Perch: Steady fishing continues to be reported, mostly for boaters around the South Shore of Lake Michigan from Gary to Michigan City. Expect the Perch to be holding tight to grass or rock in about 12-30ft of water. Perch Fly Rigs and Dropshot Rigs with a Live Fathead Minnow or Crawfish have been fantastic. Berkley Gulp! Alive Minnows, Bobby Garland, Keitech, and Brushpile Plastics have proven their effectiveness for Perch as well.
Bluegill: Most of our local hotspots have been showing out, with Bluegill finally getting back on track. Expect them to hold to deeper drops and grass edges, however fishing shallow grass lines can also be very effective, even for large Bluegill at times. Steady reports have come from Lemont Quarries, Turtlehead Lake, Papoose Lake, Chaminwood Lake, Whalon Lake, and The Mazonia Strip Mine Lakes. The fishing up north on the Fox Chain along with lakes over the border into Wisconsin are also fantastic, with considerably larger fish being caught. Live bait is a very good option with Redworms, Mealworms, Wax Worms, and for larger Bluegill, Small Fathead Minnows. Soft plastics are a fantastic choice as well, with Bobby Garland, Berkley Gulp! Alive, and Brushpile Plastic baits being top choices for anglers targeting Bluegill in a variety of waters and conditions.
Salmon: The fishing has picked up in the last couple of weeks, and even after some unfavorable conditions, anglers are still reporting good fishing. Most of the closer action has been anywhere from North Point to Milwaukee, however, reports from Michigan around Ludington are making their way to us as well. Try to be out there early in the morning as the best bite is prior to 10am. The best results have come on J-Plugs, Flies and Dodgers, along with Spoons, based on our last few reports, but versatility is key when it comes to the early season. Shoreline fishing has not quite started close to us yet, but the season is fast approaching. In the meantime, most shore anglers are still targeting some of the Steelhead around Michigan City as they continue to trickle into the creek. The standard Night Crawler and Shrimp Michigan City Rig is great for the Pier, where drifting a roe bead or spawn sac, along with throwing a small inline spinner are all safe bets for the creek. The shore anglers around Ludington have reported catching Salmon off of the deepest section of Piers in the last few days. Expect the shoreline Salmon fishing to be good in the next week to two weeks around Michigan City, and even closer to Chicago.
Bass: The bite is still very consistent, especially locally, with retention ponds and forest preserves now holding their largest amounts of vegetation. The Largemouth are biting topwater frogs, swimming worms, swim jigs, punch rigs, wacky rigs, urchin-style baits, and a mess of other baits. Expect to have astounding success on live bait as well, with Medium and Large Roach Minnows being a staple this time of year. Monee Reservoir, Papoose Lake, Lemont Quarries, Mallard Lake, Wolf Lake, and Maple Lake are all good examples of lakes with vegetation that can be fished with a variety of techniques. Smallmouth have also been consistent on Lake Michigan, along with popular local rivers like the Kankakee, Dupage, and Des Plaines. Tubes, small jigs, dropshots, light swimbaits, ned rigs, and spinnerbaits are all solid choices to stay on the smallmouth this time of year.
Catfish: This is the optimal time of year for Catfishing, and it shows. Anglers are reporting their best success from Braidwood, LaSalle, the Illinois River, Des Plaines River, and Kankakee River, but we have received reports from just about anywhere that catfish swim right now. The best bait choices have been Night Crawlers, Green Night Crawlers, Chicken Liver, Skipjack, Shad, and Eel, along with some Larger Minnows like Roaches, Suckers, and Goldfish. Stinkbait, especially Triple S, is working very well, and novice anglers have reported success on packaged dough balls as well.