Ray Adams
A: Yes, it is a mudpuppy and relatively rare. Chicago anglers occasionally catch mudpuppies in the colder months, especially at Navy Pier. They are rare enough that the Shedd Aquarium was involved in an extended study on Lake Michigan and Wolf Lake. Mudpuppies are amphibians, one of the largest salamanders. Click here for a column about that study at Wolf Lake. Click here for a follow-up column based on this scholarly article.
WILD OF THE WEEK
Brian Konet photographed this loon [below] in late March and emailed, “It was cool seeing a loon, not too common. It was on a pond in Frankfort.” Loons are one of my favorite birds.
Even with the warmup, there is plenty of ice for this sprawling raw-file Midwest Fishing Report; as well as Braidwood Lake reopening Monday and coho reports building on southern Lake Michigan. suntimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from suntimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
“Fishing in general is way up and a lot of people are doing it for the first time. I’ve seen more new ice fishermen this year than I could ever remember. There is definitely a lot of new people.”
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Despite the lengthy frigid and snowy weather, there is a good amount of ice fishing going on around Chicago area on building ice, including some deep-water action for whitefish on Green Bay, for this sprawling raw-file Midwest Fishing Report.
I know more than a few of us wondered if deep-water fishing for whitefish on Green Bay would even happen this year, especially after the dramatic rescue of anglers from an ice floe the wind broke off last week. The answer, with the extended cold snap, is yes.
Fraser Semple messaged this (a fuller report and a photo are in the Green Bay section):
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And it is a sprawling report, much more than I expected.
Adrian Medina messaged the photo at the top and this (more in the CHAIN O’LAKES report):
Hey dale ! Just finished fishing threw the storm bite was really good for only fishing 4hrs ( 5pm-9pm) we fished the chain , not one other single person out here tonight
ICE FISHING DERBY
The Island Lake Lions Ice Fishing Derby is Saturday, Feb. 6, from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. It is headquartered at Eastway Park. Entry is $15 for adults, $5 for 15 and younger.
LAKEFRONT PERCH
Weather limited/stopped effort. Security varies in its dealings with fishing on the private property areas around the South Side slips, but in general be prepared to not be allowed to fish the private property areas. The small piece of Steelworkers Park at the eastern end of 87th is public land.