A good mix of early summer fishing on our rivers, lakes, ponds and Lake Michigan leads this sprawling raw-file Midwest Fishing Report.
Michael Petrbok messaged the photo at the top and this:
Hi Dale, I’d like to submit my crappie for your fish of the week column. I caught this 17 1/2 crappie in Coal City Illinois in the strip mines on [May 30]. Let me know what info you need. Thanks
It didn’t make FOTW, but it earns the lead photo for the sprawling raw-file Midwest Fishing Report. The FOTW was a lifetime muskie catch by Pat Karpinski. Click here to see that.
THE GIST
Brian Caunter at Henry’s Sports and Bait said, “Fish are waking up” on inland waters. That about sums things up.
LAKEFRONT PARKING
Chicago Park District’s parking passes for the fisherman’s parking lots at DuSable and Burnham harbors are on sale at Henry’s Sports and Bait in Bridgeport, Park Bait at Montrose Harbor, and the Northerly Island Visitor Center.
Readers suggest SpotHero app downtown. Otherwise, here are some basics: Foster (free street parking or pay lot); Montrose (now a mix of metered and free street parking); Belmont (pay lots on north and south sides); Diversey (pay lot or street parking); DuSable Harbor (pay lot or fisherman’s lot); Northerly Island/Burnham Harbor (meters, pay lot or fisherman’s lot); 31st/Burnham (meter parking between McCormick Place and 31st Street Harbor); Oakwood/39th (meters); 63rd Street/Casino Pier (pay lot); Steelworkers Park (free street parking at east end of 87th); Cal Park (free parking).
ILLINOIS FROG SEASON
It’s a week away. Illinois’ bullfrog (only) season is June 15 to Oct. 15. A fishing license is required. “Bullfrogs may be taken by hook and line, gig, pitchfork, spear, bow and arrow, hand, or landing net.” Daily bag limits eight, possession limit 16.
AREA LAKES
Bluegill are bedding on most lakes.
Ken “Husker” O’Malley of Husker Outdoors emailed the photo above and this:
Hey Dale,
Here is a recap of this past weeks fishing.
Area lakes-summer patterns are setting up for bass. Working a BPS wacky stick-o in open pockets of weeds will produce good numbers.
. . .
TTYL
—
Ken Husker O’Malley
Husker Outdoors Waterwerks fishing team
Pete Lamar emailed:
Hi Dale,
I stuck close to home this week: local ponds and lakes only, some within walking distance-gasoline prices north of $5.50 gallon will do that.
I didn’t fish the same body of water twice but caught bluegills everywhere I went. Sizes ranged from useful-for-flathead-or-bass-bait to the nine-plus inches in the attached image. Regardless of the size of the water-tiny retention ponds all the way up to an 80 acre forest preserve lake- there were bluegills on or near active redds-spawning still taking place. Action was not restricted to bluegills: I even got a crappie on a small popper. On another forest preserve pond, I caught nearly as many bass as bluegills. The one in the image wasn’t especially large, even by the standards of a retention pond small enough to cast across. I got him on the two weight rod while throwing a foam beetle pattern for bluegills.
If I ever get bored of catching bass on the surface and big bluegills, I’ll know that my time’s about up.
Pete
BRAIDWOOD LAKE
District fisheries biologist Seth Love would like to hear from anglers on hybrid catches at Braidwood. You can email him at seth.love@illinois.gov.
Open daily 6 a.m.-sunset.
CHAIN O’LAKES AREA
Lori Ralph at the Salmon Stop in Waukegan said said Fox Lake and Route 12 bridge are “on fire” for walleye.
Tucker Siminak at Triangle Sports and Marine in Antioch said bass fishing is picking up, getting into post-spawn; bunch on catfish on cutbait, crawlers and some on stinkbait; crappie mostly moving out into lakes; bluegill are in full spawn; walleyes are in the weeds in the main lake areas; bunch of big white bass, especially in the north and south rivers.
NOTE: Check updates on water conditions at foxwaterway.com or (847) 587-8540.
NOTE 2: The Stratton Lock and Dam has normal daily operating hours of 8 a.m. to midnight through Sept. 30.
