Chicago fishing: Salmon starting in Chicago and Wisconsin hook and line sturgeon opening

430 am and 555 am

Dusable homemade white jig. With a twister tale on it

Good morning Dale

I had a few reports of Kings lost this morning. So the activity is moving along day by day. The usual glo spoons and crankbaits.

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Have a great week!

Few kings and cohos are in the nwi creeks nothing hot and heavy yet but a few are around.

Fished/hiked Silver Springs State Park today. It may have the largest disparity between how good the fishing looks and how it actually is, but I managed two 12" largemouths after covering a ton of shoreline and was plenty happy. A pileated woodpecker full-flight sighting made the day.

Fish on Dale, on a senko, have a great Labor Day weekend,
Rico Cantu
New Lenox Il

September is here and so are the fall like temperatures, especially at night. This and the hours of daylight should get the fish on the fall feed bag. Surface water temperatures will cool quickly so don’t be afraid of fishing mid day. Bass and pike will be cruising the weed flats looking to eat panfish.

Hey Dale,

Here’s a recap from this past weeks fishing.

Area lakes-Heat index reached 110 plus some days but there was a breeze. That helped with fishing but little to stay cool. Focus was those wind blown weed flats adjacent to deeper water. I started out throwing weedless rigged senkos and caught a few small bass. Switched to a fluke on a Vector 4/0 EWG and caught a few more smaller ones. So I decided to cover more water with a baby 1- paired with Vector Hooks tornado trebles. I was looking for those reaction strikes. That presentation caught better quality bass.

TTYL

Ken “Husker” O’Malley

Husker Outdoors
Waterwerks fishing team

Hi Dale

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Back in island lake the bite continues great for bluegill on red trout worms under a slip bobber. Some nice yellow bass also hitting around the same areas as bluegill. I sighted

On the music front it’s time for Gozortenplat to resume rehearsals in Milwaukee this week. I may need another week to do some preliminary practice on some of these heavy Frank Zappa cuts. Midnite mile is set to play at crossroads before the bears opener on September 15th...super bowl!

Tight lines and good health!

Rob

Joliet/Plainfield/Shorewood area ponds didn’t give up anything substantial with a 1lb largemouth biggest on wacky rig Yum Dinger worked slow off weedline. Bass taking topwater early morning but smaller fish dominant. Now bluegill and green sunfish yes sir. Blasting #1 white Mepps spinner and darker Beetle Spin on a steady retrieve. Biggest 9 inches but even smallest was over 6.

Hey Dale,

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I tried the lakefront looking for smallmouth on Sunday and ended up catching a 16 inch smallie on the riverwalk, my biggest so far from the walk…on a ned rig.

Delavan Lake Fishing Report 9/2/24 – 9/09/24

Fishing on Delavan remains very good. The best bite on the lake remains largemouth bass and bluegills.

Bluegills have not moved into the deep water all summer. The bigger fish remain in the 13-15 ft depth range. The best location has been off the main lake points and off the buoy line on the west end, the Highland side seems to be the best. Using a small split shot and a leaf worms has been producing most of the action.

Walleye fishing remains relatively spotty with the warm water temperatures. I believe the fish are deeper than I’ve been fishing. The few fish I’ve been catching have been in 15-17 ft of water just off the weed line. Lindy rigged leeches or nightcrawlers have been producing the best action.

Largemouth bass have been positioned right on the weed line in 15-17 ft of water. I’ve been catching most of the fish just adjacent to the main lake points on the inside of the turn. You can either catch them with a drop shot rigged finesse worm or a split shot rigged nightcrawler.

Nothern pike have been relatively slow. Most of the action is coming from the shallow weeds on a white spinner bait or a white chatter bait. The deep water lindy rigged sucker bite has been slower than years’ past. The best location has been by the gray condos or by Belvidere condos.

Yellow perch have been biting by Assembly Park. The best depth has been 6-8 ft of water. The best bait has been leaf worms or hellgrammites fished beneath a slip bobber.

