The heat wave even warms Lake Michigan quicker than usual, but fishing also picks up on inland waters as well… - Chicago Sun-Times

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Even Lake Michigan is heating up quickly with the extended heat wave and full-blown summer fishing is underway both inland and on Lake Michigan for this sprawling raw-fie Midwest Fishing Report; and the prolonged heat wave has contributed to at least one fish kill.

Jason Fox sent the photo at the top, taken by his wife Marissa of their kids Lydia and David,: and this:

Good morning Dale. My wife took this great picture Saturday out on loon lake. Bluegills sure do bring the magic.

Bluegills are magic in my book, too.

CHICAGO FISHING PARKING PASSES

The parking passes for the fisherman’s parking lots are not being sold while the lakefront remains officially closed.

ILLINOIS RIVER LOCKS

A navigation note from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers:

ROCK ISLAND, Illinois – Beginning July 1, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District is temporarily closing the Dresden Island, Marseilles, Starved Rock, Peoria and LaGrange locks on the Illinois Waterway to facilitate needed repairs and maintenance. The closures, which will be conducted simultaneously to limit impacts to navigation, are scheduled to last through late October.

During the closures, no vessels will be able to pass through the closed locks. Navigation on the rest of the river, between the locks, will be able to continue without impact as water levels will be maintained at a normal level throughout the season.

Click here for details on the timing and other details on the closures.

ILLINOIS FROGGING

Bullfrog-only season runs through Oct. 15 in Illinois. Daily bag is eight.

A couple key notes from the Illinois DNR:

A sport fishing license is required to harvest bullfrogs. Bullfrogs may be taken by hook and line, gig, pitchfork, spear, bow and arrow, hand, or landing net.

No person shall harvest bullfrogs or any other reptile or amphibian by commercial fishing devices, including, hoop nets, traps or seines or by the use of firearms, air guns or gas guns or during bowfishing tournaments.

AREA LAKES

Bluegills and largemouth, especially early and late or in the shaded areas, are the targets for those braving the extended heat.

A heat-wave largemouth bass. Photo provided by Ken “Husker” O’Malley

largemouth bass, fishing, outdoors

Ken “Husker” O’Malley emailed the photo above and this:

Hey Dale,

Here is a recap of this past week’s fishing.

Area lakes-The heat has slowed the morning bite for bass. Most active bass have been up along inside weedlines before the sun gets high by pitching Texas rigged creature baits into open pockets. Evening bite has been much better. Work a baby 1-minus along the outside weedlines have been taking good numbers. Work the bait slowly over the tops of the thickest weeds you can find.

—

Ken “Husker” O’Malley

Husker Outdoors
Waterwerks fishing team

BRAIDWOOD LAKE

The cooling lake in the southwest corner of Will County is open daily 6 a.m. to sunset.

CHAIN O’LAKES AREA

Tucker at Triangle Sports and Marine in Antioch said bedding bluegill are the best bite; walleye (some bigs if you hit the window right) are on the flats, try dragging crawlers or jigging for them; catfish, including some big ones, are good; bass are slowing down with the heeat, try lake points.

NOTE: Check updates on water conditions at foxwaterway.com or (847) 587-8540.

NOTE 2: The Stratton Lock and Dam is closed Mondays and Tuesdays, operating Wednesday through Sunday, 8 a.m. to midnight.

CHICAGO RIVER

Capt. Pat Harrison of Pat Harrison Outdoors-Fishing Adventures is starting to get out again and his reports should resume shortly. He did message this:

My Brother Bern and I did pretty good on some really nice Crappie today some were 12” plus.

DELAVAN LAKE, WISCONSIN

Dave Duwe emailed:

Delavan Lake 7-6-20 through 7-13-20

Fishing on Delavan Lake continues to be very good. The only downfall has been the tremendous fishing pressure and boat traffic. Some mornings when I launch at 5:00 am, I’m about the 50^th boat on the lake. With the excessive fishing pressure it is not hard to tell where the good spots on the lake are, just look for the boats. To avoid some of the traffic,

Walleyes are biting on the weed lines anywhere from 15-19 ft of water. I’m catching them either casting deep diving crank baits or on lindy rigs with painted hooks. The best bait seems to be nightcrawlers or jumbo leeches. My best success is either right away in the morning or at sunset. Look for the fish by the Yacht Club or by the Del Mar subdivision.

