Ice building, including enough for good whitefish action on Green Bay, leads this sprawling raw-file Midwest Fishing Report, but there’s also people gearing up for coho on the lakefront anticipating the weather moderating eventually.
Rob Abouchar sent the photo at the top.
PIER PASSES
Pier passes may be bought at Park Bait, Bridgeport Bait and Tackle and Fishtech in Morton Grove. The $10 pier passes allow legal access to select piers at Jackson Park, Burnham, DuSable, Diversey, Belmont and Montrose harbors.
CHICAGO PARKING PASSES
Park Bait, Bridgeport Bait and Tackle and Fishtech in Morton Grove are now selling parking passes. Email fishing@chicagoparkdistrict.com with questions. Chicago Park District parking passes ($20 for two months) are for the anglers’ parking lots at DuSable and Burnham harbors.
NAVY PIER ANGLING
North side of Navy Pier is open for anglers. Discounted parking for anglers is $9 daily, beginning at 5 a.m.; must be out by 10 a.m. for the discount. Click here to prepay for the discounted tickets.
LAKEFRONT PARKING
My column from Nov. 30, 2022, on parking the length of the Chicago lakefront is posted at https://chicago.suntimes.com/2022/11/30/23485385/chicago-lakefront-parking-fishing
ICE FISHING PUBLIC SITES
Ice fishing regulations for area public sites are at https://chicago.suntimes.com/outdoors/2024/12/04/updating-ice-fishing-regs-around-chicago-area-public-sites
AUGER SHARPENING
For the 25th year, Fran Connelly is sharpening of auger blades. Find “Ice Auger Sharpening” on Facebook or drop off blades at either Lee’s Bait & Tackle (Elk Grove Village or Carol Stream).
AREA LAKES
Dave Kranz of Dave’s Bait, Tackle and Taxidermy in Crystal Lake and with his You-Tube channel, Dave Kranz Living the wild outdoors, texted:
Ice reports on lakes near Dave’s Bait and Tackle have been 11-15 inches this week. The brutal cold snap has made more the last couple of days. The morning and evening bite has returned to being the best the last several days. Use large golden roach minnows for pike and bass. Wax worms or spikes for panfish. With the amount of ice plus snow on it, use dark colored tungsten ice jigs. Gold, black, purple, brown , blue or copper all are working well right now. Think Spring! It will be here before we know it!
Rob Abouchar messaged the photo at the very top, and the ones above and below, and this:
Hi Dale
The snow wind and deep freeze temperatures had more snowmobiles on the lake than anglers .the ice is holding firm at 8 inches this latest polar snap may be making more ice. With monday off i fished a few hours with large golden roach minnows on tip ups and also with a tip down rod holder with a fathead on a tiny tremble hook. I had one flag go up and a good fish striping line. Unfortunately the fish came unhooked. The tip down produced some perch action but took some moving around and hole drilling. Sitting in 2 degrees temperatures didn’t seem that bad with the sun radiating off the snow. The snow on the ice makes walking more of a challenge. Use cleats and ice picks practice safe ice angling. My friend Roy Coakley messaged his grand daughter caught a big personal best bass through the ice at their sporting club near Elmhurst. Heading to Braidwood Pulaski Day!
On the music front it’s this Saturday at Mackie’s Hideout in McHenry 9 to midnight with the conscious rockers. And travel plans and spring shows in the works for Gozortenplat ahead of Las Vegas shows with Ray White. Tight lines and good health! Rob
He’s right about Braidwood, see my preview in tomorrow’s column.
And good to see the flyer for a reggae show.
Dan Edwards at Bridgeport Bait and Tackle customers reported catching crappie at Papoose and Turtlehead.
BRAIDWOOD LAKE
Closed. Reopens March 1. Preview in Wednesday’s column.
CHAIN O’LAKES AREA
NOTE: Oak Park Lounge hosts the OPL Fishing Derby, beginning at 6:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 22. Details at https://www.facebook.com/events/966438761615942/
Arden Katz caught lots of drum with a few yellow bass and crappie i n 15-18 feet on Pistakee Bay with heavy tungsten jigs with spikes. Before the snow (the snow made getting to his spot tough), he fished Mineola Bay with Swedish Pimples and waxies for lots of panfish.
Staff at Triangle Sports and Marine in Antioch said some walleyes toward night on the north end of Channel; quite a few are piling up on the south end of Channel for bluegills; there are quads on the ice with up to a 12 inches of ice.
CHAIN ACCESS: For some access and parking spots, go to https://chicago.suntimes.com/outdoors/2024/12/11/accessing-ice-fishing-on-the-fox-chain-olakes
COOLING LAKES
Braidwood, Heidecke and LaSalle are closed. Braidwood reopens March 1; LaSalle, March 15; Heidecke, April 1.
DOWNSTATE
POWERTON: Boat and bank fishing is open 8 a.m.-4 p.m.