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

Hey Dale, it’s been a while: I nailed this one last night at the Santa Fe Prairie site on the Des Plaines. I was intentionally vague about the location in case you want to publish the following. Glad things are cool with you. (I have a bunch of fishing photos from this season on my FB page. It might amuse you for a couple of minutes to look through them.). Take care.

I got this one late yesterday on a creek chub head a few miles downstream from the old Riverside/Lyons Hoffman Dam site on the Des Plaines. It’s the biggest I’ve seen at this particular site in my 20 years fishing there.

It’s by no means a lunker, but at a hastily-measured 38 oz it had some heft, and was big enough for me. I could have horsed the thing in on the line, but thankfully Doug Pattenaude was there to net it; I really didn’t want to lose this fish once I saw it wasn’t just a carp.

Needless to say, it was a lovely conclusion to an otherwise uneventful day on the River.

Hey Dale,

The Fox is running low, making wading possible at more spots along the river. The first location we fished was very low with lots of snagged catfish rigs making casting difficult. We then moved to a slightly deeper spot and had better luck, finding a 19 and 18 inch smallmouth in current. This fish hit a pink tiger baby 1- crankbait from BPF Lures.

Hi Dale,

The Summer of Catfish rolls on. I fished a Fox trib late last week. The forecast called for afternoon clouds and some rain, but it never materialized. I wound up fishing very clear water in bright sun. Smallmouths were in or immediately adjacent to fast, broken water; if there was a downed tree or submerged limb, they were under it. They were willing to bite, but were not showing themselves in those conditions. I did spot of school of fish in some deeper water and hooked one right away on a black streamer, which he likely mistook for a leech. It was the channel cat in the attached image. This was the first time I’ve ever sight fished for cats. After I caught one, the others shut down and would not eat. I think I’d have done much better in low light conditions: some clouds, rain, or fishing after sunset would have been much more productive. It was interesting to see how everyone else deferred to the school of cats; smallmouths got out of their way when the cats wandered close.

Early last week, the Fox was low and warm, bathwater warm. I caught a few smallmouths and did my best to get them landed and revived before they got stressed due to the high temps. The outing was a short one because I was soon surrounded by lightning in every direction, as if in the eye of a hurricane. I got out of there quickly while I was still able. A lot of rain came down later that night. I’m not sure how much it did to cool the water though because of a week of 90 degree temperatures. Things may be improving now.

Pete

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Catfish on the Fox River is still very good! Use cut bait or stink bait with blood in it.

Lake Geneva Fishing Report 9/2/24 - 9/9/24

This whole summer, Lake Geneva has been more difficult to fish than years past. I have not been able to get good patterns on smallmouth or largemouth bass. The pan fish bite has been decent all year, as has the walleye, it’s really just the bass that have been a challenge.

Pan fish remain in the 18-22 ft depth range. The best location has been by Gage Marine or Elgin Club. The fish are positioned 6 inches to 1 foot off bottom. The fish can be caught split shot rigging a leaf worm or a trout worm. As the water cools, the bluegills will start moving shallower again.

Walleye fishing remains excellent in the evening hours. Abbey Springs and Trinkes Bay have been providing the most action. Work a depth of 15-17 ft of water. Medium diving stick baits about ½ way down the water column is a good choice. As always, you need to fish at night for any success.

The smallmouth success has been very spotty. The best action has come by Covenant Harbor or by Trinkes Bay. Work a depth of 18-20 ft of water on the outside of the weed lines. The best approach is drop shotting 4 inch finesse worms in green pumpkin with a red and purple flake. For jig fishermen, dragging All Terrain Football head jigs with a chomper or Arkie Crawlin’ Grub have also been successful. Use a root beer or green pumpkin color.

