The opening of Illinois’ fall trout season leads this sprawling raw-file Midwest Fishing Report, one that certainly shows the swing toward winter.
Alex Koepke emailed the photo at the top and this Silver Springs SFWA:
Opening day was a chilly but busy day at loon lake. Traffic arrived early and people came and went as they limited. Air temps were high 30s. Dock was fishable until about 11 or so when the sun was up and it wasn’t 40°. Everyone around me was catching trout. Some small, some mid size. I didn’t see any BIG ones caught. I was using small jigs with plastic. Some guys used powerbait or in-line spinners. It was awesome seeing the families and kids enjoying the day and catching fish. I saw a couple golden trout swimming around near me and I was able to pick up on their pattern. I was using A very bright colors bait so I could help sightfish one. Soon enough I got one to go. Up came a beautiful golden (palomino) rainbow trout. I was blown away by how pretty this fish was. An awesome catch I’m truly proud of. I felt like charlie when he got his golden ticket. Everyone on the dock took a look and admired the fish. It was a great moment. My dad and I limited out within 30 mins. It was tons of fun and I’m so glad the DNR puts the time and effort into these stockings. Also good to know the funds are being put to great use. What great day of fall fishing!
Thanks for reading! Take care dale!
-Alex Koepke
Almost every trout opener, there’s accounted of gold or yellow colored rainbow trout and they are a delightful addition. In general, those a simply a color variant of the usual hatchery rainbows.
BTW, that is a helluva good fishing report from Koepke.
ILLINOIS FALL TROUT
Fall trout season for catchable rainbow trout opened Saturday and accounts were generally decent on a wide variety of presentations.
As usual, anglers 16 and older need an inland trout stamp and a fishing license. Daily bag is five trout.
Nearby sites include (Cook County): Axehead, Belleau, Busse Woods North, Green, Horsetail, Sag Quarry East, Wolf Lake at William Powers SRA; (DuPage): Silver, Pickerel, Grove; (Kankakee): Bird Park Quarry, Rock Creek at Kankakee River SP; (Kendall): Big Lake at Silver Springs SFWA; (Lake): Sand Lake at Illinois Beach SP; (McHenry): Spring Grove Hatchery Pond; (Will): Lake Strini, Van Horn Woods.
Click here for the statewide announcement.
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).
AREA LAKES
Ken “Husker” O’Malley of Husker Outdoors emailed the photos above and below, and this:
Hey Dale,
Here is a recap if this past weeks fishing.
Cold fronts, high pressure, and winds made fishing difficult at times this past week.
Area lakes-a few smaller bass can be caught pitching plastics into thicker green weeds with a jig and craw trailer.
Bluegill are best early afternoon hours on ice jigs tipped with an IJO Plastics money bug. Crappie have been scattered in the main basin. A few active biters can be caught on small twitch baits.
. . .
TTYL
—
Ken Husker O’Malley
Husker Outdoors Waterwerks fishing team
Rob Abouchar emailed the photo above and this:
Hi Dale
With rehearsal in milwaukee and snow in Merrill last weekend I stayed in island lake. The water is rapidly clearing and cooling. The bluegill are still in shallow hitting trout worms On A micro jig with mylar hair. Some nice yellow bass were going before the cold front on the same worms. My brother in laws friend Blake and his son launched their two man kayak out back and fished for bass. They had 3 hookups but landed none. Hits came on 4 inch wacky rigged senko. Hopefully I’m heading to Merrill for one more river outing this weekend before bringing the boat home. Warm temperatures are predicted for Saturday...one more shot at the musky on the senko.
On the music front we will have a date for wild hare within the next day or two. The new owner is an avid angler and we talked a little fishing. Also we had our best rehearsal for the Zappa fest shows last Friday. Hopefully it will keep getting better..
Tight lines and good health !
Rob
Another chance to run a mention of the late Frank Zappa in the MFR. And I am intrigued to hear about the owner of the Wild Hare being an angler.
BRAIDWOOD LAKE
Closed.
