just 20 minutes later. Gliders, Jerks and Twitch baits moved the fish , but suckers by far stuck the most!

Walleye; good
Windy days were tough for boat control, but all anglers finding walleyes deep along gravel/mud transitions, in 24 to 32 feet using typical jig and Minnow or chub combinations. Overall, with lakes turned, fish can be found anywhere, including any bright green weeds or shallow water bites on low light level days or low light level times.

Not fishing, nor getting other reports for other species, it’s just that time of year.

Targeting musky is still a good bet. As waters cool (Thursday’s high on October 31 forecasted to be 39°)suckers and slow moving gliders and big plastics will be the best. Following the last day of October drop, highs will average in the mid 50s again for another nice week of fishing. Coinciding with the New moon should be a winner!

This is how it’s been all week [photo above] for fisherman fishing for an hour maybe lil more after work in the evening using minnows at Lake George in Hobart

Wolf lake in Hammond giving up crappie and a walleye here and there on xl fatheads fishing near the channel.

Boaters fishing near 249 bridge and old boat docks down from portage public marina are getting crappie and gills on minnows and small jigs tipped with beemoth.

Pike still being caught on golden roaches and Arctic spinners in the Marinas in New Buffalo Michigan.

Salt Creek Sea Monster - So proud of my son for catching this 23 inch / 3.5 pound Channel Catfish in Salt Creek just a few blocks from our house. What bait you ask? He used chicken tenders. For you see he went fishing the evening before and brought chicken tenders along for dinner as he sat on the creek bank. The leftovers were used as catfish bait the next morning.

This is probably one of the largest fishes in this particular stretch of Salt Creek.

Tolkien is now known among the kids in the neighborhood as ‘the guy that caught the giant catfish’!

The walleye bite is picking up, Fremont area and south to Poygan. Vertical jigging with minnows working best. Water temp is 50 degrees, and will only get better as the temperature drops.