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

Fishing Report – 9/2/2024

By Mike Norris

Big Green Lake: In last week’s fishing report, I mentioned the bite on Big Green for several fish species was as good as it had been all year. I expected the bright skies and heavy boat traffic this past long holiday weekend would slow the bass bite down, but it didn’t. Bass fishing for largemouth and smallmouth bass remains torrid, and the biggest bluegills of the year are still biting. As was the case last week, look for bass along the weed edges and the tips of gravel points. Drop shot rigs are still accounting for the bass, but the bigger bass is hitting jig and pig combinations. The bluegill bite in the morning is good, but the better action for more giant bluegills is coming for anglers who fish for them in the afternoon. Try drop-shotting with red or wax worms around Big Green Lake’s many deeper water cribs. Walleye fishing slowed due to the boat traffic. Lake trout fishing remains good. Try trolling with a spoon over open water sections of the lake.

Hey Dale,, it’s been a while since I’ve sent you a picture. My wife and I are 2 years removed from Joliet, living in GreenBay. Caught this 26”,6 1/2# walleye bass fishing on KVD square bill, sexy shad color in shipping channel near Cat Island on the bay. My friend’s son was playing with his band, from Joliet area, MYLPH, in Appleton this weekend. Hence the shirt. Been a tough year for our Sox! Tight lines and good health, sir. Mike Joho

Water temperature was about 72* today,down 10 degrees from 3weeks ago. I can never get my selfie stick to work when I am in a hurry or picture would have been better. I wanted to get her back in water quickly. Mike

Hi Dale, steady weather conditions have kept river bass feeding on a variety of baits from minnows to night crawlers to helgramites. And all kinds of artificial lures and streamer fly combinations. Expect more of the same for the next week. .............,,, on a personal note, I would like to sell my entire fishing tackle collection, it’s time to move on. Over 100 years in all , antique and modern. All to one buyer, no nickel dime separations. A few contact numbers and names should do it, I will take it from there. Thanks, G. Peters,.

Hey Dale,

Here’s a recap from this past weeks fishing.

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Kankakee River- Chasin smallmouth at first light was the order of the day. Good friend Dave Strobel joined me at the Kankakee as we started off with topwater baits. A Zara spoke and Zara puppy caught fish, but that topwater bite lasted less than an hour. The fish were just sucking in the baits. That was an indicator for what the rest of the morning was going to be like. We caught fish throughtout the morning but really had the work for them. No real pattern ever developed. Six different baits caught fish with the most consistent coming from craw imitators. A Mepps #3 worked along current seams hooked a few more before it was time. Beautiful morning to be on the river. Those new Hodgman wading boots that arrived yesterday are awesome!

TTYL

Ken “Husker” O’Malley

Husker Outdoors

Waterwerks fishing team

Good morning Dale

I had a few reports of Kings lost this morning. So the activity is moving along day by day. The usual glo spoons and crankbaits. Smallmouth starting to get active again in and around the harbors. Plastics, spinners as well as some live baits, crayfish and night crawlers. A few small perch caught here and there. Nice rock bass in the harbor. Of course with the north/east winds the Sheephead are hot again on the Horseshoe with live crayfish.

We are opening at 6am now.

Have a great week!

Hi Dale,

Havent been out too much this week but fishing has been decent. Good walleye action depending on the lake but some days it takes more work than others , (6-60’)crawlers and redtails getting bit, lots of musky action(follows and smaller fish) for me on fly rod in shallow(6-12’)and some nice bluegills and smallmouth. Smallies and northerns taking musky fly is fun but kinda irritating.

9/3/24

Holiday weekend in the rear-view mirror and on to our favorite time of year, fall fishing. I know the calendar says its summer until September 21st, but for us anglers it’s the start of the early fall bite. Following a crazy heat wave on Monday (8/26), with air temps hitting the mid-90’s, raising surface temps into the 80’s, things have cooled off and water temps are hovering in the 69–71-degree area. Conditions have been cool in the am (lows in upper 40’s), but comfortable, into the 70’s by afternoon. Except for a lot of wind over the weekend. Overall fishing pretty good.

