Ice fishing should be going within the week around Chicago, that and some surprises on the lakefront lead this sprawling raw-file Midwest Fishing Report.
I think Capt. Rich Sleziak at Slez’s Bait in Lake Station, Indiana, pretty much summed up this sprawling raw-file MFR when he texted:
It’s still all perch basically and some waiting and praying for ice to go ice fishing.
The photo at the top, which I included mainly to torture us with the tee-shirt weather in Florida, is of George Peters’ grandkids Brianna and Quinn Snyder, who go to Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville. More in the Florida report.
LAKEFRONT BONUSES
This time of year, it’s good to hear of bonus catches on the lakefront, such as lake trout, brown trout and steelhead, but there are others, too, such as Anthony Burke’s pending Indiana record burbot (more on that later).
Sey Jay texted the photo above and this:
Thought I’d share a photo of the snow king.
Hi Dale. This is Sey Jay from Skokie. As you may remember, I always target steelies in the winter. This morning I fished the end of Fullerton Lagoon floating cooked shrimp and skein. Most of the biters were small stocked bows that were tossed back. I finally had a bite on skein where the fish had weight when I set the hook. It turned out to be a 4-5# king. Not a large fish by any measure, but it is an unusual catch for this time of the year.
Steve Silic, fisheries biologist for the Forest Preserves of Cook County, texted the photo below and this:
Hey Dale, just wanted to pass along some nice pictures. My good friend Gary Gecas caught these at Navy pier this morning on a deep diving crank bait and a swimming/jigging blade bait.
LAKEFRONT PERCH
Capt. Rich Sleziak at Slez’s Bait in Lake Station, Indiana, texted:
It’s still all perch basically and some waiting and praying for ice to go ice fishing.
Navy pier and 87th street slip for shore anglers is hit or miss and hour to hour. Seems to be small 1 hour feeding times for these perch. Some days at sun up some days mid day.
The bite for boat fishermen fishing in 55 to 60 ft of water north of Gary light is tougher than it has been but still perch being caught when weather allows boats out there.
UPDATE ON CHICAGO PASSES
The Northerly Island Visitor Center remains closed, but parking passes or pier passes (credit card only) may be bought Mondays, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at North Park Village Nature Center, 5801 N. Pulaski, Building D; Thursdays, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Lincoln Park Cultural Center, 2045 N. Lincoln Park West; Fridays, 7 a.m.-noon, Burnham Harbor Fishing Lot, 1250 S. Linn White Drive. I suggest emailing fishing@chicagoparkdistrict.com with questions.
Chicago Park District’s parking passes ($20 for two months) are for the anglers’ parking lots at DuSable and Burnham harbors.
The park district pier passes ($10 for the season) allow legal access to select piers at Jackson Park, Burnham, DuSable, Diversey, Belmont and Montrose harbors.
AUGER SHARPENING
For the 24th year, Fran Connelly is sharpening of auger blades. Find “Ice Auger Sharpening” on Facebook or drop off blades at either Lee’s Bait & Tackle (Elk Grove Village or Carol Stream).
NAVY PIER ANGLING
North side of Navy Pier is open for anglers. Discounted parking for anglers is $9 daily, beginning at 5 a.m.; must be out by 10 a.m. for the discount. Click here to prepay for the discounted tickets.
LAKEFRONT PARKING
My column from Nov. 30, 2022, on parking the length of the Chicago lakefront is posted at https://chicago.suntimes.com/2022/11/30/23485385/chicago-lakefront-parking-fishing
AREA LAKES
The winter storm makes projecting when fishable ice will come a guess at this point, but ice fishing is coming.
Dave Kranz of Dave’s Bait, Tackle and Taxidermy in Crystal Lake and with his You-Tube channel, Dave Kranz Living the wild outdoors, texted Tuesday morning:
Well we continue to get closer to the start of our Northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin ice season. The snow won’t help if it’s heavy, the very cold temperatures in the 10 day forecast will. At this point I will be happy if we get to ice fish 4-6 weeks.
He’s got a point.
Ken “Husker” O’Malley of Husker Outdoors emailed the photo above and this:
Hey Dale,
Winter is here! I checked conditions today on a few lakes. The larger lakes have 30% open water. The winds from the last two fronts that produced snow pushed all the skim ice to the east. Wind shelter smaller lakes and ponds are locked up with thin ice. The ice is so thin mallards are going through in spots! Shorelines with in flows are open as well. The extended forecast is looking very good past Tuesday. It won’t be long.
. . .
