So that was the first day of ice fishing. Limited to 20 passengers. They put together a fine group of people to share the rail with and it was our pleasure to have them aboard for the past eight days. Just handfuls of fish around here and there. Our weather isn't really all that bad, but the combination of the direction we are heading and the swell direction is rolling the boat around pretty good but everyone is doing just fine and we're traveling at a safe speed to ensure the utmost comfort and safety of the passengers and the vessel. Stacey Greene at Park Bait at Montrose Harbor texted: Perch at 95th & 87th st. The bite was good for both. Slow fishing for us offshore today. Angelo Ciaravino and Richard Zoller both have a way of getting their Mount Carmel teammates and the crowd fired up. We are located right on Lake Michigan (the big pond as some would say) so we are your go to for all your perch and salmon needs, but don't let that fool you we have knowledge of many local fishing spots and can offer bait, tackle, and advice for them all. Rich Sleziak at Slezs Bait in Lake Station, Indiana, texted: Still lots of groups fishing perch more from shore but when weather allows lots of boat fishermen also. I figured it would do for the lead photo two days before the holiday renowned for its eating. The two best areas were the east shoreline at Edgewater Park and the neckdown area where the lake crosses beneath the Highway G bridge. Mostly sunny. Chicago (south side) Various Shoreline Areas: x: x: x: x: x: x . Fox Lake Crappie fishing is good with fish measuring up to 14-inches. Happy Thanksgiving and have a great week! I will also be trying out our new mobile businessParked BaitI will be at the 87th st. entrance to Steelworkers Park this Thursday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday hoping to get there by about 6:30 am. Last time we were forecasted 6-12 we only got 3-4, cross your fingers. update the fishing reports each week through the fishing season, reporting on fishing success, Perch anglers spaced along the North Slip (85th Street) late Saturday morning. Not much on Walleye, but its coming. Sey Jay with his personal best steelhead. lake levels, water temperatures, and other important information. Baits of choice are spikes, beemoths, & smaller minnows. Tom Spence hoists a smallmouth bass from the Kankakee River with Bob Johnson. MOST USING MINNOWS OF ALL VARIETIES ESPECIALLY ROSEY REDS, ALSO SHRIMP,WAX WORMS, SPIKES, NIGHT CRAWLERS,ETC IF SOMETHING ISNT WORKING FOR YOU CHANGE IT UP. Best Fishing Times: 12:00AM to 12:00AM, and 12:00AM to 12:00AM. ATV travel only. Fish were caught in 22 feet of water suspended at 14 foot. Tracks and snowmobiles that much easier. Saro Kevorkian prepares to release his Illinois record burbot back into Lake Michigan on Dec. 8, 2020. Heres some of whats on our to-do list. Rich Sleziak at Slezs Bait in Lake Station texted: Some steelhead action fishing the lower stretches of nwi tributaries using jigs tipped with beemoth, Crappie action decent working the docks around 249 bridge down from portage marina. Go to live bite as your best option. Readers suggest SpotHero app downtown. Bank fishing will be allowed along the south Lake road after 1:00pm during waterfowl season. 12, 2021, at Montrose Harbor. 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. If fishing artificial lures, a tube jig cannot be beat this time of year. Over the last 20 years, sandhills became the primary indicator of seasonal change around Chicago for regular people. Happy Thanksgiving and have a great week! Shore and boat fishermen doing well. By Thursday, highs in upper teens and snow will change travel dependent on how much rain/snow we get. Theres also brown trout and steelhead around (column coming on Wednesday about Danny Taks Borgert and steelhead). The fish were also on the smaller side of things. If heading out to Fox Lake stop by Fish Tales on State Route 33 for updated fishing reports and the latest on ice conditions. We definitely made the right call on the weather side of things and strategically missed the bad weather that was forecasted. Proprietor Greg Dickson at Triangle Sports and Marine in Antioch said on Tuesday, Believe it or not, we had two guys out ice fishing yesterday. If this happens, ice travel will be relegated to snowmobiles, tracked UTVs and trucks. 20.1K posts. Good Yellowtail fishing for us once again and some decent Dorado fishing to go along with it. Fall inland trout season opens at 5 a.m. Saturday at Axehead and Belleau lakes in the Cook County forest . Boat anglers are catching a few walleyes trolling with crankbaits from sunset through the early evening hours over 1015 feet of water with planer boards. Northern and panfish are doing well on the bayous and small bays. Pier & beach anglers are catching them using primarily spawn & nightcrawlers. May 11, 2017. by PeterB. Rod and Reels. Some channels on the river have open areas and guys are catching crappies and bluegills. There were two of us looking around there and we had a combined score of 0. Chicago . single-family home is a 3 bed, 2. Bob Johnson emailed the photo at the very top and this: Hi Dale - made it back out to Kankakee River Sunday with Tom Spence. Pat Hasburgh at D&S Bait, Tackle & Fly Shop said ice deteriorated, but weather forecast makes next week look promising for ice fishing. Cowboy came in first with a 288 pounder and Roger had a tight second with a 255 pounder. Small jigs/plastics and very little movement needed to entice bites. The Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk opened Tuesday afternoon after a four-day closure because of the report of a release of a foamy discharge into Burns Waterway from the nearby U.S. Steel Midwest . 