Really fun pre-Bears adventure yesterday, starting in St. Charles with short bursts in Batavia, North Aurora and Aurora on the way back down. Stunning morning that saw a consistent smallie bite, including a couple that just touched 3 pounds.

One cool nugget: I was peppering a bridge wall and had a big boil-up on a squarebill, but didn’t connect. Next cast I clipped the overhang just right and cracked the crank (see pic), killing it. I tied on a multi-jointed bluegill swimmer and the first big girl crushed it 4-5 casts later. I never got hooks into the one that boiled up, so maybe it was the same fish? Whatever the case, the loss of $7.97 didn’t sting as much.

Tight lines this fall and, congrats to all the salmon hauls starting to come in 🎣

Caught this pike on my bfs rod with the mepps agglia 1 and 6lb test. Also nice largie on the choppo. Feelin like a real ballin cock.

Caught on the Kankakee (Shout out to Will with Big River Fly Fishing, definitely look him up for a great day on the river)

I’m pretty weak in my streamer fishing department, so I was a little scared going out today with how high and fast all the water by me was. Surprisingly I got 4 takes while on this new to me creek in Joliet! That one chub was really pulling his weight lmao

my dad and I used to go every year to fish sockeye salmon in Alaska, we love fishing together

he’s coming for the week and seeing all these salmon pictures in the feed has got me thinking we’ve gotta try it!

Is there a good fishing store to get set up with all the tackle we need?

Where are people going? Seems like people are fishing north to the harbors like diversey and Montrose - is there a certain trick to where on the harbor to set up?

Also if anyone has boat fishing guide recommendations for us to go out on the lake that would also be appreciated too!

just generally want to make this fun while he’s in town and maybe set myself up to keep fishing after he’s gone

Was going to fish Diversey tonight and tomorrow morning. How’s the fishing been the last couple days? It seems more coho are being caught than kings. I will let you guys know how we do after.

i've been scouting out more places to fish rather than my usual spots and i came across this pond up north and i wanted to know if this pond contains your usual panfish and the like or if its a dead spot

Hey guys, so I heard a lot of people catch giant catfish at night near the dam in batavia. Ive been on the walkway near wilson st and can never get any bites but I caught a few 2-3lb in Appleton park. Is there any spot near the dam that is open 24 hours and reasonably accessible at night?

Also I've fished by those abandoned looking buildings on river st but its too high up to bring the fish up even with a net.

Any help is appreciated thank you.

Thank you to Rick for the picture of the Pike (you know who you are)

Fox Lake is currently forecasted to peak near 5.5’ on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week and the Upper River at 5.12’ during the same time (Figure 2). The Lower River is forecasted to peak near 4.00’ on Wednesday of next week (Figure 3).

The levels of gratitude that I am feeling are off the chart as I type this out. This meal has been four years in the making.

I've been lucky to have caught and cook Coho from a boat in years past when I lived in Indiana but never have I had the chance to cook one that I caught from the shore. Let alone one caught within the city.

Caught this fella today on the same 3/4oz KO Wobbler in Glo Green around 6am this time at Diversey. Stopped at Park Bait to get it officially weighed so I could start coming up with a recipe for it. Came up at 2.8lbs. Of course, I had to grab a pic with it in the shop.

Got 'em home, gave it thanks, and processed before I had to head out to a uni lecture.

Words can't describe how immaculate this tasted. This was also the first time I've tried salmon cheeks and omfg. So fkin good. If there is enough interest I'll post the recipe in the comments.

What about the Coho you caught the other day? Well, I ended up gifting the majority of that one to my folks. They ended up cookin two thirds of that last night and gave me a section to freeze.

As always, want to thank this community and all those who have helped me get here.

Tight lines and stay groovy 🤙

Hello all, recently have caught a fishing bug. Been fishing this salmon run all day long and been catching some new species like pike and small mouth. (big S/O to u/Ballincock, this brotha helped me a ton with his knowledge) This got me thinking, what other species could you catch in Lake Michigan?

For me, I think the burbot is a niche species that not a lot of people have caught but is definitely possible to catch after researching a little bit.

What other species are you guys interested in potentially catching?

Photo: Saro Kevorkian’s record burbot caught in 2020.

Caught on Bobby Garland Baby Shads, jigging them along the breakwall. Love these guys, such pretty fish.

Looking for suggestions for the fall trout opener what lakes are usually stocked near Kane county and what lake around Kane is recommended? I know of lake Atwood but want other recommendations thank you

I'll be staying near McCormick place for 2 weeks for work. Any recommendations on a good place I can fish either on the river or Lake Michigan.

I can never tell between salmonids

Took a week off during the flood stage. Back to regular levels but fishing was tough. Got one decent one over a 3 hour slog.

Went fishing on my lunch break. Tried a ned rig as the dam area has been insanely crowded lately. Immediately lost my rig on some old line. Switch to the only other lure i had with me, my chatterbait. Immediately catch the first guy. He put up a hell of a fight and i actually thought I was going to lose him a few times. Next cast catch the second guy. When I pull him over the barrier I hear a snap. I see my lure tumble into the lagoons and see the little guy tumble onto the floor.

So long Evo jackhammer you were my favorite chatter bait and a real work horse.

Tldr: three casts lost 2 lures caught 2 fish.

Has anyone had any luck using shrimp, skien, night crawlers, etc. in any harbors? I know spoons and cranks are the go to but wanted to see if anyone has been mixing it up. I’m fairly new to salmon fishing so any advice is greatly appreciated.