TTYL
Ken Husker O’Malley
Husker Outdoors Waterwerks fishing team
CHAIN O’LAKES AREA
For ice fishing prospects, proprietor Greg Dickson at Triangle Sports and Marine in Antioch said, “We rolled into the right pattern, not this week but next week, once these storms blow through and the jet stream buckles.”
NOTE: Check updates on water conditions at foxwaterway.com or (847) 587-8540.
NOTE 2: Stratton Lock and Dam is closed through April 30, 2024.
COOLING LAKES
Braidwood, Heidecke and LaSalle are closed.
DOWNSTATE
POWERTON: Bank fishing is open. Boat fishing reopens Feb. 15.
EMIQUON PRESERVE: Open. Access permits and liability waivers are available Tuesday to Saturday at Dickson Mounts Museum, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Randy Smith, Illinois River project director for The Nature Conservancy, emailed this year’s end overview:
I haven’t heard any good reports from bass anglers this year, but the folks chasing crappie and catfish have done well. Finding the old ditches that are now underwater and fishing the bottoms for catfish or the vertical sides for crappie seems to be the strategy.
SPRING LAKE: Through the end of Canada goose season, both boat launching and bank fishing is allowed after 1 p.m. The Sky Ranch Road ramp is open with boating allowed north of Sky Ranch Rd bridge and south down to the buoy markers and sign at Maple Island.
HENNEPIN-HOPPER: Closed.
SHELBYVILLE: Check with Ken Wilson of Lithia Guide Service.
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS: Check with Jason Johns of Boneyard Fishing.
FLORIDA
George Peters emailed the photo above and this:
Happy New Year Dale! Fishing with my grandson Quinn and granddaughter Brianna from Naperville. Seatrout were active on slow moving jigs and suspend jerk baits in 64 degree water in shallow water of Ft, Myers Fl. G. Peters
GREEN LAKE AREA, WISCONSIN
Guide Mike Norris emailed:
Fishing Report – 1/8/2024
Mike Norris
Big Green Lake: there are still a handful of boat anglers chasing walleyes on Big Green, but shore anglers report excellent walleye catches at night. The best areas to fish from shore include the inlet on County A and the shoreline adjacent to Lawson Drive in the City of Green Lake. Nonetheless, boat and shore angling should cease with a winter snowstorm forecasted for early this week. We may receive 8 to 14 inches by mid-week. Then, by week’s end, our high temps will only be in the teens, and we will see single-digit temps at night. Next week, I should provide my first ice fishing reports for South Central Wisconsin lakes.
GREEN/STURGEON BAYS, WISCONSIN
Wally Olson emailed Sunday:
Brown trout fishing doing very good trolling the harbor gap in am using yellow birds and working close to light houses . Some boats catching 2-3 browns in less than a half hour ! Saw a shore fisherman catch his limit of browns before 10am, this morning casting off South rocks near lighthouse !
LAKE ERIE
Click here for the Ohio DNR Report.
LAKEFRONT
See the top for perch and lakefront surprises.
The Salmon Stop in Waukegan is closed for now.
LAKEFRONT WISCONSIN
Pete Lamar emailed from a cast-and-blast (he got a turkey) weekend in Wisconsin:
Hi Dale,
. . .
As far as the casting part of our cast and blast, I opted for a Lake Michigan tributary instead of a just-opened trout stream: a lot of snow had fallen overnight, and I wasn’t sure how roads to the more remote streams would be; better to fish the trib that I was certain I could reach. Early January and a consequential Packers game about to begin, I was certain I would have the river to myself, but that turned out to not be the case. A fair number of other anglers were out, including a guide and client floating the river in a drift boat-not something one expects to see this time of year. I didn’t see anyone hook a fish while I was there, but conditions are still very good: not too cold (at least not until later this week) and good water levels; I’m sure there are still decent numbers of fish in the system.
Guide Mike Norris emailed:
Fishing Report – 1/8/2024
Mike Norris
. . .
Lake Michigan: Anglers fishing the harbor at Port Washington, WI, from boats and in kayaks, reported excellent catches of brown trout this past week. Trolling crankbaits accounted for a majority of the fish caught.
MADISON LAKES, WISCONSIN
Click here for the update from D&S Bait, Tackle & Fly Shop .
MAZONIA
Fishing is open at both units. Any ice fishing is at your own risk.
Hours are 6 a.m. to sunset.
NORTHERN WISCONSIN
Kurt Justice at Kurt’s Island Sport Shop in Minocqua emailed:
Ice continues to build here in the Northwoods. We have been fortunate to be just north of the heavy snow falling on the lower ¾’s of the state, this will keep the insulation off the lakes up here and allow more ice to build.