CHICAGO RIVER
Brian Caunter at Henry’s Sports and Bait said there’s some good crappie on the South Branch of Chicago River, some of them “slabs;” big carp are biting.
Jeffrey Williams messaged:
My brother back at it, slow day but he got this 18 pounder in, since we started Carping the river on March 23rd, we are at a total of 77 carp with a total of 986 pounds, hes still aiming towards beating the State Carp record, and i believe in my brother, he get it done
COOLING LAKES
Braidwood, LaSalle and Heidecke are open daily 6 a.m.-sunset.
DELAVAN LAKE, WISCONSIN
Capt. Dave Duwe emailed:
Delavan Lake 6/6/22 – 6/13/22
This past week fishing has improved dramatically. The fish are starting to go into their early summer patterns and the weather is also starting to act like early summer.
The largemouth bass are in the shallows and can be easily caught on either artificial lures or live nightcrawlers. The best depth is in the 5-6 ft. range around boat docks and shallow weeds. A lot of fish are coming off of white spinner baits or plastic worms. The best color is either grape or black. Due to the thick algae, try to use the lightest weight possible. I usually peg my sinker with a toothpick or use a Florida weight with the screw in holder. Some of the biggest bass I’ve seen in the lake have been caught this year. The best locations are the north shore boat docks from the Yacht Club to Delavan Lake Marina or from Willow Point to the west. The higher the sun, the closer you need to fish the docks.
Perch and Bluegills are biting in the shallows. The bluegills and perch are both in about 5-6 ft. of water. The best bait has been leaf worms or small nightcrawlers. I fish almost exclusively a small hook and bobber combination. None of the perch I caught last week exceeded 11 inches but they are starting to show up and bite. The bluegills still have not spawned but very soon they should start to concentrate in the spawning areas. Hellgrammites, when available will be the best bait to use. The bluegills usually spawn in 2-3 ft. of water on hard sand bottoms. Most of the bluegills I caught this week were by Lake Lawn, in the shallow weeds. There are still large numbers of bluegills in deep water, but finding them is a tougher task – anywhere from 15-25 ft. of water.
Walleye fishing is starting to pick up. The fish are starting to position on the weed breaks in 15-20 ft. of water. The best bait has been nightcrawlers. I’ve tried leeches several times but haven’t had any luck with them. Also when the fish are in this pattern, medium to deep diving crank banks cast down the break can produce a lot of fish. I prefer either green patterns or perch patterns. The best times of the day are early a.m. before sunrise (4:30-5:00 am) or in the evening just before sunset. I’ve had very little success during the day. There haven’t been any really good locations yet; I’ve caught fish (although sporadically) all along the south shore.
I’m still catching an occasional smallmouth bass on the weed line while fishing for walleyes. Some of the smallmouth bass have been really nice approaching the 18-inch size limit. I’ve caught all of the smallmouth bass on nightcrawlers fished on a lindy rig. One of the keys is using the smallest sinker you can get away with factoring in the wind. When it’s calm I start with a 1/8 oz. Sinker and as the winds increase I switch to a ¼ oz. The leader length is approximately 18-24 inches.
Good luck and I hope to see you on the water. For guide parties, please call Dave Duwe at 262-728-8063
DOWNSTATE
HENNEPIN-HOPPER: Open through Sept. 5. Closed Mondays, except for Memorial Day and July 4. Check regulations at http://www.wetlands-initiative.org/dixon-paddling-fishing.
POWERTON: Summer hours are 6 a.m.-8 p.m.
EMIQUON PRESERVE: Hours are sunrise to sunset. Access permits and liability waivers are required. They are available Tuesday to Saturday at Dickson Mounts Museum, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
SHELBYVILLE: Check with Ken Wilson of Lithia Guide Service.
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS: Check with Jason Johns of Boneyard Fishing.
FOX RIVER
Vince Oppedisano emailed the photo above and this:
Hi Dale,
Hope everything is good with you and you’re enjoying the season so far.