8-12 on average, though some anglers reporting fish to 18. Summer hours are 5 a.m. - 8 p.m. Spring and fall hours are subject to change. Bluegill: Poor-Good Bite best in the afternoons. There are a few vehicles on Partridge, but that may change in coming days. Active biters can be found along the main basin of lakes. The north side of Navy Pier is open for anglers. Steelhead & nice-sized Walleye are still being caught in the rivers. Whether you seek a tasty meal of yellow perch or the excitement of landing a chinook salmon on a day charter, Lake Michigan is a true destination for the Illinois Angler . Lake trout and a limit of Perch off the Chicago Lakefront! 1201 S Prairie Ave #1113, Chicago, IL is a studio, 1 bathroom, 492 sqft apartment. Mr. Pfleger did get a white sea bass so we were stoked. 30 inches right on the head! Bob Johnson with a cold-water smallmouth bass from the Kankakee River. Yellow Perch: Poor-Good Weed bite was better than deep for the most part this week. Site winter hours through Jan. 31 are 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Click here for the southern Lake Michigan reports from the Wisconsin DNR. Dropper loop and yo-yo fishing for 'tails is one thing but when they get up on the surface, boiling and swirling around, that is some of the funnest fishing we see out here so it was nice to get in some surface action before we pulled anchor after lunch and set a course to do some tuna and Wahoo fishing offshore for the remainder of the trip. Sunday, Monday and Tuesday morning before forecasted rain for Tuesday (2/14) as temps will reach upper 40s will make things a bit messy again. Capt. We'll be fishing for Yellowfin, Bluefin, Wahoo, Yellowtail, Dorado, Pargo, and Grouper so wish us luck and we'll chat with you tomorrow. Sturgeon spearing season, previous permits required, opened Saturday on the Winnebago system in Wisconsin. Should be a great time. THIS WEEKS HOURS MAY BE SPORADIC PLEASE CALL FIRST. Dave Kranz of Daves Bait, Tackle and Taxidermy in Crystal Lake and with his You-Tube channel, Dave Kranz Living the wild outdoors, texted: Ice is leaving us fast! When stable or slightly dropping can be found higher off bottom up to the weed tops (6-8) at times. But with a high-pressure system moving in and a warming trend in the forecast, I will be back out fishing for smallmouth bass on Big Green by midweek. ja-knee-sea; May 10, 2017; 1. We'll be giving it a go tomorrow morning and hopefully we can add some tuna to our catch that is already chilled in the RSW wells. . He made my morning. We focus on primarily the chicagoland area, and enjoy people's fishing stories and most. South waters are open or opening; north is mainly in some stage of in-between (lot depends on what happens with the ice or rain tomorrow and wind). Thad. On Monday, Quinn Wunar tweeted the photo above and this: I was feeling cocky and took my float and fly out vs my guy Ray Raymond this afternoon at burnham and he got the first Chicago coho. Arden Katz said bluegill are good and caught them up to 8 34 inches (they take sorting) on Monona Bay, where there is 8-10 inches of ice. Even late Saturday morning, anglers were spaced along the North Slip (85th Street) when I was there. Hi friends. Its new so things will be tentative for awhile. He was a happy man. The weather is good and the anglers are excited to start fishing. Over 100 boats fishing perch Sunday. Hope youre enjoying the mild weather. Our first stop of the morning was mostly dropper loops and yo-yo irons once again but our second stop was straight fly-lined baits and jigs, which made for a lot more fun as we were able to witness a surface show of Yellowtail the we've become accustomed to when fishing for these mighty Jacks. Weed relating Perch taking Z-Vibers and T-Rips tipped with waxies in 6-10 cabbage. Its new so things will be tentative for a while. To report violations, call the IDNR at (877) 236-7529. We are loving the variety and cannot wait for what tomorrow brings. The access areas to the lake suffered though due to the number of users. NOTE 2: Stratton Lock and Dam is closed through April 30, 2023. The north side of Navy Pier is open for anglers. Mid-February and already there are coho reports as far north at St. Joseph, Michigan. The ribs are smelling good so I gotta go. Good to see an early spring on the way! EMIQUON PRESERVE:During waterfowl season, fishing is not allowed until noon. Staff at Tackle Haven in Benton Harbor said coho have been very good off the pier when the weather allows. Other Chicago harbors are also loaded with perch of various sizes. Lori Ralph at the Salmon Stop in Waukegan texted: Good morning ,Spotty reports here and there on some trout off the pier.Alit of folks think the pier is not fishable cuz the harbor has no signage as how to get to the pier. Matt Mullady texted