Walleye: Very Good-Good – Low light level times best using shiners amongst cabbage flats of 8-12’ in the mornings. Switch to outside weed edges (12-16’), off-shore humps of gravel/rock using suckers on tip-ups or jigging Raps, Rippin Raps, Z-Darters or Tikka Minnows towards and right after dusk.
Crappie: Very Good-Good – Better reports from anglers fishing basins of 22-27’ using tip-downs baited with rosies or crappie minnows or jigging Kenders T-Rips, Kastmaster spoons or Clam Tikka Flash tipped with waxies. For Crappies still holding in weeds (10-14’ Narrow leaf cabbage), Little Cecil spoons, Euro Tackle Z-Vibers, Kenders K-Rips and tip-down/minnow set ups all working well.
Northern Pike: Very Good-Good – Lots of good action and some nice Pike in the 8-12’ of weeds. Big shiners and suckers as per usual with fish to 34 reported this weekend. A pair of anglers jigging Raps and Chubby Darters on thin wire leaders reported fun action working baits at weed tops in 8-10’.
Bluegill: Good – While most reports were of good numbers, but lots of sorting for size, a few anglers did better by leaving the crowds behind. Most action in 8-12’ weeds using #3 and #4 tungsten jigs tipped with waxies, spikes and the rare moussee. Others finding BIG Gills (10-11) over mud basins in 20-25’ of water using small tungsten jigs with hair, tipped with moussees. Anglers targeting these big Gills using select harvest (and sneaky approaches) to maintain these populations of such special fish.
Yellow Perch: Good – While not the numbers (or the effort), nice Perch (9-11) in shallow weed flats of 6-9’ on jigs shaped like small Gills (Z-Vibes, K-Rips, T-Rips) tipped with waxies. Also a few reports of Perch starting to show over mud (14-18’) on wigglers presented on Hali style spoons.
Largemouth Bass: Good – Temps above 20 degrees seem to be best for Largemouth. Some very nice fish to 20 caught this past week, mostly by anglers targeting Pike or panfish in 6-12’ weeds.
Smallmouth Bass: Good – Rarely seen in the winter, but providing some added fun for anglers, especially those jigging for Walleyes over gravel/rock humps. Fun on a jig rod.
With light snow and cold temps ice thickness is coming along nicely. Most anglers reporting 6-8+. We are seeing more ATV, UTV and snowmobile use on the lakes. Still use caution on the big lakes (Fence, Trout, Big Crawling Stone, Tomahawk) as these were still open just two weeks ago and are just now getting 2-4’s of ice reports.
While snow is still a concern at this stage, forecast show temperature lows below zero and highs in the single digits for Sunday (1/14) thru Wed (1/12) that should put some nice finishing touches on our lakes and get us into the 12 plus range by the following weekend.
Upcoming Tournaments
Feb 10th – 22nd Annual Plum Lake Ice Fishing Tournament – Plum Lake
Kurt Justice
Kurt’s Island Sports Shop – Like us on Facebook
NORTHWEST INDIANA
Capt. Rich Sleziak at Slez’s Bait in Lake Station texted:
It’s still all perch basically and some waiting and praying for ice to go ice fishing.
Navy pier and 87th street slip for shore anglers is hit or miss and hour to hour. Seems to be small 1 hour feeding times for these perch. Some days at sun up some days mid day.
The bite for boat fishermen fishing in 55 to 60 ft of water north of Gary light is tougher than it has been but still perch being caught when weather allows boats out there.
With the colder temps coming at the end of the week it’s getting some folks excited that ice fishing might happen soon.
ROCK RIVER, WISCONSIN
Arden Katz said they have been catching lots of walleye, takes much sorting for keepers (18 inches), at Jefferson Dam on three-ways with Keitech swimbaits on on a 1/16th-ounce jig and a fly.
SHABBONA LAKE
Through January 31, winter site hours are 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Boondocks is closed.
SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN LAKEFRONT
Staff at Tackle Haven in Benton Harbor said steelhead are going in the St. Joseph River.
Paddle and Pole hosts the Berrien Springs Fish Ladder Camera.
WOLF RIVER, WISCONSIN
Guide Bill Stoeger in Fremont texted:
The river was still open yesterday, 3 of us caught nearly 40 walleye. I do think open water fishing is over. The forest for the weekend and early next week is for highs in the single digits, and lows below zero. Should make good ice if we don’t get too much snow