Walleye: Good-Very Good – Lakes under 1,000 acres and flowages seeing good bites, weed related. These fish seem to be feeding heavily on 1 ½-2” Perch! Retailed chubs, large fatheads and crawlers on 1/16-1/8 oz weedless jigs. Others snap jigging bucktail jigs or 3” swimbaits scoring well. On larger lakes, drifting crawler harnesses along 22-30’ tops. Wind made for tough fishing, so slow trolling and keeping these rigs touching bottom key.

Largemouth Bass: Good-Very Good – Heavy weed beds holding nice Largemouth to 20” this weekend for anglers working heavy jigs (due to wind) in 8-12’ weeds using Sweet Beavers and Christie Craws. Heavy drop-shot rigs with minnow and craw imitations scoring also. Wind made it tough for top-water fishing, but September is a great time to fish up high.

Northern Pike: Good-Very Good – Action picked up as water cooled from last Monday’s heat wave. Spinnerbaits such as Boonies, Reed Runners and Booyahs. Chatterbaits and 4” swimbaits worked well also. This species seems to pick up speed as the waters cool into 60’s. Nice fish to 30” this past week.

Smallmouth Bass: Good – Off-shore fish hard to stay on in winds. Use heavy drop-shot rigs and good boat control to stay on top. #s will be out over deep gravel/rock, but the biggest bruisers will start working shallow, inside weeds. Target using swimbaits and Whopper Ploppers!

Musky: Good – Reports ranging from anglers finding in weeds on bucktails and top-water to others working deep open basins using rubber. As fish move into shallower weeds, top-water works great until turn-over (55 degrees), plenty of time.

Bluegill: Good-Fair – Action should pick right back up as wind dies down. The flying ant bite was short lived, but anglers should find good suspended Gills outside coontail edges. Slip-floats with Mini-Mites or other small jig/plastics work great. Worms and waxies can’t be beat. On lakes with larger Gills, try a Crappie minnow, big Gills will have no problem with these.

Yellow Perch: Good-Fair – Like Gills, wind made for tough conditions. Still weed related feeding on small, young of year, Bluegills. Try medium fatheads on a light jig or the small 1 ¾-2” Ned worms on a 1/16 oz head.

Crappie: Fair – This bite will pick up. Just tough over the past weekend to present small baits in such wind. Some anglers did score some nice 10-12” Crappies. Reportedly from lee sides of lakes where cribs could be found. Small plastics fished on 1/32-1/16 oz jigs around the cribs and cabbage that surrounds them.

A nice steady stretch of weather plus a new moon this week should be a big plus for anglers (not to mention a lake of pleasure boaters-but I just did!). Great time to take advantage of the next 6 to 7 weeks of some of the best fishing and weather of the Northwoods.

Kurt Justice

Kurt’s Island Sports Shop
– Like us on FaceBook

Few kings and cohos are in the nwi creeks nothing hot and heavy yet but a few are around.

Long and Loomis lake in valpo giving up a variety of panfish using red wigglers, beemoth and crickets.

Slez’s Bait Shop is on fall- winter hours now 5am to 5pm everyday.

Hi Dale

I headed to the Wisconsin river in Merrill for a couple days. The weather was very cool and there was a feel of fall in the air as the cold front passed through. Saturday afternoon the pleasure boating wasn’t a summer peak level but Sunday almost non existent in the chilly morning. The bite seemed a little slower and it took some work to get bites. Smallmouth were hitting wacky rigged senkos around rock and eel grass edges in 1 to 5 feet of water. Small pike were hitting a Berkeley slobberknocker in gold white with a Kamins grub. Some big Bass were hitting the Rapala og crankbaits a sign the fall feed is soon to come. The water temperature was 73. I’m sure it will be falling soon.

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Tight lines and good health!

Rob

Crappie action has been getting better every day with water level and temperature dropping. There has been a good perch in Templeton bayou. White bass also starting to show up in the usual fall spots.