CALUMET SYSTEM
Duncan Kopp-Richardson messaged the photo above and this:
Check out this lake cal pike
fishing an angler choice tournament and took a quick picture
Hit a chatterbait right at the boat
Pike reports all over were good this week. And the size in the Chicago area is looking good.
CHAIN O’LAKES AREA
Arden Katz said lots of yellow bass by the Spring Lake bridge, otherwise are fish are generally shallow off the points, especially on Lake Marie; he was catching white and yellow bass rip-rigging minnows and a few crappie in 10-12 feet off the points in Bluff.
Art Frisell at Triangle Sports and Marine in Antioch said when the weather warms up this weekend yellow and white bass on Channel, Marie and Bluff should be good again; muskie are good on large jerkbaits or large bucktails or suckers, try Fox or Petite; bluegill fair, try deeper until the warmup; for crappie, try in 8-12 feet, wherever the minnows are.
NOTE: Check updates on water conditions at foxwaterway.com or (847) 587-8540.
NOTE 2: Through October, Stratton Lock and Dam has normal daily operating hours of 8 a.m.-8 p.m.
COOLING LAKES/STRIP PITS
Heidecke, LaSalle, Braidwood and Mazonia (except Monster Lake is open all years) are closed.
DES PLAINES RIVER
Nathan Toranzo emailed the photo above and this:
Hey Dale!
The fall bite is hot on the des plaines river! Fished Wednesday after the storms broke and caught smallmouth,crappie and sauger all on jigs with brown twister tails.the natural brown seemed to be the key.some crappie came on Chartruese but all other baits failed.
tight lines and thanks for your great articles!
DOWNSTATE
POWERTON: Hours are 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Final day for boat fishing is Sunday, Oct. 23; final day for shore fishing is Oct. 28.
SPRING LAKE: Site superintendent Thad Cook emailed:
Hey Dale, Oct 21st is the last day for boats to be on Spring Lake. Boat fishing will still be allowed from the Sky Ranch ramp up to the narrows throughout waterfowl season. The stoping point in the narrows will be marked with buoy markers. The youth waterfowl hunt is oct 23-24. Bank fishing will be allowed along the south Lake road after 1:00pm during waterfowl season. Thanks. Thad
HENNEPIN-HOPPER: Closed for the season.
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
Pete Lamar emailed the photo above and this:
Hi Dale,
I hadn’t targeted smallmouths in a while, so decided to give that a try this past week. The fish in the attached image came from a Fox tributary. I tangled with several in that weight class late on Sunday afternoon. All came out of slow, deep (deep being a relative term on such a small stream) holes. If there was any cover, especially wood, in the pools the fish were dug deeply into it but could be coaxed out. It’s not unusual to find crappies in similar water this time of year, but none were contacted on this outing.
As far as the Fox itself, I fished some water that I’ve ignored for years. It’s not very scenic and it’s right above a dam, so there is almost no flow; it’s more like a stagnant pond than a river. My thought was why fish current breaks when there is no current? That turns out to have been a mistake. Earlier in the Fall, I was messing around with a fluorocarbon leader. A gentleman working security at an event saw that and we started to talk about fishing. He showed me some pictures of impressive catfish and smallmouth and pointed me in the direction of a nearby bridge. He said to fish the pilings. It was good advice: Regardless of the presence or absence of current, smallmouths were holding there. Even in high winds, cold temperatures and some light rain, they were cooperative.
Pete
Vince Oppedisano emailed:
Dale,
Quick Fox River report...levels were a little higher over the weekend but still pretty low. Not as many fish biting, but deeper spots are still producing some smallmouth with artificials— mainly crankbaits.
GENEVA LAKE, WISCONSIN
NOTE: The Chicagoland Muskie Hunters chapter of Muskies, Inc. holds its Lady of the Lake Muskie Tournament on Saturday, Oct. 22. As of this morning, 53 boats were registered and they are aiming for 60 by Saturday.
