Chicago fishing: Lakefront coho and smallmouth go with widespread spring fishing inland

Hi, good morning

. . .

I have no Smelt reports.

Have a great week!

I’m hearing crappie are biting in the channels on the Chain O lakes and on the Fox River above Algonquin Dam to McHenry Dam. Minnows and wax worms for them. Wax Worms and Gulp minnows for the bluegills. Bass are getting in the mood to come to the shorelines. Jigs, spinner baits and jerk baits are all good options. Catfish are hitting cut bait well. Thing spring!

Hey Dale,

Here’s a recap from this past week’s fishing.

Today was the first time we had temps even close to average all week. There was no rush to getting out until midday to let the warmer temps get those fish out of their negative mood. The focus was the north shorelines working a Razor Custom Tackle pro judder jig along the outside weed lines. On days when the winds gust out of the South or West, focus on wind blown shorelines with a lipless crank bait. Bass will be going back to staging for the spawn with stable weather ahead.

TTYL

Ken “Husker” O’Malley

Husker Outdoors
Waterwerks fishing team

Hi Dale

The cool cloudy rainy and windy days combined with nighttime temperatures in the 30s actually cooled the water temps back to 49 on Saturday morning. Daffodils and hyacinth are blooming waiting for the tulips to follow.

I was committed to full day of fishing so I hit the water early and got a couple of hookups early but lost both at the boat. After that it was a few hours between bites. I got a bass on a 3/8 jackhammer in bluegill color. It was near a metal sea wall that may have had some warming in water as it was around noon. After that I took a breakfast break checked the masters and headed back out. There were many boats on the water pounding the banks so I tried the deep weeds out away from shore. I started getting bites on the 1/2oz arucu shad in red craw. It was a classic spring pattern of ripping the bait through and across the tops of the weed. I power poled down and caught a couple really healthy largemouth. One of the boats saw me and where I was. The next day the same shiny red bass boat was anchored in the same spot…not sure if they were catching. Island lake is quite small so no secret spots really exist. My neighbor across the street approached me and we were discussing the lake she asked if I catch anything. I said yes but I have to work hard to get them. The neighbor said they knew someone who attended a seminar on dying lakes. They said that island lake was one of the lakes used as an example of a dying lake. I’ve been thinking about it and yes it seems like it takes a lot of time to catch a few bass. The panfish population seems strong as well as baitfish. I can see the pond weed and fillamentous algae are a real problem. Water clarity is also a concern that aeration only temporarily addresses. The lake is also sitting in as I can see in my corner of the lake. There was a multi year plan in place but was not working so apparently there is a new plan. Time will tell. Meanwhile a couple days in the 60s might help as it’s half way through April and the bass are still on the flats waiting.

On the music front it’s Midnite mile this Saturday at Amy’s 50th birthday bash at lake Fairfield. I received the set list and it’s sure to test this keyboard players skills. After the show we can wet a few lines as the party location is on the lake.

Tight lines and good health!

Rob

Also fathead minnows taking yellow bass and perch from shore under slip bobber

I’m hearing crappie are biting in the channels on the Chain O lakes and on the Fox River above Algonquin Dam to McHenry Dam. Minnows and wax worms for them. Wax Worms and Gulp minnows for the bluegills.

Fishing Report – 4/15/2025

Mike Norris

Big Green Lake: Inclement weather continues to limit fishing opportunities for open-water anglers. High winds and rainy days are putting a damper on most angling efforts. The rewards will be there if you are lucky enough to pick a calmer day. Bluegills and crappies are available to shore anglers in Dartmouth Bay on either side of sunrise with a jig and minnow or a piece of red worm hung beneath a bobber. For boaters, jigging for lake trout in 60 – 100 feet of water is a good option. Try catching them with a 3/8 oz. jigging spoon. Smallmouth bass are still deep but can be caught vertically jigging with a Damiki rig. It is the catch-and-release season for bass, so all bass caught must be released.

Lake Puckaway: Walleye activity in the “No Wake” area of the Fox River just before it enters into Lake Puckaway was very good last week. Try drifting downstream with jigs tipped with half of a crawler or trolling back upstream with crankbaits

Good day on the Kankakee. Charlie Mack got a twenty inch smallmouth bass

Hi Dale went out of Kenosha today went 6 for 8 today thinfiins 60 feet back 2 on doger and flys 50 feet back

Hey Dale – JJ and I had a heck of a day on Lake Michigan with over 20 smallies and this giant Northern Pike that came in at 36” – 16lbs

