Chicago fishing: Fall feedbag inland and shoreline salmon and trout

when someone says " FISH ON "... out of COURTESY... pull ALL LINES OUT OF THE WATER...because Big Fish RUN in ALL DIRECTIONS..... watch THIS Salmon NIGHTMARES..... Dam B???H !!!!.... Night Night !!!.... I’m STILL SICK !!!!

Good morning

Those high winds over the weekend had the lake churned up and certain areas were not fishable so reports were slower but there were still Kings caught here and there. Still casting lures and crankbaits but they should start hitting on bait such as spawn sacs, larger minnows, crawlers etc...

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Have a great week!

Still lots of groups fishing nwi tributaries for salmon. Spinners, skein and spawn saks baits to use.

Just ideal fishing conditions in the Lake County preserves today. Overcast, light breeze, mid-60s temps. Got 15 largemouth bass on the afternoon, all on 4" wacky bubble-gum Senko. Biggest (pics tweeted) were 19" and 20.5". Also got a 15".

October can be a great time to fish with some hunting instead of fishing. Panfish, bass and catfish bite great in the fall. The warmest time of the day starts to be the best time to fish. Use cut bait for catfish. Bass will hit top water baits and frog fishing is still very good! Leaves on the water are as good as a weed mat. Panfish like small minnows and wax worms.

Hey Dale,

Here is a recap of this past weeks

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Area lakes- I was greeted with remnants from Helene. Winds weren’t as bad as yesterday, but at times there were heavy downpours. Add the rains from earlier in the week and water levels rose and good deal. Water temps were 66-67 to start the morning. The focus was flooded vegetation along windblown shorelines. A buzzbait from Razor tackle got the call. That was an excellent choice as bass were all over it. FINS Braids windtamer braid paired with a Revo S completed the setup. Fall fishing is now in full swing.

TTYL

Ken “Husker” O’Malley

Husker Outdoors
Waterwerks fishing team

HI Dale,

No attached images this week: either the fish were not worth photographing of it was too dark when I caught them.

Good numbers of bass and bluegills on the local forest preserve lakes, but all were small. Even in bright sun and high winds, they were hitting a small wet fly aggressively. The wind kept the biting insects away, so I didn’t mind fishing in those conditions. Recent rains and cool nights have raised water levels and cut down on the aquatic vegetation respectively, so finding open water to cast is much easier than it had been.

Hi Dale

On island lake the good bite continues as the algae continues to die off and the water clarity clears. Bass hitting soft plastics wacky rigged or Texas rigged senkos in black and blue or green pumpkin. A black and blue chatterbait got some hits as well. The panfish bite is still very good on red worms in the late evening just before dark. Gills perch and small bass hitting around sand grass.

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On the music front it’s more rehearsal with Gozortenplat for shows in December with Ray white. The conscious rockers at main Street outfitters November 30 and midnite mile at Mso in 3 weeks...lots of jams as the season progresses.

Tight lines and good health Rob

HI Dale,

No attached images this week: either the fish were not worth photographing of it was too dark when I caught them.

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The Fox wasn’t affected that much by recent rains. It came up a little, but only a little and clarity was still good. I got into some nice smallmouth after dark last week. They were set up in surprisingly skinny water, not much more than ankle deep. It was barely enough to cover their backs. They must have been on the prowl for crayfish, minnow, leeches, etc., in such shallow lies.

Fishing Report – 9/30/2024

By Mike Norris

Big Green Lake: Steady weather was the ticket last week for what turned out to be the best week of bluegill fishing I have ever experienced on Big Green. I’m finding bluegills in forty feet of water adjacent to deep cribs, and the three-eighth-ounce drop shot rig with a #6 hook gets the bait down to them fast. The surface water temperature is still in the low 70s, so turnover isn’t here, and the bite for multiple species of gamefish should remain good this coming week. My clients and I are doing equally well catching largemouth bass and smallmouth bass, though the ratio of largemouth caught versus smallmouth caught is starting to lean heavily on the smallmouth bass side. My biggest smallmouth bass caught last week was one ounce shy of five pounds. Northern pike and walleye fishing is also good due to the stable weather we are experiencing. Lake trout season closes at the end of the day Monday, September 30^th. The big fall smallmouth bass bite should start in mid-October and I have just a few openings left. Message me through my website: www.comecatchsmallmouth.com

Little Green Lake: Muskies are righted excellent right now on Little Green due to the stable weather with warm afternoons and cool evenings. Try trolling with bucktails over weed beds in eight feet of water. Perch are good around the piers and beneath fallen shoreline timber.

Fox Lake: Largemouth bass, northern pike, and walleye are good around piers and shoreline-related weed beds. Try casting swimbaits and crankbaits around the rocky points of the tips of the islands and near shoreline-related weed beds.

Hey Dale,

Here is a recap of this past weeks

Heidecke Lake- The morning started off seeing a ring neck roadside heading to the launch. I figured the day was going to be a good one. Well, not so fast. Managed to lose the first 4 fish at boat side including a very nice smallmouth. At that point I needed to give myself a time out and gather my composer. After that managed to hook into smaller bass and walleye, but over all the day was a complete grind. Fish were all caught on finesse presentations with FINS Braids wind tamer braid. The most consistent baits were a TRD and damiki rig. Water temps started off at 67 and rose to near 72 by the time the boat was on the trailer. Shad schools were everywhere which also led to the difficult fishing. Some days are going to be like that, but overall it was an absolute beautiful day on the water.