Here are the key details:
TO REGISTER
Download the FishDonkey app
Tap Fish in a Tournament
Join Lady of the Lake
GREEN LAKE AREA, WISCONSIN
Guide Mike Norris texted the photo above and emailed this:
Fishing Report – 1017/2022
Mike Norris
Big Green Lake – Fishing for smallmouth bass was very good mid-week last week with my clients and I catching smallmouth bass up to five pounds. Then a nasty cold front with high winds descended into my area. Last Wednesday I was guiding clients in seventy-degree weather and by week’s end I was homebound and watching snowflakes blowing around in thirty mile per hour winds. Conditions are improving though, and we are entering the prime fall bite period for both largemouth and smallmouth bass. Try a tube bait or a jig and minnow in pockets of gravel and rock found in and around standing green weed beds. Lindy rigging with larger sucker minnows is also in play. A two-day Wisconsin Elite Series Championship took place on Big Green last weekend, and it took thirty-eight pounds to win the Championship. A number of the contestants reported success casting umbrella rigs parallel to and along deep weed edges.
Beaver Dam Lake – There are quite a few walleyes biting on the lake right now, though not all of them are legal sized. Crappie anglers are doing well fishing from shore along neck down areas where the lake crosses beneath area roadways.
GREEN/STURGEON BAYS, WISCONSIN
Click here for the Wisconsin DNR weekly report.
HEIDECKE LAKE
Closed.
KANKAKEE RIVER
Bob Johnson emailed the photo above and this:
Hi Dale - River is low but clear with temps in mid 50’s. Smallmouth fishing is good when conditions are right but Walleye bite is slow. Caught a 19 smallmouth and held on to it until the second one was caught for pic. Really good size Smallies in any body of water but catching them in the river with a current adds to the fight that much more. Fish are hitting finesse baits worked slowly down current breaks and over structure.
Catch and release
LAKE ERIE
Click here for the Ohio DNR Report.
LAKEFRONT
Tim Spike Davis texted the photo above and this:
On a roll
He’s been tearing it up at Montrose on various lures.
It’s the beard
Nah, I think it is a mix of skill, especially slow retrieving, and time by the water.
Laurance Reed emailed the photo above and this on Friday:
Hi Dale, these fall-run salmon are getting a bit darker which may signal that we’re getting past the peak of the season. However, they’re still in play for a few more weeks and can make the reel drag sing, so I’m still in the game. This one hit on a Wiggle Wart instead of the spoon this time.
Hope you had a nice week,
-Laurance
Reed is having himself quite the fall on the lakefront.
Tom Palmisano at Henry’s Sports and Bait texted the photo above while out Saturday off downtown:
Chris Stromidlo, Al Skalecke’s friend—We are having fun [B.S.ing] and trolling aboard the Many Times 2 on Sweetest day AM
There’s more than just salmon and trout nearshore.
Stacey Greene at Park Bait at Montrose Harbor texted:
Hello Dale
STILL A LOT OF SALMON. KINGS AS WELL AS COHO. STILL HITTING ALL VARIETIES OF LURES AND CRANKBAITS AS WELL AS A BIG MOVE TO BAIT SUCH AS SPAWN, LARGE TO MED SHINERS & NIGHT CRAWLERS. STILL A LOT OF IN THE DARK FISHING BUT DAYLIGHT HOURS HAVE PRODUCED QUITE A FEW FISH ALSO. I’VE BERN TOLD THERE ARE QUITE A FEW STEELHEAD JUST A LITTLE NORTH OF MONTROSE AND AT DIVERSEY. NO PERCH REPORTS YET BUT STILL A FEW WEEKS EARLY. THOSE NORTHERNS ARE STILL AROUND AND ACTIVE AS WELL. NO SMALLMOUTH REPORTS LATELY.
OUR HOURS WILL CHANGE AS THE SEASON DWINDLES DOWN AND THE WEATHER STARTS TO CHANGE. AS OF RIGHT NOW OUR HOURS ARE 6am TO 7 pm 7 DAYS A WEEK.