Wading the Fox River early yesterday morning with bass gear, hooked up with this surprise musky. I’d heard of similar stories on the Fox and had to have a lot of luck on my side to be able to land it with 12 lb mono, no leader, & only a small bass net on hand.
Didn’t have a chance to measure...wanted to get the fish back in the water quickly. Thankfully she swam off. Still can’t believe it happened, once in a lifetime experience.
Best of luck this summer!
Best,
Vince Oppedisano
Long-time Chicago personality Ramblin’ Ray Stevens messaged the photo above and this:
Dale that’s my son Conner working the Fox river in Batavia for smallies
Ramblin Ray
And he added:
He has a blast down there. Wades out and gets involve with snakes and turtles….
That kind of the stuff, “snakes and turtles,” just makes me happier for the world.
Henry’s Sports and Bait weighed in Nate Clark’s flathead catfish caught around Aurora over the weekend. It was 33 1⁄4 inches long with a 19-inch girth.
GENEVA LAKE, WISCONSIN
Arden Katz said he has never seen the water this cool this late, 64 degrees this weekend on Geneva Bay; but drop-shot worms were catching largemouth bass and some big-bellied rock bass in 4-8 feet near the docks.
Capt. Dave Duwe emailed:
Lake Geneva 6/06/22 through 6/06/22
With a few days of warmer weather last week, fishing has improved greatly. Even though a cold front came through mid week, it didn’t affect the fishing much.
Smallmouth bass are in spawning and are post spawn. The fish can be located in the 10-12 ft spawning flats. Look for them by the Military Academy and Knollwood. For the spawning fish, they can be caught on white tubes or black and blue jigs. For the post spawn fish, I’ve been using small silver hair jigs. Swim them 2 ft above bottom. Last week I had several over 19 inches.
Largemouth bass are in the shallows. They are in 5-6 ft of water in and around the piers. The best location is in Geneva Bay from pier 5 through pier 20. They can be caught on green pumpkin Senkos or split shot rigging green pumpkin lizards. For live bait fishermen, the best action is on the split shot rigged nightcrawler.
Rock bass can be caught everywhere between 5 and 12 ft of water. They are being caught on split shot rigged nightcrawlers or small silver hair jigs. This is a good time of year to take a kid fishing. The action is almost non-stop. Most guide trips, I will use 8-10 dozen nightcrawlers. I found the most fish down by Belvidere Park in Fontana.
Bluegill fishing has been kind of slow. I’ve been sporadically fishing them in the 10-12 ft depth range. I think the majority of the fish are in shallower than I’m fishing. Good action can be found in and around the piers in 5-6 ft of water. Fish them with a slip bobber and a leaf worm.
Perch are in 10 ft of water. They are location is some of their standard areas such as Rainbow Point and Belvidere Park. They can be caught on small fat head minnows fished on a slip bobber. It remains a constant battle to catch the bigger fish. You will need to do a lot of sorting.
Northern Pike are still in the weed flats. They can be caught slip bobber fishing with golden shiners or by casting a white ½ oz spinner bait. Look for the fish in Williams Bay and by the Beach in Fontana. As a rule, the thermocline bite will start right around July 4th, depending on the water temperature.
Good luck and I hope to see you on the water. For guide parties, please call Dave Duwe at 608-883-2050
GREEN LAKE AREA, WISCONSIN
Guide Mike Norris texted the photo above and emailed this:
Fishing Report – 6/5/2022
Mike Norris
Big Green Lake – Main Lake water temperature has risen to 62 degrees and smallmouth bass are moving into the shallows and getting ready to spawn. Cast Senko’s around and under shoreline piers, rocky shorelines, or adjacent to offshore structure like the old roadbed. Largemouth bass are active in the bay adjacent to the Baptist Assembly, in Beyers Cove, and the T-Channels. Try buzz baits in and around weed cover. Also work Senko’s, Kalin’s Grubs, and drop shot rigs in and around emerging weed beds located in Dartmouth Bay.
Little Green Lake – The DNR has stocked muskies in this lake since the mid-sixties and this past week anglers reported catches of two to three muskies per outing. Try casting bucktails along weed edges and near the rock hump located in the northwest section of the lake.