EMIQUON PRESERVE: Open sunrise to sunset. Remember to renew access permits and liability waivers, they’re available Tuesday to Saturday at Dickson Mounts Museum, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Details at https://www.nature.org/content/dam/tnc/nature/en/documents/2024EmiquonLakeAccessRules.pdf.
HENNEPIN-HOPPER: Closed.
GREEN LAKE AREA, WISCONSIN
Guide Mike Norris (www.comecatchsmallmouth.com) emailed:
Fishing Report – 2/17/2025
Mike Norris
Big Green Lake: The cisco and lake trout bites are excellent in 90 -13 feet of water. Try vertical jigging with spoons or tube baits. Northern pike are active in Dartmouth Bay.
Little Green Lake: Several nice walleyes after nightfall last week in shallow water with small to medium shiners on tip-ups. Crappies are still active in the basin on jigs tipped with minnows.
Fox Lake: The crappie bite in the basin has slowed, but with the new snow cover, bluegills are improving in The Jug and The Government Area. Look for areas with weeds, and you will find the fish there.
GREEN/STURGEON BAYS, WISCONSIN
Lance LaVine at Howie’s Tackle in Sturgeon Bay said, “”If you’re going to come up, this is the year to come up. We are going to have a normal ice fishing season.” He said lots of Chicago-area people are coming up, especially since it has been some years since a normal ice year.
When able to get out, catching whitefish is very good, “it gets better and better every day.” Gaining ice every day, currently 18-25 inches, but watch for active cracks. Recent snows make it tough to get around unless you have a track vehicle. His best advice was to be willing to move and try different depths, from 50-115 feet of water.
HEIDECKE LAKE
Closed. Reopens April 1.
LAKE ERIE
Click here for the Ohio DNR Report.
LAKEFRONT
Dan Edwards at Bridgeport Bait and Tackle texted the photo above and this:
The fellas did well ,enough for I nice fish fry
The perch were caught from 87th (North Slip), then fried up Sunday inside Bridgeport Bait and Tackle. Not sure why, but I love the photo.
Edwards said on Tuesday, that those busting ice at 87th (North Slip) are catching perch, size is small.
He also noted, “Lot of people gearing up for coho. I think they anticipating the warmer weather coming.”
He’s right about that. We are at that time.
Capt. Rich Sleziak at Slez’s Bait in Lake Station, Indiana, texted:
Perch still being caught at 87th. Must break hole in the ice
LaSALLE LAKE
Closed. Reopens March 15.
MADISON LAKES, WISCONSIN
Pat Hasburgh at D&S Bait, Tackle & Fly Shop said perch remain slow on Mendota (but people are able to get their 10-fish limit) and scattered, best on the west basin, it’s mostly 8- to 9-inch perch. Remember Mendota now has a 10-fish limit on panfish. He also said bluegill continue strong on Monona Bay; walleye are going good and pike are strong on Mendota.
Click here for the update from D&S Bait, Tackle & Fly Shop
MAZONIA/STRIP PITS
Chad Rauch messaged the photos above and below, and this, on Sunday:
Fishing report from Mazonia: Bluegill were non committal and needed coaxing to come off the bottom to bite. Numerous lookers not many biters. Crappie were fully committed when they cruised through. Deadstick with a Clam Tikka Flash with a waxxie until they showed up on the graph and then a slow jigging motion. Bass was on a dead stick fathead minnow. 12’ of water in a secondary basin. Personal best crappie 12” and bass 20” through the ice today.
7-8” of good clean ice everywhere I drilled.
Mazonia lakes are open 6 a.m.-sunset. Any ice fishing is at your own risk.
It’s been several years since there was more than a handful of days with fishable ice.
Ken “Husker” O’Malley of Husker Outdoors emailed the photos above and below, and this :
Hey Dale,
Here’s a recap from the past weeks fishing.
It was quite the interesting day at the pits today. The bite major bite windows for various species were all different. The larger bass were good in the morning on tip ups while the better gills came in the early afternoon hours. The slab crappie decided to make their presence known in the later afternoon hours. Ice is good at 8 inches with a snow pack on top. It was important to be in the shelter today despite the mild temps to eliminate any light penetration.
. . .
TTYL
Ken “Husker” O’Malley
Husker Outdoors
Waterwerks fishing team
NORTHERN WISCONSIN
Kurt Justice at Kurt’s Island Sport Shop in Minocqua emailed:
A good smack of winter this past weekend as snow and frigid temps kept anglers (most, not all) off the ice for the holiday weekend. Single digit and lower temperatures with wind chills in the negative teens and lower made for good reasons to stay inside and watch NASCAR, if that’s your thing. Bite windows were small and not always when expected. Yet, once again a few stallworth individuals (and groups) did well.
Yellow Perch: Good-Fair – Action slowed by the weekend when afternoons produced better than mornings. #2 jigging raps tipped with a waxie or minnow head helped weed out the smaller Perch when the bite did open up. When things slowed (stopped?), a more subtle presentation was needed using small #3 tungsten jigs tipped with a wiggler or spike.