. . .

TTYL

Ken “Husker” O’Malley

Husker Outdoors

Waterwerks fishing team

Hey Dale

- River is still low only coming up a few inches from rain over weekend and water temps are at 68. Fishing was on slow side had work for them for sure. Best smallmouth was caught early on a swimbait in 4’ to 6’ of water. Caught another decent bass on a jig/craw shallow just off rocks. No pattern really yet fish are scattered. Still waiting for quality and quantity for both smallmouth and Walleye.

Good morning

Those high winds over the weekend had the lake churned up and certain areas were not fishable so reports were slower but there were still Kings caught here and there. Still casting lures and crankbaits but they should start hitting on bait such as spawn sacs, larger minnows, crawlers etc...

Northerns were becoming more active as well as the Smallmouth. Sheephead on the Horseshoe on live crayfish on the bottom.

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).

Been a very warm September. Thought with forecast of cooler mornings and temps to come, that things would get back to a normal fall. Well, with the temps cracking into the 80’s in the afternoons, not much changed. Surface temps dropping overnight to lows in upper 60’s climbing back to low 70’s by afternoons. As, we turn the calendar page, looks like October may FINALLY bring some fall like temps.

Bluegill: Good – Same as past couple weeks. Suspending outside coontail edges in 12-14’ and around drowned wood. Beavertails (small crawlers) best.

Musky: Good-Fair – Early mornings best up tight on inside weed edges and shallow weeds. With bright sun and mostly flat water, better to move out to deeper water weeds as things brighten up. Top-water and bucktails that you can ride up over weeds. Gliders and twitchbaits moving fish also. Best fish of the week, a 48” “first fish” Musky caught with guide Jake Smith!

Smallmouth Bass: Good-Fair – Drop-shotting over gravel humps in 18-28’ providing some action. Lots of searching for active fish, best in late mornings.

Northern Pike: Good-Fair – Flat, warm afternoons not helping. #4 & #5 Mepps and spinnerbaits picking up fish in deeper weeds. Pike prefer the cooler temps, bite should improve.

Crappie: Good-Fair – Another species (Nearly all of them actually), that seems to be waiting for a drop in water temps to kick in. Some decent catches of fish suspending 2-4’ off bottom outside coontail edges and over drowned wood in 12-14’ of water.

Yellow Perch: Fair – Best in remaining green cabbage and woody bottoms on medium fatheads or half crawlers.

Largemouth Bass: Fair – Surprisingly few reports at our shop. Couple reports of good plastic frog top-water bites in the slop. Some fish on Wackys mid-day.

Walleye: Fair-Poor – Conditions NOT on our side. Crawlers and large fatheads over off-shore gravel humps of 22-30’, but mostly smaller fish. Some still weed related, just outside deepest cabbage in 12-15’ over mud.

We are finally seeing some patches of color in the area, they seemed to pop up overnight and will probably fill in quickly due to the late start. Can’t recall such a warm, sunny, and many days windless, September. Thought it was going to change this past week, but didn’t. Yet now, as we start October, forecast of lows in upper 30’s/low 40’sand highs in the upper 50’s to low 60’s, we will finally get this fall fishing bite going.

Kurt Justice

Kurt’s Island Sports Shop
– Like us on FaceBook

Still lots of groups fishing nwi tributaries for salmon. Spinners, skein and spawn saks baits to use.

Crappie for boat fisherman fishing around 249 bridge down from portage public marinaaround the old docks using crappie minnows move around till you find them.

Crappie on lake George in Hobart will just get better with the cool weather. Fish the bridges and gazebos and use minnows.

I fished Shabbona one afternoon/evening last week. I started out by walking along the dam looking for schools of shad and casting to them to see what might have been hunting them. Schools were hard to locate because of some chop on the water from pretty strong winds. Right around sunset, mayflies started their mating ritual and depositing eggs within a few feet of shore. Some small fish took notice: not sure if it was juvenile panfish, baby shad or minnows, but a lot of the mayflies were getting eaten when they got close to the water. I thought for sure some walleyes, bass or catfish would be feeding on the baitfish as it got darker and the ovipositing continued, but it never happened for me.

Hi Dale

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In Merrill Wisconsin on the Alexander flowage Saturday the conditions were as good as it gets. One of those days, you are lucky to catch before the weather turns cold. It felt more like August than the end of September with 80 air temperatures and the water Temps still in high 60s. The foliage changing was the only visual difference. Smallmouth still hitting wacky rigged senkos around wood and rocks in 1 to 6 feet of water. On my very last spot I hooked into one of my biggest fish in a while. A mid forty inch musky hit my og Rocco crankbait just outside the eelgrass edge. After circling the boat several times it came to the net. I had an encounter with a ski in the same area earlier this season. What a way to end the day.

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Tight lines and good health Rob

Water temp Monday was still in the mid 60’s. Some white bass are showing up in the mouth of the river near Poygan. Crappie and bluegill are still filling the cooler, mainly Fremont and north.