Bluegills are being caught throughout the lake. Work the 17-18 ft. weed lines. Leaf worms and wax worms are taking most of the fish. Some of the best action is coming in the early morning. Look for the fish by the Yacht Club and by Del Mar subdivision. You will have to do some sorting to catch a good limit.

Largemouth bass are biting very well. There are two patterns that are working. Dock fisherman are having good success. I have been getting large fish on the deep weed lines in about 16-18 ft. of water. I have been using a lindy rigged nightcrawler. The leader length varies, however I usually use a 18-24 inch one.

Northern Pike fishing has just been plain easy. Put a sucker down in 20 ft of water and it will get bit within 15-20 minutes. Suckers are lindy rigged with a ¾ oz walking sinker, 20 lb test line and a 1/0 hook. Location hasn’t been an issue, just stay on the outside of the weedline and you’ll catch fish.

Good luck and I hope to see you on the water. For guide parties please call Dave Duwe at 608-883-2050.

DOWNSTATE

HENNEPIN-HOPPER: Here is the word from The Wetlands Initiative:

Paddling and Fishing at the Dixon Refuge

Hennepin & Hopper Lakes are now open for summer paddling and fishing! The opening was delayed this year because of COVID-19 but you still have plenty of time to enjoy the lakes before the season ends on September 7.

As usual, the lakes are closed on Mondays during the summer season except for Labor Day. For all other paddling and fishing rules, please click here.

And many thanks to everyone who has been following the special health guidelines while using the Refuge trails during the COVID-19 epidemic. We want all our visitors and restoration staff to stay healthy!

EMIQUON: Basically, go to the launch. General information at http://experienceemiquon.com/sites/default/files/LakeAccessRules.pdf.

SHELBYVILLE: Check with Ken Wilson of Lithia Guide Service. SOUTHERN ILLINOIS: Check with Jason Johns of Boneyard Fishing.

FOX RIVER

Several readers sent good catches of flathead catfish.

Pete Lamar emailed:

Hi Dale,

I only got out a couple of times this past week and they were both for smallmouth. I went out early in the morning and had quit by 8:30 am, when the sun cleared the tops of the trees and the heat really began to build. The water in the Fox trib was low but had some color to it; it was also cool for an early July heat wave (it’s spring-fed) and was about perfect for wet wading. Nothing huge-13 or 14 inches were the biggest fish I caught-but numbers were up compared to recent outings (because of a quirk in the schedule-several turkey hunting trips to Wisconsin in April and May-I’d caught more brook trout than smallmouth in 2020 until this weekend when the smallmouth overtook the brook trout). Also got a nice surprise channel cat yesterday. Waking up so early is painful, but then again, so is fishing in the early evening heat.

. . .

Pete

GENEVA LAKE, WISCONSIN

Arden Katz has decent action in about 20 feet fishing points with natural colors on the worms on drop-shots at night for mostly largemouth bass and some smallmouth bass.

Dave Duwe emailed:

Lake Geneva 7/6/20 through 7/13/20

Fishing overall has been very good. The warmer weather of last week has increased the boat traffic on the lake. Summer is here, the best time to fish is either early morning or late evening.

Largemouth bass have been a bit spotty. One day I can really get into them and the next day it’s a little tougher. The bass I’ve been catching have been in the mid depth range between 12 and 15 ft. of water. I’ve been almost exclusively using nightcrawlers fished on a split shot rig. The split shot rig is a small wire hook and approximately 12 inches above it a 3/0 round split shot. The best location has been by Trinkes, Knollwood and west of the Military Academy. The fish are now biting in the early mornings and late afternoons on top water lures. I prefer small chrome/blue or chrome/black chug bugs or pop-r’s.

Smallmouth bass fishing has been okay. I’ve been catching one here and one there mixed in with the largemouth. The best concentration of smallies have been slightly deeper than largemouth in 15-17 ft. of water. Look for the fish by the Elgin Club or by Knollwood. Last week I caught one that was nearly 19 inches.

With the warmer water, walleyes are starting to be picked up at night on the shallow weed flats by Trinkes, Abbey Springs and Geneva bay. The best approach has been trolling a large #13 Rapalla. I prefer not using planer boards due to the floating weeds this time of year.

Rock bass and bluegills can still be found all over the lake in the 12-14 ft. depth range. Nightcrawlers are a sure bet. Be prepared to go through several dozen.

Some crappies are being found by Conference Point on the west side amongst the sail boats suspended in 20 ft of water about 10 ft. down. You can find them on your depth finder. Small jigs and twister tails are a good bet.

