Perch: Reports have been mixed the last couple of weeks. Many anglers reporting catching fish on the shore at 87th Street Slip as well as Navy Pier. Boaters in the River, Lake Cal, rockpiles at Gary Light, and around Navy Pier/Chicago have also had very successful days. Limits have already been reported in all locations, and the better size has been around Navy Pier with fish up to 15" being reported occasionally, where Steelworkers Park has only had up to 12" fish reported to us.
The water temp has been unusually warm, around 47-49 degrees for the last week or so. This cold snap should fix things, and should send a lot of the larger schools of bait into the slips, which will more than likely bring in the better quality Perch and keep them there. I would bet they will stay tight to the shore areas and offshore rock piles, even after the daytime temps get back into the 40's next week. If you can brave the cold for a few days, the fishing might be fantastic if you catch the fish coming in, with slightly less fishing pressure than usual due to the conditions.
Perch Fly Rigs like the Perch Pounder, Warrior Fly Rig, and North Toto Tackle Rig have been popular with our anglers. Keitech Easy Shiner Plastics in 2 and 3 inch have been the go to dropshot bait. My personal recommendation is to go with a 3" Easy Shiner and for the Perch Rigs, an Extra Large Fathead. The bait that is present around the shorelines is about 3-3.5 inches long and matching the hatch on a cold front is a solid bet to out-fish other anglers.
Open Water: Local lakes are starting to see some skim ice. If your local pond or lake is open, the water temps might be closer to what they were in mid November. Try crankbaits and moving baits for bass if the temps are reasonably warm. Otherwise, go with a blade bait and hop it along the bottom. For crappie and panfish, the usual road runner, or Gulp Alive Minnow will still produce, as the fish will be feeding with the upcoming winter looming. Live minnows always work in these conditions too. Fish these same techniques as the weather warms in the coming week and the ice melts.
Rivers: Most rivers are still warm, and are in their optimal water temp ranges for fall and early winter. Columbia Woods on the Des Plaines River has a solid Crappie, Bass and Pike bite right now. Any river system around the Chicagoland Area, even heading more North and South, should be fishing very well. Try Crankbaits as well as some finesse presentations like a jig or ned rig for success on Bass. Pike will eat a Live Large Roach Minnow or Smaller Sucker as well as spinnerbaits. Walleye on the Kankakee River have recently been caught on 4" Keitech Easy Shiners slow rolled around the bottom on lighter jigheads. You can always drop shot a small plastic to go back over water that you have already found fish on, and to catch more lethargic fish in general.
Salmon and Trout: Lakers are around the break walls and rockpiles. Throw a Blade Bait and Swimbait. We recommend the Berkley Thin Fisher in 1/2oz. Plenty in stock for the Laker season. There have been good numbers already reported, and following this cold snap, the bite should be getting into its prime. Steelhead and Salmon have been caught around each other, mostly by shore anglers around the Chicago and Indiana harbors. Particularly good reports have come from the Diversey and Monterose area. Floating a spawn sac or roe bead are good ways to passively catch fish in the harbors while you cast a spinner or crankbait. Salt Creek has also turned up better reports of Steelhead drifting or throwing small rattletraps. Expect the creek bite to get better through February. A few Brown Trout were also caught around the mouth of Portage.