Coho, trout, crappie, all things spring: Chicago fishing, Midwest Fishing Report

Here a good one for the paper. 5 man limit in 4 hrs today

Dale!!! I ditched my family to go fish the Menominee River, and we’re killin’ ‘em!!!

check out this 16 1/2 lbs kind I caught trolling at the chicago light yesterday morning, aboard Skyline Charters. It came on a 00 wonderbread dodger and fly off a plainer board.

Good morning I figured I’d just fill you in a little bit so you don’t have to call tomorrow. Coho have gone crazy lots of limits over the weekend even in to today. Large minnows, nightcrawlers and some spoons. Sometimes they’re being a little picky later in the day and only hitting crawlers.. . .Hope you had a nice Easter it was sure a beautiful day.

Coho fishing has been really good last couple days from Hammond to mixhigan city lots of fish some Kong’s mixed in too 20 to 40 ft of water best Body baits spoons dodgers and peanut Flys

Shore the same, power line guys doing good on choo, spoon guys ok too. We took the boat out Sunday 40 foot of water, coho top 5 feet and on the bottom, fish are scattered We ended up with 3 choo, only out a bit over an hour. Aug posted pics on FISHFOOD facebook page

Hi Dale.Weather and strong winds limited the fishing effort out of Waukegan. In the narrow windows of good weather fishing was really good. Limits of lakers with a few browns and early coho are being caught. Traditional laker Mo Rigs bead the bottom have been taking big lakers with nearly all over 10#. The water has been cloudy and Jimmy Fly UV laker rig or Mo Rig Skirts have out produced non-UV. Early in the week there were no coho. Bonus browns came on Warrior Flutter Spoons off yellowbirds. In the last two days cohos have begun hitting with peanut flies behind 00 red or yellow dodgers. There may be more coho in closer to shore or out deep feeding in shrimp but I didn’t hear about any boats trying those areas.No report from Chicago this week. Given the limit salmon catches in Indiana and the coho starting in Waukegan I would assume Chicago has coho.Capt. Scott WolfeSchool of Fish Charters630-341-0550http://www.schooloffishcharters.com

I did have a small smelt report from Saturday one of my regular customers that comes out every Saturday during smelt season had a few also got lucky on his Rod and Reel with a Coho.

* No open fires * No enclosed tents * No alcoholic beverages * No parking or driving on the grass or sidewalks. Park only in designated areas. Violators will be ticketed and towed. * Do not destroy fences, benches, trash receptacles, walkways, and grassy areas. * Do not dump hot coals under trees, on concrete or on grassy areas. Dispose of all coals in the appropriate trash receptacles. * Harbor Gates will close at 1 a.m. –start breaking down at 12:30 a.m. to be out by 1 a.m.

Hey Dale, Here is a recap of this past week’s fishing.Area lakes-bass are becoming more predictable for the first time this year with the stable weather. Midday hours still continue to be the best time to focus on bass using lipless crankbaits. The strike king red eye shad in green tomato has been the most consistent producer.TTYL—Ken Husker O’Malley Husker Outdoors Waterwerks fishing team

Dale Bowman…. im at Beaubien Woods now…. crappie and some Big gills

Hi Dale I had very little time to fish over the 3 day holiday weekend. First a massive branch fell on Friday during the high winds just missing the house. After cleaning up the branch it was the first gig of the Spring Dive Bar tour for The Hot Sofa Band. We appeared at the Irish mill in Mundelein near Diamond Lake. I was able to get in about a half hour of fishing before the gig during a spectacular sunset but got no bites the water seemed cold possibly low 50’s. Another angler pulled in a Largemouth on an in-line spinner but it was time to hit the gig for sound check. Anglers Choice will be kicking off the season at Braidwood lake this Sunday. The tournament will go out of the North Launch. Next Thursday I will be taking my Bass team to compete in the Sectionals of the IHSA Bass fishing competition at the Skokie Lagoons. It will be a cool experience to be fishing where I used to fish out of my Coleman Canoe in the early 90’s with the team!The next stop of the Hot Sofa Spring Illinois Dive Bar Tour will be May 2nd at the Penny Road Pub in Barrington. Also I have been rehearsing at the Wild Hare for an upcoming gig in May with Drea V a longtime Chicago reggae artist. What Jah bless let no man curse… Bob MarleyTight linesRob

The Fox River remains at a steady height but the water temp is still pretty cold, with some water temps still in the high 40s to low 50s in various spots. Slackwater areas will be a little warmer since they are shallower and may hold some Largemouth and an occasional small mouth using smaller style finesse plastics like small worms, Ned Rigs and craws. Good news is that there have been some decent size crappie caught in larger slack water areas especially in Carpentersville and South Elgin area using minnows under a bobber, so they are definitely starting to move in to spawn.Muskie are still being caught in South Elgin, Montgomery, and Yorkville dams

Got out end of day Sunday to try a creek like I’ve suggested others to do. First cast I got hit by and landed an aggressive dink smallie that launched itself out of the water. Thought I was going to have an outstanding hour or so of fishing, but wound up with a handful of tentative hits and rolled quite a few of the suckers making their way up the creek for their annual spawning run.

