Chicago fishing: Year of the Coho keeps rolling, summer patterns hold inland

Nice one on a gorgeous evening at Palmisano Park.

Still crazy high, but it’s creating some newly fishable structure.

Rain and winds are the new normal it seems like. The fishing continues to be good! Don’t overlook retention ponds in industrial areas and neighborhood ponds. I stopped at one last week and caught 30 largemouth in less than an hour. The biggest was only 15 inches but getting a bite on almost every cast was a blast! I fished a senko wacky rigged in a weed less Gamakatsu size 1 hook. Take someone who has never fished before! They will be hooked.

As the calendar hit August it was some relaxing dock fishing for largemouth bass. With duckweed blowing into our little corner of the lake i tried frog fishing with no success. The bass would still hit a senko slowly dragged through weeds. Bass also still hitting along metal seawalls early and late in the day. The water level is back down to normal and the clarity is very good. I’m thinking about using my neighbors kayak to get ot on the midlake grass areas. The best fish came as a thunderstorm passed and a rainbow came out. It really was a time to sit and reflect. Id quite enjoy rainbows for whatever reason...a pot o gold, make a wish , dreams come true and all that stuff.

On the music front it was a sublime setting for our third Gozortenplat show of the summer at Pennoyer Park in Kenosha. The acoustically perfect bandshell and the lake in the background was truly inspiring. We will have 4 weeks or so before resuming rehearsals for Zappafest shows in December with Ray White. This Sunday planning to sit in with Hurricane reggae band at Keifs reef nice and close to home. And the Conscious Rockers have show #3 at the Montrose Beach Dock. Hopefully the kings will be in!

Tight lines and Good Health!

Rob

Bass still hitting wacky worms and soft plastics in the cabbage best in the early evening. Caught one bluegill that looked like it survived a heron, lucky guy.

Large pike from recent trip to Manitoba

Thanks

Howard Rynberk

As a background to this story and fish,
I was in upper Manitoba 6/12 and had a phenomenal day of fishing catching 20 walleye and 50 pike and then this trophy pike at mid morning.
Wish all my fishing days were that good!
We had great weather and I ended up with two more trophy pike.

Went back to the walk today, 1 carp, 2 decent size largies and to my surprise. ... I limited out on yellow perch(all under 9 in so no keepers) I caught 16 in total.

Starting Monday August 5th we will be opening at 5 a.m.

. . .

The Chicago River has been doing very well with a lot of different species being caught.

Delavan Lake 8/5/24 through 8/12/24

Fishing has been consistent on Delavan Lake for the past week. The panfish bite is really quite good and you can almost always come up with a few bass and northern pike.

The largemouth bass have three patterns going right now. The most consistent is the deep weedline bite. The best depth is 16-22 ft of water. They hit best on nightcrawlers but will also hit a sucker occasionally. The south shore and near the gray condos have produced some decent fish. The second pattern is the slop top water bite. The best time of the day is early a.m. or late evening. Try using a scum frog in white or black. The third pattern is casting the docks. The fish prefer the shade of the docks in the late afternoon. You have to be able to cast pretty consistently for this to work. Try the docks on the north shore for your best success. Use Senkos or All Terrain stiks for the most action.

The pike are also on the deep weedlines. The best depth has been 19-25 ft of water. Lindy rigging suckers is the preferred presentation. Look for the fish by the gray condos or by the Village Supper Club point. It has been a strange summer – the northern pike bite should be a lot better than it is – I’ve been only averaging 3-5 fish in a four hour trip but I never fish strictly for pike either.

Bluegills are still everywhere on the weedline. If you can’t catch a limit, check to make sure you have a hook on your line. Leaf worms in 20-22 ft of water are pretty much a sure thing. The weed point by the gray condos and the flat by Willow Point are both decent.

Walleye Pike are very slow right now. I catch one here and there but without a lot of consistency. Jumbo leeches have been the best bet. They are right on the weedline in 18 ft of water.

Crappies are now suspending over deep water about 10-12 ft down in 30-35 ft of water. You need to use your fish locator to find the fish. Slip bobbers fished with small fat head minnows or casting cubby jigs with a small split shot above it to help it sink and then a slow retrieve works the best.

Good Luck and I hope to see you on the water. For guide parties, please call Dave Duwe at 262-728-8063

Hey Dale,

Here is a recap of this past weeks fishing.

