Andy Mikos
Brown trout and coho are going on southern Lake Michigan, largemouth bass are moving shallower on inland, big smallmouth bass are active on Lake Michigan and Chicago-area rivers and crappie are going inland, too, for this sprawling raw-file Midwest Fishing Report.
Andy Mikos emailed on Sunday:
Hi Dale. I hope your recovery is going well and you are enjoying the spring weather. Saw your video on Facebook powerlining which was cool. My friend Chizel got this 13 pound brown yesterday on my boat out of Diversy. It was part of a 6 for 10 outing with 3 browns, 2 Lakers and a coho landed. Lost another sweet brown at the net and a screamer king the straightened out a peanut fly during a 450’ run. Take care -Andy. Ps- I know you like fishing pictures with the city in the background.
Dale Bowman
Capt. Augie Ralph had just finished entering data for a new license Saturday when I walked into the Salmon Stop in Waukegan.
‘‘You’re playing Russian roulette with this machine,’’ wife Lori said.
A few minutes later, the guy came in and said, ‘‘Did my license go through?’’
Not an idle question.
On March 1, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources rolled out a new system for licensing, permitting, campground reservations and registration services.
As with most rollouts, it has been bumpy. Lori Ralph texted me early on the first day about issues. At least the IDNR did the rollout a month before the new fishing and hunting licenses are required April 1.
Mike Norris
Big Green Lake – Big Green is transitioning from soft water to ice right now with skim ice forming across a great deal of the lake. Having said that it looks like lake trout and cisco fishing will continue remain on hold until safer ice forms. This week’s forecast calls for nighttime temps to drop into the single digits by mid-week. But daytime temps will climb back above the freeze mark this weekend and into next week.
Fox Lake – There are plenty of anglers venturing out into Fox Lake now with reports of seven inches of ice across most of the lake. The exception is the two open cracks running from Maple Point to the tip of Keno Trail. The Wisconsin Elite Series Ice Fishing Team Tournament held a one-day event on Fox Lake last Saturday. Under the Elite Series format, Teams can weigh in their single best caught gamefish and best two panfish. These three fish are then measured and the team with the longest combined number of inches wins the tournament. Tyle
Provided by Justin Lederer
[Slight update in the LAKEFRONT report.]
Two threads the real start for ice fishing around Chicago is near and lakefront perch continues on lead this sprawling raw-fie Midwest Fishing Report.
While giving his lakefront perch report,
Arden Katz said about inland fishing, “By the end of the week, I will be ice fishing.”
He spoke the thoughts of many.
Justin Lederer emailed the photo at the top as part of his report from Mille Lacs on Monday from McQuoids Inn in Isle, Minn.:
Jon Melone from Cary Illinois with a nice 31 1/2” northern pike also caught last week