Northern Pike fishing has been excellent. The fish are in 30-35 ft of water on the thermocline. The best bait is either chubs or suckers. Chubs will out fish suckers probably 2 to 1. The best location has been Williams Bay or the boat launch in Fontana. The best success comes by lindy rigging. I prefer using 17 lb. Monofilament.

Good luck and I hope to see you on the water. For guide parties, please call Dave Duwe at 608-883-2050

GREEN LAKE AREA, WISCONSIN

Katie Kooi of Menominee Falls, Wis., with a smallmouth bass in early July from Big Green Lake.

Provided by Mike Norris

Guide Mike Norris emailed:

Fishing Report 07/06/2020

Mike Norris

The heat and humidity of the last week has been a blessing and a curse. The heat has moved gamefish into their summer peak period, and I have heard of several outstanding bass catches. On the other hand, fishing has been tough for those who are not prepared to handle the heat. It is best to fish early or later in the day.

Both largemouth and smallmouth bass are aggressively pursuing lures on Big Green Lake. Early in the morning and later in the day topwater lures like Zara Spook’s, Whopper Plopper’s or Storm Chug Bugs are all good choices for both large and smallmouth bass.

Midday I am locating and catching smallmouth bass on Big Green Lake where rock piles hold crayfish. Drop shots, tubes, Ned rigs and dragging live leeches are accounting for most catches. Try Texas rigging a 5-inch Senko and pitching it under docks for largemouth bass.

Fox Lake in Dodge County continues to make news. 60 percent of Fox Lake is under 5 ft. in depth and fills with vegetation rapidly each spring. This has not been the case this year. The shallow areas of Fox lake did not weed up due to abnormal amounts of rain and cloud cover this spring. So, gamefish have funneled into areas where any vegetation does exist and both largemouth bass and northern pike are grouped up in these limited areas. It is not uncommon for me to go out and catch 60 to 70 bass and pike per outing. Swim baits and frogs are my top two lure choices.

Fox Lake also contains a healthy population of walleyes and muskies. The walleye bite is starting to slow, but two 51-inch muskies were caught on Fox Lake in the last week. The first was by an angler trolling a crankbait for walleyes and the second by an angler fishing off his dock with a swim bait.

Phone me at 630-842-8199 to book a guided fishing trip or contact me through my website at www.comecatchsmallmouth.com

HEIDECKE LAKE

The former cooling lake near Morris is open daily 6 a.m. to sunset.

ILLINOIS RIVER

Fishing is going on the Illinois River near Spring Valley.

Provided by Capt. Mike Hanson

Mike Hanson of Starved Rock Guide Service messaged about some good catches around Spring Valley, including the photo above. Also had a northern pike.

LAKE ERIE

Click here for the Ohio DNR Report.

LAKEFRONT

The lakefront remains officially closed, but people are doing a lot of things on the lakefront, including fishing. Fisherman’s parking passes are not being sold while the lakefront remains officially closed.

Capt. Scott Wolfe emailed:

Hi Dale

Overall Waukegan fishing has been excellent but the pattern is rapidly changing. Limits of fish most trips early in the week utilizing shallow water patterns, trolling in 40 to 80 feet of water where schools of coho, and occasional chinook, steelhead and lake trout come in from deeper water to actively feed. The water was warming quickly and as of Sunday July 6 we abandon that pattern in favor of working the deeper water. The bait fish seemed to be leaving the shallower water this past weekend. Depths of 100 to 140 were better over the weekend. Very early in the morning there were still fishing moving into the shallower water to feed. Coho continue to predominate the catch with more lake trout and steelhead since we were working in deeper water. Occasional kings are still taken.

Best rigs were leadcores of 2 to 10 colors with Orange spoons like Warrior XL Orange Killer, Steelhead Candy, Court Jester, Riverside and Super Jordo. Those were consistent almost every trip. Dipsey Divers 50 to 125 out with 0 size red dodgers and Jimmy flies in Green Pearl, Scotty or Blue Pearl were hit and miss. Downriggers anywhere from 50 to the bottom with the same Jimmy Flies and Warrior spoons listed above were also hit and miss with some days being great and others rarely hit.

With hot weather and lots of North and East winds, even light, its time to think mid-summer patterns and locations. Unfortunately I think easy coho limits may be over for the year and we have to think about deep water mixed bag catches, at least until we get strong West winds back.