Fox Lake – Largemouth bass have moved off their spawning beds in The Government area and the shallow water they were bedding in is weeding over. As a result, largemouth bass have relocated three hundred or more yards offshore where new emerging weed beds are developing. Try working Senko’s and Chatterbaits around developing weed beds. Bluegills moved shallow and began making spawning beds, but with cooler weather later last week, the bluegill fishing slowed.
GREEN/STURGEON BAYS, WISCONSIN
Click here for the Wisconsin DNR weekly report.
Lance LaVine at Howie’s Tackle in Sturgeon Bay emailed this:
Staff at Howie’s Tackle in Sturgeon Bay said
HEIDECKE LAKE
Bob Johnson emailed the photo above (and other species, too) and this:
Hi Dale - Heidecke Lake is in great shape these days. Water temps are 74 / 75 with good schools of Walleye in several areas of lake. I was able to locate Walleye in 5 to 6’ staging on weed edges however noticed a lot of boats trolling deeper water as well. Smallmouth are scattered taking Texas Rigs, chatterbaits and finesse worms. Largemouth are also staging on edges of Weed lines. Both rip rap and old natural side of lake produced multi species catch. This lake is a fantastic multi species lake for our area.
Open 6 a.m. (6:30 bank fishing) to sunset.
KANKAKEE RIVER
Heavy rains around much of the basin Monday night kicked up water levels in most areas.
LAKE ERIE
Click here for the Ohio DNR Report.
LAKEFRONT
Quite a few are working Burnham for smallmouth and rock bass. On some days, some steelhead there, too.
Jeffrey Williams messaged the photo above and this from Burnham Harbor last week:
we caught 12 Smallies in total today and even got in a bonus Pike, biggest Smallie was 3.7 pounds
Brian Caunter at Henry’s Sports and Bait said it’s “Smallmouth City” at 31st, that smallmouth bite is the best up and down the lakefront.
Stacey Greene at Park Bait at Montrose Harbor texted:
Good morning Dale, Not a whole lot to report. The small mouth activity has been pretty good. Larger minnows like Med Roaches and artificial baits, spinners, plastics etc... Sheephead on the Horseshoe on crabs (crayfish) soft shell and hard shell. A few monster Northerns. A few guys have been just fishing around the lake front for anything and have caught a few really nice perch hopefully they stick around! 8 more days to go.Have a great week.
Hope is a much valued thing.
Capt. Bob Poteshman of Confusion Charters said said out of North Point, they’re fishing for coho from the beach to 200 feet with the hill best; there’s the occasional other fish, including a 25-pound king in 110 feet on a green-crinkle Howie fly. Out of Chicago has been slow with a few lakers, coho very scattered and the occasional king or steelhead.
Lori Ralph at the Salmon Stop in Waukegan said boaters are catching coho with occasional steelhead to 30-60 feet with lakers out in deep water; pier fishing producing carp and the occasional steelhead.
Capt. Scott Wolfe of School of Fish Charters emailed:
Hi Dale
Fishing was fantastic early in the week but trailed off over the weekend and was slow Sunday. It appeared the bait fish and coho were moving North. 40 to 60 feet anywhere from Lake Forest North was good most of the week. Coho with an occasional king on Stubbie dodgers with Aqua or Blue/spectra Jimmy Flies were best on divers 30 to 40 out and downriggers 15 to 20 down in the low light and 25 to 39 down in the bright sun. There where kings in 70 to 100 taken on glow Warrior spoons and Musselhead flashers and meat rigs, with Megatron being the best pattern. For spoons Two Face and Bad Frog were the best patterns. Most kings were on downriggers in the middle depths. So far this has been a pretty typical year and this is usually when we switch from specifically targeting coho to running a multi-species spread in deeper water and that’s probably what we’re will be doing this week.
Capt. Scott Wolfe
schooloffishcharters.com
630-341-0550
PERCH: Season closed through June 15 on Illinois’ Lake Michigan.
LaSALLE LAKE
A guy at the ICASSTT tournament, who prefers to remain nameless, over the weekend said the hybrids have really come back strong. When wind allows.
