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Chilly Fishing Off Chicago: Kings, Coho, and More Hitting the Lakeshore on a Moderate Fall Tide
Published 7 months ago
Description
Lake Michigan’s shoreline around Chicago is waking up this Friday, September 26, 2025, with a mix of excitement and challenge, true to early fall. Sunrise popped at 5:55 and we’ll see sunset tonight at 5:59. Today’s tidal action shows a pre-dawn high tide at 5:00 AM, a low at 11:11, then afternoon high again at 5:14 and another low rolling in at 11:20 PM. With a tidal amplitude sitting at a moderate 61 coefficient, you’ll notice steady but manageable water movement, just enough to stir up the bait and invite the bite, especially as the sun gets higher, which local anglers know is when the bite can really turn on according to Tides4Fishing.
Weather-wise, the National Weather Service Marine Forecast notes light north winds at 10 to 15 knots, swinging around throughout the day toward the west, and waves right around 1 to 2 feet—so smaller craft are comfortable, and your lines won’t be dancing too wildly. Patchy morning fog might greet the early risers, but it should clear by late morning. A stubborn cool spell has kept air and water temps cooler than average this week. That chill, as reported by UPI, can slow down some species but also coaxes certain fish in closer to shore, especially as the fall transition picks up.
Fishing has been interesting this week up and down the Chicago lakefront. Reports from New Buffalo’s Lake Michigan fishing update show the king salmon action is finally starting to heat up, with most hits coming deeper around 120 feet off the breakwaters—though action can be hit-or-miss on any given day this late in September. Coho are sparse but showing up in mixed bags, especially just offshore and in the mouths of feeder streams as they prep for their runs. Perch have been more dependable close in, often just outside the harbors, though numbers can flip flop by the hour.
Bass anglers have found smallies and the occasional largemouth eager to play along the riprap at Montrose and Burnham Harbors if you get out early, before boat traffic picks up. Skamania steelhead and a few coho have also been caught over in the channel mouths and off river outlets, especially during cloudy, cooler mornings when the water’s got a little chop. Pike and freshwater drum round out the catches—big spinners and jerkbaits fished slow and deep are pulling bites.
Best baits this week include live shiners or fathead minnows for perch and drum, while artificial fans should reach for classic Chicago standbys: white tube jigs for smallmouth, orange and gold spoons for coho and kings, and big chartreuse spinners or crankbaits in deeper water for salmon staging off breakwalls. Fly anglers have done damage at dawn running streamers in the mouth of the Chicago River and at Northerly Island for the early migrators.
For hot spots, don’t miss the north wall at Montrose Harbor, where kings are known to stage before sunset, and the mouth of Diversey Harbor, a perennial perch magnet when schools push in shallow on an outgoing tide. If you’re boat-bound, try trolling spoons or flasher-flies between the Wilson and 63rd Street cribs—reports from local charters suggest the bite is picking up as water cools and salmon migrate down the coast.
As always, check your 2025 Illinois fishing license before you hit the water—the new season’s in effect. That’s the story on the big lake this Friday. Thanks for tuning in to Artificial Lure’s Lakefront Report, and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss a bite. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.
Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn
This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI
This episode includes AI-generated content.
Weather-wise, the National Weather Service Marine Forecast notes light north winds at 10 to 15 knots, swinging around throughout the day toward the west, and waves right around 1 to 2 feet—so smaller craft are comfortable, and your lines won’t be dancing too wildly. Patchy morning fog might greet the early risers, but it should clear by late morning. A stubborn cool spell has kept air and water temps cooler than average this week. That chill, as reported by UPI, can slow down some species but also coaxes certain fish in closer to shore, especially as the fall transition picks up.
Fishing has been interesting this week up and down the Chicago lakefront. Reports from New Buffalo’s Lake Michigan fishing update show the king salmon action is finally starting to heat up, with most hits coming deeper around 120 feet off the breakwaters—though action can be hit-or-miss on any given day this late in September. Coho are sparse but showing up in mixed bags, especially just offshore and in the mouths of feeder streams as they prep for their runs. Perch have been more dependable close in, often just outside the harbors, though numbers can flip flop by the hour.
Bass anglers have found smallies and the occasional largemouth eager to play along the riprap at Montrose and Burnham Harbors if you get out early, before boat traffic picks up. Skamania steelhead and a few coho have also been caught over in the channel mouths and off river outlets, especially during cloudy, cooler mornings when the water’s got a little chop. Pike and freshwater drum round out the catches—big spinners and jerkbaits fished slow and deep are pulling bites.
Best baits this week include live shiners or fathead minnows for perch and drum, while artificial fans should reach for classic Chicago standbys: white tube jigs for smallmouth, orange and gold spoons for coho and kings, and big chartreuse spinners or crankbaits in deeper water for salmon staging off breakwalls. Fly anglers have done damage at dawn running streamers in the mouth of the Chicago River and at Northerly Island for the early migrators.
For hot spots, don’t miss the north wall at Montrose Harbor, where kings are known to stage before sunset, and the mouth of Diversey Harbor, a perennial perch magnet when schools push in shallow on an outgoing tide. If you’re boat-bound, try trolling spoons or flasher-flies between the Wilson and 63rd Street cribs—reports from local charters suggest the bite is picking up as water cools and salmon migrate down the coast.
As always, check your 2025 Illinois fishing license before you hit the water—the new season’s in effect. That’s the story on the big lake this Friday. Thanks for tuning in to Artificial Lure’s Lakefront Report, and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss a bite. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.
Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn
This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI
This episode includes AI-generated content.