I think mixed catches like our crew Yuliya and Emil got Sunday morning will be the norm going forward with a four species limit catch.

Capt. Scott Wolfe

School Of Fish Charters
schooloffishcharters.com
630-341-0550

LaSALLE LAKE

Signs of a fish kill Tuesday at LaSalle Lake.

Provided by Pete Riedesel

Pete Riedesel called Tuesday and said there were dead fish around LaSalle Lake and he posted the photo above among others of the fish kill on his Fishin Friend Guide Service Facebook page.

Thomas Jones’ grandson Dashun caught his personal-best blue catfish.

Provided

Thomas Jones emailed the photos above and below and this last week:

Hey Dale caught a 22lb Blue and my Grandson Dashun caught his biggest catfish of his life a 12lb Blue on cut carp we brought home 14 fish ranging from 12 to 4 lbs most on Golden Roach minnows

The cooling lake, south of Seneca, is open daily 6 a.m. to sunset.

MADISON LAKES, WISCONSIN

Click here for the update from D&S Bait.

MAZONIA

Lakes are open daily for fishing 6 a.m. to sunset.

NORTHERN WISCONSIN

Kurt Justice at Kurt’s Island Sport Shop in Minocqua emailed:

Lots of heat plus the Birthday of our Country put fishing on the back burner a bit this past week. Temps in the 90’s brought lake surface temps soaring into the low-mid 80’s. Mid-day fishing was nearly out of the question. Yet anglers who ventured out early and late had good reports.

Largemouth Bass: Very Good – Dominating the cabbage bed actions, morning Bass taking creature baits, Sweet Beavers, 5” Wacky Worms. Pre-rigged plastic worms, spinner baits, chatter baits and swim baits all getting their fair share. Evening anglers working surface baits doing extremely well. (a 23 1/2” C&R verified this past week)

Bluegill: Very Good – While I thought all were done bedding, I found still some on larger lakes. Small leeches last long on hooks. Mini Mite jigs tipped with waxies and poppers on fly rods or behind clear floats excellent way to have exciting fun in evenings.

Smallmouth Bass: Good – Working along coontail edges using Ned Rigs or drop-shotting 3” Gulp Minnows. Counting down lipless cranks, along same edges also effective.

Walleye: Good – Early, late or just before fronts. Leeches, crawlers and Red tails (though hard to keep alive in heat). Early mornings work 8-12’ cabbage. Evenings along coontail edges in 14-20’. Guide reported 3 C&R Eyes of 26 ½” - 27 ½” in recent outing.

Northern Pike: Good – Best during cooler times of day. Boonie Baits, Chatter baits, silver minnows. Work those cabbage beds. Once heat of morning comes, move out to outside edges, pitch twitch baits.

Musky: Good – Been seeing best action during days outside weed edges of 10-18’ using Phantom soft tails and Smity Sm Jerks w/ tails. Evenings/Early AM go top water with noisy Whopper Ploppers, Bucher Top Raiders.

Crappie: Good-Fair – Some surprisingly shallow Crappies being caught using 2” twister tails in 4-6’. Other reports have anglers locating Crappies deeper by pilings and drowned wood in 12-18’ suspending 3-4’ off bottom.

Yellow Perch: Good – Moving to some deeper sand grass on larger lakes, wood on flowages. Offer frozen soft shells or ½ crawlers on jigs or Lindy Rigs.

Due to high surface temps, be careful playing fish. Get ‘em in and back out quickly. Surface temps in 80’s hard on fish, keep live wells running or ice in coolers to keep catch you decide to keep from spoiling.

Kurt Justice

Kurt’s Island Sport Shop
Like us on FaceBook

Take his note about releasing fish quickly in this heat to heart.

NORTHWEST INDIANA

Pablo LeBron with a good steelhead at Michigan City.

Provided by Mark Starcevich

Mark Starcevich messaged the steelhead photo above and this:

17lbs 35 inch. Portage marina. Caught yesterday by Pablo LeBron, Hammond resident

LeBron is one of the great anglers on southern Lake Michigan.

A 20-pound brown trout caught Monday on a Goldie Hawn on a Dipsey 60 back.