We fished between Navy Pier and the Hancock building today we landed 20 smallies between 2-4 lbs today on tubes and paddle tail swim baits, Jason olinger caught the Pike and JJ landed many great Smallies. Water temp was 45 with steady south east wind. The key to the smallies was 15’ depth and keeping the boat tight to bottom and slow movement. Bite was steady with the right presentation

“Bait” tight to bottom

The Pike was caught on paddle tail swim bait with 1/4 oz jig head, gave quite the fight with 6 lb Flouro line

Hey Dale,

I got out to the lakefront twice last week in search of smallmouth. The water temperature was about 44-45 degrees and the bite was slower for me this week. Friday evening I caught a few bass on swimbaits, biggest one was about 16-17 inches. I had to work and cover water to find them. Sunday morning I caught one, lost a couple of bass, and then wind gusts up to about 30 mph forced me to call it a day early. Looks like more wind & some rain coming this week…

Shake down trip for Why Knot Chicago yesterday. Only took us less than 8 miles to get our boat limit and ended losing a nice king for the grand slam!

Fish are in close still 15-30 fow was best. Body baits and spoons took our better fish. Water was dirty yesterday but the fish were hiding in the tight pockets of clear water. Once this is posted it’ll be cleared up with the south winds today, but finding the clearer water was key to our success yesterday!

He picked that bait and set that rod for the laker too!

Hey babe spoon just above the bottom

Streight out of work bobber down at Diversey!

Caught on a TS Jigs hair jig tipped with wax worms. Steelhead seem to be spawning and become visable from shore as the winds die down.

Not as good of a picture but this steelhead was caught Sunday, same technique at diversey. Seems the steelhead are more active this week.

Hi, good morning

Coho is still the main topic. A lot of limits on large or xl fathead minnows and night crawlers. Powerliners still doing better than rod and reel but rod and reel starting to produce more fish day by day as the water warms a bit. Some casting a variety of lures and also slip bobber set ups between 2 to 7 feet down. Quite a few Brown Trout caught this past week. Bottom fishing with a variety of baits, night crawlers, shad, shrimp, etc… Smallmouth very active on all the usual baits. Crawlers, larger minnows, ned rigs, 360 GT’s, lunker plastics, etc… I weighed 1 yesterday it was 4lbs. No Perch reports yet but do have a few going to try for some this week. I have no Smelt reports.

Have a great week!

Hi Dale

Spring is here and so are the fish in Waukegan. It was a great shake down trip with too many captains on the boat. Attached is a photo of Captain Andy Grein (left) of Abby Fishing Charters and Captain Daryl Szyka (right) of Merganzer Charters with a couple of big brown trout that came back-to-back. Limit catches of browns, coho and lakers are available in 25 to 35 feet of water off Lake Forest. Cohos were taken on red dodgers and Jimmy Fly Rooster and UV Rubber Toad patterns. The browns were on gold/orange and gold/green Sea Quest and Warrior spoons.

This should be a really good year on Lake Michigan.

Capt. Scott R Wolfe

312-933-0552

Well, it’s officially over, ice fishing is done. 60 Degree days, rain, wind, then snow and then more wind has killed the ice. Small shallow lakes are starting to open up, while bigger lakes still have ice, rotted ice, with shorelines opening up. It won’t be long before boats will be out targeting panfish and bass during the catch and release season.

Fishing opener is only a few weeks away, May 3^rd. In the meantime, our store is packed with all the new, latest and greatest gear, as well as with all the good ol’ reliable essentials.

Don’t forget your fishing license as they expired on March 31^st.

Also, don’t forget to respool your reels before the opener! Line sale on bulk line, mono, flouro and super lines through April 26^th. Drop off spools and get freshened up!

Kurt Justice

Kurt’s Island Sports Shop
– Like us on FaceBook

Coho action with kings mixed in good from Chicago to new Buffalo using killer fish, dodgers and flys and spoons in 15 to 35ft of water.

Coho action off the shore is spotty 2nd year in a row the shore guys here in Indiana have not had many good days

Perch action still good in that 53 to 58ft of water north of Gary light when the wind allows the boats out there. Get out there if you can this will be over till late fall really soon.

Steelhead being caught below lake George dam and Main Street bridge using spawn saks and voodoo jigs tipped with lil peice of shrimp or waxworms.

Some crappie and gills being caught on the Valpo chain of lakes using red wigglers and waxworms

Slez’s Bait will be open on Easter Sunday from 5am till 11am.

Nows the time for Steelhead at Root River ! Over 4,000 Steelhead passed thru weir ,a new record ! Water discharge rate at 136 cuft/second ! Very fishable with waders

Wally Olson

Water temp Tuesday morning was 49 degrees. Most if not all of the females have spawned, and are coming back. I haven’t seen a White bass yet, but it won’t be long.