Northern Pike: Good-Fair – Even the Pike bite was off this weekend. Afternoons produced better than mornings. Still, nice catches by those willing to brave the cold and chip some ice. This is usually a time of heavy feeding for Pike and I’m sure it will be once temps warm a bit.
Crappie: Good-Fair – Snow, wind and cold kept most anglers from chasing suspended Crappies, it was mostly a sit and wait bite (inside a warm shack)! Clam pinhead minnows, Tikka Flashes and small Kastmasters to get down quickly still producing over 18-28” of water. Tip-downs or deadsticks kept inside shacks working with Crappie minnows as well.
Walleye: Good-Fair – Bite earlier in the evening, actually late afternoon. Tip-ups out shining jigging as high barometer and cold making for limited bite. Smaller shiners and suckers better at times like this. With warm up and new moon, this bite should really pick up starting this weekend.
Bluegill: Fair-Poor – Just not very good conditions for Bluegill enthusiasts. Those that hunkered down in shacks had some success with small jigs tipped with red spikes. Lots of lookers, few takers.
Largemouth Bass: Poor – Not a fan of this extreme cold. This species seems to pick up activity when temps rise into 20’s and barometer not so high (or so low).
Real temps down to 19 below (2/18) and fresh snow (5-6” on 2/15) did a number on participation for us anglers this past week, but the coming weekend looks great! Temps in the 20’s (then 30’s during the following week) plus a new moon period should spell a great end to the gamefish season with just two weekends left.
Ice Fishing Tournaments
February 22nd – Kids Ice Fishing Day sponsored by Northwoods Muskie Inc – Kennedy Bay, Lake Minocqua
March 1st – KISS – WIFA Highschool – Minocqua Chain
Kurt Justice
Kurt’s Island Sports Shop
– Like us on FaceBook
NORTHWEST INDIANA
Allen Shander emailed the photo above and below, and this:
Hey Dale hope all is well once again had some good ice this weekend. Love bringing new people out and teaching them how to fish hard water.
My buddy John Egan got this nice crappie jigging with a fat head,We went about 10 for 12 on the flags on his first day out always fun some nice bass and a beautiful pumpkin seed along with a ton of bluegills.. All bass and crappie caught on fatheads or shiners in that 10 to 11 ft drop right on the weeds This cold is going to slow me down during the week going to hit it hard again this weekend!!!
tight lines all
Capt. Rich Sleziak at Slez’s Bait in Lake Station texted:
Still ice fishing most nwi lakes and ponds
Three rivers county park, grand blvd lake and Valpo chain of lakes all giving up some panfish.
Pine and stone lake in Laporte giving up some bass and northern pike using tip-ups and large golden roaches.
Perch still being caught at 87th. Must break hole in the ice
SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN
Arden Katz said they were catching steelhead with a few browns at Racine. He uses 1-inch white tube jigs with waxies.
Ken “Husker” O’Malley of Husker Outdoors emailed the photo above and this from an outing on Burlington Lake:
Hey Dale,
Here’s a recap from the past weeks fishing.
. . .
Yesterday I joined the guys from Riverside Fishing club at a small lake in Burlington, WI. Ice was a foot thick with the focus on cribs in 18 fow. We caught fish despite a tough bite, but it was more about gathering and just having some fun with a great group. A few boxes of dunkers from Kwik Trip made the trip back home. Looking forward to trying the banana ones.
TTYL
Ken “Husker” O’Malley
Husker Outdoors
Waterwerks fishing team
SHABBONA LAKE
February site hours are 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Boondocks is closed.
SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN
Staff at Tackle Haven in Benton Harbor said the St. Joseph river is froze. One thing going is some ice fishing on the inland lakes.
WINNEBAGO SYSTEM, WISCONSIN
Sturgeon spearing season (previous permits required) is likely to go the full 16 days on Winnebago, through Sunday, Feb. 23. Details are at https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/fishing/sturgeon/WinnSysSturgeonSpear
Here is the update from the Wisconsin DNR through Monday, Feb. 17:
Feb. 17, 2025 Harvest Update
With a high of 4⁰F and 18 mph winds in Oshkosh, it was a cold day to go spearing. Yet, the drive and tradition continue to call to many spearers who braved the cold. This includes Richard Westenberger, who successfully speared a 126.4-pound, 75.9-inch, F1 female today on Lake Winnebago. He was one of 21 spearers who were successful in harvesting a lake sturgeon (5 juvenile females, 11 adult females and 5 males). This brings the Lake Winnebago totals to 63 juvenile females, 172 adult females and 147 males.
The Upriver Lakes had their slowest day of the season with only 3 fish being harvested, which all came from the Poygan registration station. All were males. This brings the male total to 199 for the Upriver Lakes.
WOLF RIVER, WISCONSIN
Guide Bill Stoeger in Fremont texted:
We had 9″ of snow last weekend making it a little tougher getting around. There are plowed roads on Poygan and Winnebago, but watch for markers where fishermen have pulled sturgeon shacks off.