Des Plaines River

We are in the dog days of summer with yet another heat wave of 90 degree plus temps. Good news here it will break midweek. Don’t fret as we have options that I discussed yesterday morning. The rivers and especially tributaries are holding good numbers of active smallmouth right now. They are feeding heavily on crayfish, so a good option is the Berkley Fishing max scent lil’ trooper or a 3 inch max scent chigger craw. Use the lightest jig you can get away with as many areas are now being covered in moss. FINS Braids windtamer braid in hi vis yellow will increase your hookup ratio dramatically. These fish are light biters so line watching is critical to setting that hook. Tex posing the bait is a good way to keep your presentation clean. Cooler weather is not that far off and the fish are looking at the calendar as well.

. . .

TTYL

Ken “Husker” O’Husker Outdoors
Waterwerks fishing team

Hey Dale,

It’s been a bit since I’ve last reached out to you. Our favorite body of water (Hennepin Hopper) has cooled off a bit, figuratively. For me at least. The morning bite has been limited to about the first hour and a half after sunrise, and after that slim pickings. To the point that I took the show on the road this week and headed down to Dawson Lake near Downs Illinois. I was able to boat this bass on a Senko fishing a point. Bottom line, the dog days of July are a thing. I hope some of the other anglers out there are doing better!

Tight lines,

Gene Jarka

Princeton, Ill.

Hi Dale,

Fox River water levels have been steadily dropping over the past 10 days or so. Fish aren’t on the edges as much as they were when levels were higher. Found several fish in the current this week including this walleye which was caught on a ned rig just below one of the dams. Visibility seemed to be about a foot last time I was out. Floating weeds have died down and aren’t too bad right now. Got a few smallmouth on topwater, early morning. More waders are out with the falling water levels.

Catfishing on the Fox River continues to be great. I believe the higher water has them putting on the feed bag. Cut bait and stick bait with blood in it are best.

Fox River smallmouth fishing is also very good but the average fish is 12-13 inches. Small spinners and top water baits will work for them.

Lake Geneva 8/5/24 through 8/12/24

Fishing in Geneva remains very consistent. There are fish to be caught every time out. The best bite is the walleyes after dark.

Lake Trout are being caught on the main lake basin. They are in 108-120 ft of water, 70-80 ft down. Nickel/blue and nickel/green spoons have been the best presentation. I have been doing a big circle from Conference and Cedar Point. The best bite still remains ½ hour before sun up and ½ hour before sun down.

Perch have been very aggressive. They have been in the 10-12 ft depth range. They can be caught on ½ nightcrawlers or fat head minnows. The best location has been by Rainbow Point or Knollwood. The biggest issue as always is the size, you need to sort through a lot of small fish to get to the keepers.

Rock Bass have moved deeper. They are in the 14-18 ft depth range. They can be caught on split shot rigged nightcrawlers. The best location has been by Elgin Club or by Maytag Point. With the water temperature being so warm, their meat is getting soft. I wouldn’t recommend keeping them this time of year.

Walleye Pike fishing has been good at night if there is some wind. Without wind Lake Geneva is a dead sea for Walleye. The best location has been by Fontana Beach or Abbey Springs. Work a depth of 16-18 ft of water with medium diving crank baits. I prefer chrome/black Walleye Bandits.

Largemouth Bass can be caught in the shallows or on the deep weedline. The shallow fish can be caught on split shot rigged nightcrawlers or on top water lures. The best location has been Trinkes Bay or by Linn Pier. I’ve been working a depth of 10-12 ft. Some of the largemouth are starting to school on the hard rock bottom in 18-25 ft of water. They can be caught Carolina rigging Arkie Crawlin’ grubs or drop shotting 4 inch finesse worms. In either case, green pumpkin is the only color to tie on.

Good luck and I hope to see you on the water. For guide parties, please call Dave Duwe at 262-728-8063.

Starting Monday Aug. 5 we will be opening at 5 a.m.

Perch are scattered day to day. Some days you can find some other days no where to be found. Smallmouth good in and around the harbors. Sheephead have been pretty consistent on the Horseshoe. All fish have been hitting on the small live crayfish, small minnows, a few worms and some plastics.

. . .

The boats have been slaying the Coho, Kings and Lake Trout trolling with just about anything has gotten fish. I feel it’s been there best year. Let’s hope in a few weeks when the water starts cooling off the Kings come in to shore and make it a good shore fishing year too!

You are a super cool dad. Sunset Smallie off the dock. It’s tubing and swimming season up in the North Woods. But we will fish morning and evening.