Site is open daily 6 a.m.-sunset. As a perched lake, boating is closed when winds top or will top 14 mph. Check daily updates on boating at (815) 640-8099.
MADISON LAKES, WISCONSIN
Click here for the update from D&S Bait, Tackle & Fly Shop .
MAZONIA
Hours are 6 a.m. to sunset.
MINNESOTA
Rob Abouchar emailed the photo above and this from Mille Lacs:
Hi Dale
I’ve made it to Big Millelacs and the first day was spectacular. I hit Cove Bay on the South end. The first fish was a giant red ear sunfish with spectacular colors. Largemouth bass and Smallmouth I bass were coming into the shallows around docks rocks and emerging bull rushes in 1 to 6 feet of water. The water was at 64 degrees perfect for spawning activity. I’ve been here when the Smallmouth spawn but never when the largies go. This weird weather year has them going at the same time it seems. These fish are big and strong. One of the big largies sliced my thumb open with what seemed like a razor blade row of teeth. Senkos and ned rig took fish around docks and jackhammer bladed jig got hits out in bullrushes. Today I’m going to try for toothy critters. If the bass were ripping my hands yesterday I better wear my gloves today. This place is angling paradise.
Next up on the music front it’s another session with Midnight mile at Quinnstock .Also appearing Larry lixx project a stevie ray Vaughn tribute band and Earth Mother on Saturday. June 25th the Conscious Rockers return to Mundelein at Tighthead Brewing.
Tight lines and good health!
Rob
NORTHERN WISCONSIN
Click here to see and read the Fish of the Week with Pat Karpinski’s dream muskie caught in northwestern Wisconsin.
George Peters emailed the photo above and this:
Hi Dale, up north in boulder junction Wisconsin musky, bass. This 32 on bucktail. Bass on post spawn, plastics . G. Peters
Ken “Husker” O’Malley of Husker Outdoors emailed the photos above and below, and this:
Hey Dale,
Here is a recap of this past weeks fishing.
. . .
Northern Wisconsin- fishing has been excellent for multi-species despite weed growth being behind and water temps are 59-60.
Smallmouth are staging and some are on beds. Best baits has been a Berkley little general and jerk baits worked along the outside of spawning flats.
Crappie are holding tight to isolated wood. A few are still moving up shallow to spawn. Best bait has been a IJO plastics nookie bug worked under a slip float.
Bluegill can be found up shallow on beds. Best bait has been an IJO plastics pannie crawler.
Here is the nature pic of the week [below]. Gathering point.
TTYL
—
Ken Husker O’Malley
Husker Outdoors Waterwerks fishing team
Kurt Justice at Kurt’s Island Sport Shop in Minocqua emailed:
Conditions on the water have varied from lows in the 30’s for air temp (6/4) to highs in mid-70’s. Not excited about the lows in the morning (when lakes are losing heat like they were Saturday morning, steam coming off water like fog) typically not the best of fishing. As temps get closer together (air/water) fish tend to get more active, and they did!
Smallmouth Bass: Very Good – Smallies bedding provided great action over the past week. Tubes, Ned rigs, Wacky Worms as well as top-water baits such as Chug Bugs and Lunker Hunt Spiders brought up some great fish over the weekend. There are lots of signs that we are getting to the tail end of this bite as reports on Monday (6/6) were of mostly smaller males still guarding beds.
Northern Pike: Very Good – Spinnerbaits, large swimbaits, and inline spinners have all been effective for Pike lately. Find green cabbage weeds and work these baits over top of them in 5-10’ of water. Large chubs and suckers set under a bobber has also been producing some large fish.
Walleye: Very Good-Good – One bright spot to the cooler surface temps last week (56-59 degrees) was Walleyes staying in fairly shallow, new growth weeds. Light jig and minnow on jig/leech combos working great. Slip-floats also effective. A few anglers reporting success on Husky Jerks (#6’s & #8’s) in 6-8’ weeds towards dusk. This week’s bite should continue to be good as morning temps in 40’s followed by high 60’s to low 70’s should hold pattern in place.