the photo above and this on Wednesday: Slid fish over 5 feet of shore ice to land, Theres been some early coho action (see top) and the ongoing perch action with the occasional lake trout or steelhead mixed in. Jeffrey Williams messaged the photo above and Big T caught it from the North Shore Channel in Skokie. Everyone always asks what to use. Ryan with a largemouth bass from the Chicago River. AREA LAKES South waters are open or opening; north is mainly in some stage of in-between (lot depends on what happens with the ice or rain tomorrow and wind). Minnows and Rufus jr jigs tipped with waxworms have been best. Chicago, IL 60629 Show on Map McKinley Fishing Area 2210 W. Pershing Rd. The discounted parking for anglers is $9 daily, if out by 10 a.m. Chicago Park Districts parking passes ($20 for two months) for the anglers parking lots at DuSable and Burnham harbors are on sale atthe Northerly Island Visitor Center (credit card only, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday), but call (312) 745-2910 first to make sure someone is there. As to Braidwood, he is not alone in getting antsy. P.S. Today was a travel day. Minnows best bait. The biggest we landed was a 197 pounder and we had a couple in the 140-150 pound range. The weather was really nice for most of the day so seeing these kelps was no problem but we never located a really good kelp holding a glory stop. There's a lot of water to cover and this is the only time you'll hear us say the words "the more boats, the better". Bob Johnson emailed the photo above and this: Hi Dale - River is Cold and clear with water temps at 39 to 40. Michael Egger celebrating his 154-pound, 79.5-inch F2 female at the Southwest Winnebago registration station. This past weekend it has left us. Kurts Island Sport Shop - Like us on Facebook. Big fish honors go to Troy Smith for his 33.8 lb. Chicago Sun-Times MIDWEST FISHING REPORT 2023-03-01- LAKEFRONT SALMON/TROUT: Coho around, plus bonus browns, steelhead and lakers, most caught tangentially. The Chicago Harbor system consists of 9 main harbors that stretch across the city's lakefront from north to south. Lots of limits of Coho & Perch are being caught; spawn/squid/nightcrawlers & beemoths are doing well respectively. We'll be unloading Mr. Anderson, Mr. Lund, and their buddies and loading up for our 2-day adventure that will be departing int he afternoon. The grade of Yellowtail we captured today was a very nice grade of fish with most being right around 18 lbs; some bigger, some smaller but a fine grade nonetheless. Caught a couple of 14 jumbos at the Navy Pier slip on Saturday, 12/10. We'll be fishing tomorrow in the same area that we'll be fishing on our 2-day trip departing Sunday afternoon and returning on Tuesday morning, so it will be a good check for us to get the area figured out and hopefully get some fish located. As a reminder, Musky open water season up north here runs through the end of December. Now settling back into a night time pick on the Yellowfin Tuna. Harold Plein messaged the photos above and below, and this: Thought you might be interested in some of these pics from Iron County in the great UP. Click to get the latest. We have the bait you need. Jim Shell emailed the photo above, and the breakdown and YouTube video below: There have been many reports of the great lake trout fishing off of Chicago and Indiana shores. Brian Athern with the crappie that tied his personal best. Staff at Tackle Haven in Benton Harbor said coho off the pier, perch in the turning basin (no whitefish reports); still steelhead going in the river. Paddle and Pole hosts the Berrien Springs Fish Ladder Camera. Perch action fishing the slip is still pretty good most days. We departed the docks early this morning and loaded up on some beautiful, mixed-size of Sardine and cleared the point with our bow pointed to an unknown destination at the moment. With the very mild winter this year, weve been able to get out quite a few times lately. Staff at Triangle Sports and Marine in Antioch said not much going, waiting on ice fishing to arrive, probably next week. The ice is a little thin on the lakes. We'll just take things slow and steady because we don't want to be stuck down here with strong winds that are being predicted and a long way still to aim for home. Caught fish (took sorting) on everything. Our options are plentiful and we're hoping that some sign of big tuna and wahoo pop up somewhere but until that happens, we're looking at just pulling on any type of gamefish at the moment. Arden Katz said good bluegill continue on Monona Bay. Forum Staff View All OZ Administrator. Site winter hoursthrough Jan. 31are 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Staff at Tackle Haven in Benton Harbor said big smallmouth are going in the St. Joseph River; steelhead still going in the river, too; pier slow. With that, we departed this afternoon at 1300 hours on another 2-day adventure and with a beautiful load of bait, we set sail to the southerly offshore grounds. More of a goof-off afternoon as hardly anyone was fishing with all of the action they desired being taken care of in the morning time. Ice jigs and crappie minnows and off the bottom with wax worms. LAKEFRONT PARKING. 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