SALMON SNAGGING: Here are the details from the IDNR:
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).
LaSALLE LAKE
Closed.
MADISON LAKES, WISCONSIN
Click here for the update from D&S Bait, Tackle & Fly Shop .
MAZONIA
Closed, except Monster Lake is open all year.
NORTHERN WISCONSIN
Kurt Justice at Kurt’s Island Sport Shop in Minocqua emailed:
Cold, rain, some snow and lots and lots of wind made the middle of October feel like the end of November here in the Northwoods! Only the hardy (or foolish) willing to suffer the weather. Yet those that did were able to pull off some good catches.
Walleye: Very Good-Good – While the winds made for more than the typical Walleye Chop, those who targeted Walleyes, and were able to hold their boats, were rewarded with some pretty nice catches. Deep gravel Walleyes that were stacking up along slides in 28-40’ were hammering ½ oz jigs tipped with chubs or suckers. The heaviest of jigging Raps and Shiver Minnows were needed to hold over fish (and no rod movement needed due to wind). Flowage Walleyes relating to the deeper wood taking chubs or large fatheads.
Crappie: Very Good-Good – While lakes were tough to fish for Crappies holding suspended 4-6’ off bottom along 14-18’ coontail edges (bait constantly blowing into weeds). Out where Crappies relating to wood easier to work with medium fatheads below slip-floats in 9-15’ of water. Nice eaters of 10-12 were abundant with some BIG slabs of 13-15 picture fish caught and released.
Musky: Good+ – Action was surprisingly slower than expected, but improved as the week progressed. Jerkbaits, Gliders and large swimbaits worked best for those casting. The tailed gliders (Smity Jerk and Phantoms) seemed to key more hits than the traditional baits. Suckers are picking up the better half of the fish being caught. Bladed rigs in this wind have out produced standard rigs and float rigs – but all catching fish. As expected, heavy fall fish, nice size (38-47 +) and good weight.
Those three species were all the reports we gathered for this week. With temps in the high 20’s to low 30’s, water temps fell as low as 48 degrees as of Monday (10/17). Many lakes past turn-over. Forecast for temps in the high 50’s/low 60’s for the weekend should bring more anglers out with far better conditions to fish in.
Kurt Justice
Kurt’s Island Sport Shop - Like us on Facebook
NORTHWEST INDIANA
Capt. Rich Sleziak at Slez’s Bait in Lake Station texted:
Groups still chasing salmon in the upper stretches of nwi tributaries. Skein, spawn saks and spinners best baits to try.
Loomis lake in valpo giving up panfish for those putting in the time. Jumbo reds and waxworms best baits.
Crappie around the bridges in lake George in Hobart using minnows.
ROOT RIVER, WISCONSIN
Click here for the Wisconsin DNR’s report, usually on Tuesday or Wednesday.
SHABBONA LAKE
John Honiotes at Boondocks texted the photo above and reported walleye picking up, including one of 22-24 inches over the weekend, jigging; catfish continue to be caught.
Site summer hours—6 a.m.-10 p.m.—run through Oct. 31.
Bait shop is open 6:30 a.m.-7 p.m. daily; restaurant, 11 a.m.-8 p.m. weekdays, 8 a.m.-8 p.m. weekends.
SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN LAKEFRONT
Click here for the southern Lake Michigan reports from the Wisconsin DNR.
VERMILION RIVER
George Peters emailed the photo above and this:
Hi Dale, cold am temps and low water have made it tough, add the high winds and you need to get ready to hunt! Did get lucky with this 20 brute down on the Vermillion River , but not much else. G. Peters
Been too long since I fished the Vermilion.
WOLF RIVER, WISCONSIN
Guide Bill Stoeger in Fremont texted the photo above and this:
Fishing one of your favorite spots, Nipple Beach. Crappie action was good over the weekend. White bass in the lower part of the river near the Rat river has been good. Water temp in the lower 40’s. Walleye action should pick up soon.