Largemouth Bass: Very Good-Good – Lots of shallow Cruisers this past week. Pitching Wacky Worms and Ned Rigs right tight to shore (had Father/Son team boat 120 Smallies and LMB Monday in 4 hours on the water). Were some signs of Largemouth starting beds, but not as many as I had predicted, probably due to cold mornings.
Bluegill: Very Good-Good – Strangely, saw colonies of bedding Gills. Usually, its Largemouth first. Bluegill action very good shallow. Tiny tubes, twister tails and the gool ol’ worm and a bobber working just great. Think of the future on these bedding fish, research shows its very important for bedding males to be left to guard eggs. Strange as it sounds, good time to practice selective harvest to protect your favorite Bluegill lakes.
Musky: Very Good-Good – Good action as Muskies getting past spawn and actively feeding. One boat reported boating 8 Skies on Saturday! Twitchbaits, smaller bucktails and top-water in the shallows (as it seems they’ve been cruising the panfish up in skinny water)!
Crappie: Good – Work weeds of 6-12’ using 2 twister tails, 1/32 oz jigs tipped with minnows or slip-floats and small minnows. Casting #0 or #1 spinners also has been effective for finding fish.
Yellow Perch: Good – Most action in 6-10’ cabbage. Light jigs tipped with ½ crawlers or medium leeches. Slip-floats with same also effective. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to get thunderbugs in yet, these are killer on Perch and Gills when we can.
This week looks good as the forecast is fairly stable temp wise. The slow water temps increase with growing weeds and a multitude of insect hatches has been helpful. Mosquitos have been plentiful unfortunately. Dragonfly hatches have been few and far between. A hatch of small mayflys, not the big Hexagemias has occurred also, but not overly disruptive.
Kurt Justice
Kurt’s Island Sport Shop - Like us on Facebook
NORTHWEST INDIANA
Jason “Special One” Le texted the photo above with a skamania from Michigan City pier over the weekend.
Capt. Rich Sleziak at Slez’s Bait in Lake Station texted:
Steelhead continue to be caught on Michigan city pier and in the basin behind fish camp restaurant using shrimp and night crawlers under bobbers.
Salmon and trout straight out of burns ditch in 65 to 85ft of water dodgers and flys and spoons fished 15ft down to the bottom
Pine and stone lake in Laporte giving up lots of bluegills for boat fisherman using crickets and jumbo red wigglers
Catfish steady in deep river and burns ditch using skipjack, shad and triple s stinkbait
ROOT RIVER, WISCONSIN
Click here for the Wisconsin DNR’s report, usually on Tuesday or Wednesday.
SHABBONA LAKE
Rich at Boondocks said water cooled to mid-60s and everything is biting on some level; small walleye on minnows or plastics on the weed lines; crappie mostly done spawning and biting; bass and catfish (mostly crawlers) are spotty; occasional hybrid striper on chicken liver.
Summer hours—6 a.m.-10 p.m.—run through Oct. 31.
Bait Shop is open 6 a.m.-7 p.m. daily; restaurant, 11-8 daily.
SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN LAKEFRONT
Click here for the southern Lake Michigan reports from the Wisconsin DNR.
SILVER LAKE, WISCONSIN
Arden Katz said he has been getting lots of action on, mostly largemouth bass of 1- to 2-pounds.
SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN
John Hein messaged the photo above of this 21-inch, 5-pound largemoouth and this:
Hi Dale. Caught this beauty off the dock on N. Scott Lake in Van Buren County Michigan on 5/27/2022 on a wacky worm.
Staff at Tackle Haven in Benton Harbor said salmon and trout out deep, 160 and deeper; an occasional steelhead off the pier; walleye are good, especially from the hospital upstream.
Paddle and Pole hosts the Berrien Springs Fish Ladder Camera.
WOLF RIVER, WISCONSIN
Gary Bloom messaged from the photo above from Winnecone on Sunday, and this:
26 inch Walleye. Released this afternoon. Lake Butte de mort.
He also sent a photo with a good mixed bag of fish.
Guide Bill Stoeger in Fremont texted:
The bite has really slowed in the last week. Picking up a few crappie and walleye. Bluegill action dropped off with cooler weather