Good morning fellas. Sorry for the delay, been a bit busy Brown Trout fishing has been going quite well on the bay side of the peninsula along with the lakeside now starting to fire up. Trolling and casting the shallow water, generally less than 20 feet of water. Fishermen generally look for warmer water pockets and clean to stained water areas. Trolling with floating Rapalas, Thundersticks and flutter style spoons like Mauler spoons and Stingers. Fishermen that choose to cast via shore or by boat are using casting spoons like Cleo’s and Krokodile’s along with stick baits like Rapala Shadow raps, Rip Stops and Rogue’s. Stream fishermen are still finding good success in Door County’s Lake Michigan tributaries. Drifting with spawn sacs along with pitching spinners and small spoons in the larger pools Pike fishing is starting to ramp up a bit more now that it seems like the post spawn bite is starting to get rolling. Drifting with large sucker minnows is an option along with casting and trolling large stick baits, spoons and plastics The Walleye fishing is starting to get rolling with a pretty good night bite going on right now for both big pre-spawn fish and a few post spawn fish now getting caught. Same old story year in and year out….trolling the primary and secondary drop-offs along the rocky shorelines throughout the county from as far south as Chaudoirs Dock all the way up the peninsula to Sister Bay all good options for some big Walleyes. As of right now the limit in our area is 1 fish over 15 inches, then on May 4th the limit goes back up to 5 fish. For the trollers, the best baits are suspending baits like Husky Jerks, Smithwick Rogues, Lucky Crafts, Megabass along with Flicker Shads and Minnows. And for folks that want to cast….Rippin Raps, Blade baits, hair jigs along with bigger paddle tails like Keitech baits And on May 4th also marks the opener of our Bass fishing opener which is crazy around here! Hundreds, even thousands of fishermen will be searching for those schools of giant pre-spawn bass. Most likely we will see lots of fish in that 5 to 6 plus pound range along with plenty of 7 pound fish and even a few 8 plus pounders just like we saw last year. Early in the season with the cold water, most fishermen will search for warm water pockets in bottom transition areas like those rock to sand areas we always talk about. Slow presentation is the key! Shorty Tubes, Ned Rigs, Hair and marabou jigs, Keitech paddle tails along with deadsticking suspending jerk baits like Megabass, Lucky Crafts, Shadow Raps, Ripstops and Smithwick Rogues all good options Thanks; Lance LaVine Howie’s Tackle 1309 Green Bay Rd Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235 Ph: 920-746-9916

@BowmanOutside a fisherman’s Easter egg hunt

I heard of a nice couple pound white fish caught. Smallmouth are doing pretty well over at Diversey. Also had a little wispering of a couple nice perch at Belmont. Other than that report nobody else is trying for perch but there should definitely be some around.

Ice still covers most of our lakes, but in most cases not shore to shore. Edges and accesses are pulling away, ice is very rotted after recent rain and Fri/Sat sun. Measured 21 on Lake Minocqua at noon 4/19. Not safe enough for remeasure today. Mid-week forecast for high 50’s to mid-60’s will eat up plenty of ice this week. Should see open water on many bodies for opener. Crappies: Good – Anglers fared better early and late in day. Reports of some true slabs of 13-15. Big Arb’s south shore is the only remaining fishable ice as of this AM (4/22), but will go fast in these conditions. For the rest of the reports, rather quiet. A few anglers checking out streams for suckers to smoke. Pond behind shop about 40% open, but very dark ice. Typically, Lake Minocqua is ice free 7-10 days after pond. Note: Using Lake Minocqua as reference for other nearby lake ice out Walleye on chain will not be open this spring. Kurt Justice Kurt’s Island Sport Shop Like us on FaceBook —

Coho fishing has been really good last couple days from Hammond to mixhigan city lots of fish some Kong’s mixed in too 20 to 40 ft of water best Body baits spoons dodgers and peanut Flys Crappie bite on and off everyday different at lake George and pine lake minnows best bait Willow slough good mainly in boat gills beemoth or red wrigglers lots of bass for bass guys spinnerbaits and chatterbaits good Been great biz this spring hours now 5 am to 6 pm daily

White bass are showing up in the deeper holes. There are some walleye being caught, mostly deep along with the white bass. All on rigs. Had 53 white bass and 4 walleye this morning