Provided by Capt. Rich Sleziak

Capt. Rich Sleziak at Slez’s Bait in Lake Station texted the photo above and below and this:

Steelhead bite for trollers outside burns ditch has been decent early am and in the evening mag spoons in Goldie hawn , mix veggies and kc1 some good ones to try

The steelhead bite for steelhead off the peir at portage river walk is best in the dark early morning shrimp and crawlers in floats some casting spoons ko wobbler in gold and orange or blue and silver good ones tho throw

Perch fishing pretty good for a lots of folks fishing just down the beach from the mouth of the ditch and the donut to the East towards Michigan city 15 to 30 ft of water baby golden roachs best bait must move around for best results

Offshore salmon and trout has been fair to great 70 to 100 ft of water from straight out of the ditch and East towards Michigan city spoons and dodgers and flys been best decent mix bag most days

One of the recent good days out of Indiana on Lake Michigan.

Provided by Capt. Rich Sleziak

Bruce Zolna emailed the photo below of Capt. Eddie Landmichl and this report from the last weekend in June (edited somehwhat by me):

We decided to go Sat and Sun to put time on the engine and to see if fish were around at same time We could do a shakedown fishing trip for radios, electronics, 21 rods and rod holders, five downriggers and 33 years of salmon and trout tackle and miscellaneous. We got IN and IL licenses and left Sammie Maletta Marina (f/k/a Portage Marina) at the crack of 10 am on Sat and 11:30 am on Sun.

We put on a Lake Trout clinic on Sat (7 for 12-kept limit of four big ones for smoking) while trying for coho and kings and Rainbows mostly over the line in IL water 65 to 110 ft. We landed 2 coho and had about 5 wiggle off near the boat. A great day getting hours on the engine and giving us time to reassemble boat and fishing gear for the rest of the season.

Sun was beautiful but fishing was slower than molasses. We were 1 for 4 on lakers, mostly in depths under 75 ft and farther west on the IL/IN line, but did get all the rest of the boat and fishing gear ready to go. The sunset was as good as any we see from our KW balcony on the Gulf of Mexico. I’ll send you a few sample Key West sunset pics next.

Glad to be back, in IL that is. Both times in my IN harbor I felt like I was on a Miami beach or bar at spring break, not a mask in sight and no observance of social distancing anywhere, although signs for both were everywhere.

. . .

Enjoy the pics.

Bruce A Zolna

Capt. Eddie Landmichl with a lake trout out of Indiana.

Provided by Bruce Zolna

SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN

Capt. Rich Sleziak at Slez’s Bait in Lake Station, Ind. texted:

New buffalo perch fishing is really good right now as is st joe Michigan

Staff at Tackle Haven in Benton Harbor said the perch are biting like crazy in 20-25 feet, north or south didn’t matter; with some kings, coho, steelhead and lakers in 160-180 feet; smallmouth and catfish are biting in the river; there’s been a few skamania and rum off the pier early morning.

SHABBONA LAKE

Staff at Lakeside said heat has limited effort, but a few hybrid stripers are being caught on the bottom; bass continue to be caught on dam face and weed line; catfish in the no-motor zone; bluegill are being caught along weeds from shore. Water is in the 90s.

Site hours are 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Lakeside (6 a.m.-7 p.m.) is open with boat rentals (6 a.m.-6 p.m.). Pokanoka’s Cafe is open daily, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The camp store is open 5-8 p.m. Monday-Thursday, noon-8 p.m., Friday and Saturday, and 8 a.m.-noon Sunday.

WISCONSIN RIVER

The joy of fishing on the Wisconsin River.

Photo provided by Erik Brztowski

messaged the photos above and below:

We doubled up twice on flathead dope night

A “dope night” on the Wisconsin River.

A “dope night” on the Wisconsin River. Photo provided by Erik Brztowski

Not sure I am young enough to say it this way, but that is a dope night, even in my world.

Rob Abouchar emailed: the photo below and this:

Hi Dale,

The action was hot like the July Weather on the Wisconsin River last week. We were getting lots of bites from Smallmouth Bass on a variety of plastics pitched and flipped into wood, rocks, grass and under docks. Best plastics were Senkos, Texas rigged and wacky rigged. Also the Yamomoto Cowboy craw got some big bites. Best colors were Baby Bass, Pink, and White. The water was at its highest temp yet hitting 83 degrees and some very good Northern Pike action was had with chatterbaits, and spinnerbaits around grassy areas. Even a surprise Perch hit a wacky rigged Senko. Time for a midseason break from the river and some local fishing around here for a couple weeks. Maybe that deep weedline at Delavan.

Tight Lies and Good Health.

Rob

Wisconsin River action.

Provided by Rob Abouchar

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