The new moon and heat of the end of July combined for some very good fishing this past week. While sunshine and lack of wind inhibited some mid-day action, those willing to fish early and late had very good results. Water temps hit highs of over 82 degrees on some waters, which is not common for us “Northerners.” Most hovered with an average surface temp of 78 degrees. Expect that to drop with the new cool front that has moved in.

Walleye: Very Good-Good – Bite heated up along with the water for those willing to get out early (or fish late). Live bait, (Crawlers, leeches or red tails) out on gravel/rock humps in 22-28’ on 1/8 to 1/4 oz jigs, slip-bobbering or drop-shotting these live baits all working well. Anglers finding transitional fish (fish suspended, traveling from hump to hump?) being targeted by search lures with crawlers. Some very good reports of Walleye in heavy weed growth as shallow as 6-9’ using red tails on 1/16 oz weedless jigs. These fish showed signs of feeding heavily on 1 ½-2” Perch. Fish accordingly! It was nice to give something other than Bass top billing for a change. The current cool front may slow these bites, we’ll see.

Smallmouth: Very Good-Good – Early and late, some hot top-water action on Spooks, Torpedos, Jitterbugs and Whopper Ploppers. Out over rock bars Ned rigs and Drop-Shot rigs best. Along weed edges (yes, at times they seem to be everywhere) tubes and Wacky Worms are fantastic.

Largemouth: Very Good-Good – Like their bronze cousins, Largemouth action good early and late on top-water. Frogs, Spiders and buzzbaits working best. Out over weeds, pre-rigged plastic worms, lipless cranks and square billed cranks for the more aggressive bites. Wacky Worms and light tube jigs for the “denser” fish.

Bluegill: Very Good-Good – Fired up in this heat! Lots of action on Gills from shallow dock cover to outside coontail edges using tiny jigs tipped with waxies, worms with floats or the smallest Beetle Spins or Charlie Bees. Towards evening, fly rodders scoring using poppers or ants around shallow pads.

Yellow Perch: Good-Very Good – Most all reports from anglers fishing heavy weeds of 6-10’ using ½ crawlers or beavertails to catch nice 9-11” Perch scattered throughout cabbage flats. A few falling for Ned jigs or small Wacky Worms in orange/Brown colors (most likely due to crayfish match).

Crappie: Good-Very Good – Tickling the tops of narrow leaf cabbage in 9-14’ using 1/16 oz underspin jigs (Crappie Thumpers, Charlie Bees or Road Runners) or jigging small plastics up high in the canopy producing nice Crappies of 10-12” with plenty of 13 up to 14” slabs included.

Musky: Good – Early morning and late evening top-water on tail baits (Pace Makers, Whopper Ploppers and Fat Bastards). Bucktails also bringing fish to the net. Mid-morning on, open water action working rubber baits where the Ciscos roam best.

Northern Pike: Good – Chatterbaits, spinnnerbaits and 4-5” swimbaits. #4:#5 Mepps also helping anglers cash in on Pike action.

With lows in the 50’s and highs only in the 60’s Thursday, Friday and Saturday, expect a little push back from the activity we had been getting. Surface temps will drop and fish will need some time to adjust their patterns. Looks like a warm up from then (8/11) onwards, so shouldn’t be too severe of a change. Leeches coming to an end of the supply. Fish will still eat, but expect fewer to be available. Weeds and water still above average, hope to see both stay up for August.

Kurt Justice

Kurt’s Island Sports Shop

Perch fishing slower since last report from portage to Michigan city. New Buffalo and St. Joe Michigan still pretty good.

Salmon fishing in 80 to 110ft is decent straight out of portage and a lil east fishing spoons, spindoctors and flys and meat rigs. 50ft to near bottom.

Catfish still going strong on cedar lake in cedar lake. Shrimp and triple s stinkbait best baits.

Lots of groups just out wetting a line kids go back to school next week here in Indiana.

Honestly , last week brought me no photos. Catfish on shrimp still hot. Walleye jigging on bottom with leeches seemed to be working. Crappie and bluegill are so-so. Bass still seem to be doing top waters, and Berkeley flicker shads. Thanks John, hope your mom gets better. John “The Old Man “

Water temp 83.6 degrees

Dale, I just wanted to share a few photos with you from my fishing trip up north with my sons JT and Sean. We caught some nice bluegills and bass on the Wisconsin River. Thanks and we always read your column. Don Wisz (southside Chicago resident)

Bluegill and some crappie are still biting in the wood along the river. Walleye action has slowed a bit. There are some white bass near the mouth of Partridge Lake, mostly an early or late day bite