***** – excellent; **** – very good;
*** – good; ** – fair; * – poor
Lake Michigan (Chicago lakefront)
** 1/2 Cooler weather and northerly winds have slowed fishing, but perch action could pick up quickly with a warmup and wind shift. Coho still biting for boaters in 70- to 80-foot depths. Some rock bass and smallmouth biting near shoreline.
Lake Michigan (Lake County)
*** Salmon biting in shallows (20- to 40-feet) north or south of Waukegan Harbor on tinsel flies and dodgers or deep (120- to 150-feet) south of Waukegan. Perch still biting for boaters in 40- to 70-feet but are challenging to find. Shoreline anglers catching perch off end of Government Pier on large fatheads off the bottom. Some coho, a few browns also reported.
Lake Michigan (Northwest Indiana)
** 1/2 Trout and salmon action moving further out from shore. East Chicago boaters report mix of coho, kings, steelhead and lake trout northeast of the gong. At Michigan City, king and lake trout action best north of the lighthouse in 85- to 110-foot depth. Chinooks up to 22 pounds reported, but most in 13- to 14-pound range. A few steelhead also reported.
Southwest Michigan `
** 1/2 Good numbers of king and coho salmon in New Buffalo area. Salmon good off Benton Harbor in 110- to 140-foot depths.
Southeast Wisconsin
** 1/2 Kenosha shore fishing still slow, but trollers hitting coho limits off the breakwalls in 50- to 80-foot depths on orange dodgers and green flies. Racine trollers catching coho and a few chinooks in 50- to 100-feet, with some catches up within 20 feet on orange dodgers and flashers with flies. Chinooks biting closer to the bottom. Shore action limited in Milwaukee.
Chain O’Lakes
*** Very good white and yellow bass action in river and main lakes channels (Marie, Petite and Bluff) for drifters in 15- to 17-feet. Crappies also good in channels on minnows. Walleye continue to bite in currents — even back waters with movement — on jigs and leeches. Bass nearing end of spawning and good action reported.
Kankakee River
** 1/2 River continues to improve with catfish reported at the Point, north of English Lake in Indiana. Ten Mile Road now open at Kankakee F&W area, with spillways good spots to fish. Largemouth bass and crappies fair to good in bayous at LaSalle F&W area. In Illinois, Momence good for rock bass, catfish and smallmouth. Catfish good, walleye fair at Kankakee River state park, and both good at Wilmington.
Inland lakes
** Fair largemouth bass action at Braidwood last weekend along with a few bluegill on tiny jigs. Some muskie reported at Busse Lake off the banks on jigs. Fair bluegill and largemouth bass at Wolf Lake. Largemouth also fair at Skokie Lagoons off the banks.
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Compiled by Jack McCarthy from pro and bait shops and state natural resource reports.
