Top 5 Late Fall Salmonoid Baits Chicago Lake Michigan

[@nandog6946]

Tony, hope your coming back soon..🤛🏼

[@HauntingMouse]

This is the must watch video for all shore anglers starting in Chicago, great starting point.

[@jonboatfishingadventures8558]

As usual, Tony is "spot on" with his tips and techniques. Even though I've been successful catching some Kings on video this year in my Jon boat, I'm only beginning to learn the nuances of Chicagoland salmonidae fishing on Lake Michigan. Tony's wealth of information is solid gold. Thank you Tony...

[@tonysspotonfishing]

Jon Boat Fishing Adventures, Sorry I accidentally bumped the thumbs down button on your comment. Total accident. I quickly hit thumbs up. Thanks so much for the compliment. Very happy to hear you’ve been successful this season downtown. The fishing will be getting a lot better downtown soon. Nothing like catching steelies. As soon as you hook them, they’re up and dancing on their tails. The populations of the other Salmonoids are great in the city. Lots of fun to come. Thank you for watching and again, thank you so much for the nice compliment.

[@sergioolvera1039]

Hello Tony, love your videos, miss your videos when you coming back?

[@Zoro16288]

Thanks for the videos Tony , I lived in Indianapolis and need to drive 3 hrs to there and I have been there 4 times and haven’t catch any yet, but one time almost got it but it was swimming towards me and it got off , good luck to everyone

[@tonysspotonfishing]

Gary fisherman You’re welcome. Thank you for watching! Sorry to hear you lost one, it’s always a heartbreaker, especially with how tough this King season has been. There’s a lot better fishing still to come. Thanks again for watching and thank you for the fishing report. We appreciate it!

[@kayakangler8879]

Thanks Tony, I was just at Burnham Harbor yesterday. I posted a video on how I failed, I was asking for advice, and you posted this video in the nick of time. You encouraged me to go back out there and try it again. Just Subscibed to your channel. Thanks again

[@tonysspotonfishing]

Kayak Angler The Kings have been tough this year in Chicago. Low numbers of Kings and warmer water temps with East winds have made it extremely hard. There are some around still. Hang in there, it’ll get better. The other Salmonoids will be coming in around the end of October and first part of November. The populations are great on all those species and it’s always a good time. Thanks so much for watching and subbing. We appreciate it! Happy to hear we’ve inspired you to go back out there again! Let us know how you do.

[@carlitosjr2388]

I found it! Thanks tony!

[@tonysspotonfishing]

Carlitos Jr Awesome!

[@catfishslayer5452]

HEY Tony got a question for you are king salmon still being caught in October after spawn or is it just snagging season ? Do spoons still work at this time ?

[@jumanjiwarlord]

I saw multiple kings caught at burnham harbor (by the pipe) October 14.

[@mitchsauce2464]

I’m new to this channel. This is my new favorite channel and I go salmon fishing at montroes harbor too. Thanks for the help!

[@tonysspotonfishing]

Mitchsauce24 That’s awesome to hear. Thank you so much for choosing us as your new favorite channel. Lots of great shows yet to come this year. Thank you for watching and thanks for the comment. We greatly appreciate it!

[@artuss1977]

Good job Tony!

[@tonysspotonfishing]

Artur Tusinski Thank you! Happy to hear you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching and thanks for the comment.

[@apexvideos3646]

Im at school so I skimmed through it with the audio off so I don't get caught. Im going to try my luck with the crappie tubes and I'll be sure to try the shrimp. I'll rewatch when I get home with the audio on.

[@tonysspotonfishing]

Apex Videos Sounds good man. Lots of great fishing still to come on the big lake. Thanks for watching and thanks for the comment. Good luck this fall. Let us know how you do.

[@jaysmith6013]

Wow Tony thanks for all these amazing tips! I’m blown away that you give your information away to anyone who wants it for free. You’re doing Gods work... thank you. Even though I love fishing, before KZbin and watching you, I sucked at it, especially on the big lake and inland trout season. I feel so ready this year, I’m really looking forward to it. Unfortunately this year I skunked on king salmon, just didn’t have the ability to get out to the lake, and when I did it just rained too hard. I’m still not done chasing kings yet, I’ll try to be out there this weekend, then I’ll be focusing on inland trout. After trout season, I’ll be back on the big lake for sure and applying everything you just said! How about raw, unpeeled shrimp from the grocery store? Would you say cooked is superior? Hopefully I’ll see you out there at Blackwell and shake your hand. You’ve really changed my whole fishing game

[@tonysspotonfishing]

Jay Smith Thank you so much for the kind message. I truly appreciate it. I’ve always been of the mind set, that it’s fun to go fishing but it’s even more fun when we catch fish. Our mission from day one of Spot On Fishing was to help our fellow anglers be productive at the many great fishing opportunities we have around Chicagoland. Cooked shrimp seems to work the best. We still have the sent we need from the shrimp but there is something about it having the pinkish color to it that really seems to help over the raw stuff. Don’t feel bad man, it was a rough King season for all of us around Chicago. Mother Nature sure messed with our season this year. Still some Kings around so I wouldn’t give up yet. But much more great fishing still to come this fall on Lake Michigan. I’m looking forward to the Inland Trout this fall as well. It’s always a good time and those trout sure are fun to catch. Good fight and good eats too! I’m sure you’ll see me out at Blackwell. It’s my wife’s favorite time of year so we are out there quite a bit during Trout season. Thanks so much for watching and thanks again for the nice comment. Good luck fishing and please let us know how you do.

[@jaysmith6013]

@@tonysspotonfishing Tony, I was curious about something else... what about those real dark, end of life salmon. If you hook into one of those, are they safe to eat? I know chances are slim to none of them biting anything, but they can be snagged (which is something i don't do), but do have friends who are out there on the lagoon snagging when its allowed

[@tonysspotonfishing]

Jay Smith Well, they won’t hurt you if you eat one of the darker ones, their meat will just be soft or mushy. There are some that are almost zombies, pieces falling off of them and what looks like mold forming on them, I personally couldn’t filet those fish up. Seems I always catch one zombie late in the year too on either spawn or the tube jig, LOL.

[@jaysmith6013]

Spot on Fishing Today I gave it one last shot... didn’t want to deal with Burnham harbor crowds so opted for 63rd Pier. Fished the whole pier, all sorts of spoons and cranks... had a slip bobber with shrimp, tried the crappie tube and jig tipped with a wax worm... after 5 hours of effort, I gave up without a single bump. Normally I see salmon and other fish cruising the pier, but today absolutely nothing. Not even a bass. But as they say, the worst day of fishing is better than the best day of working! I’ll be back out at Burnham and Diversey after inland trout season. I’m more hopeful for that

[@tonysspotonfishing]

Jay Smith Yeah, at this point, we can only hope for better conditions next year for the Kings. Cooler water temps, via West winds at the end of Aug, first part of Sep to ensure a good run for Chicago. Things will get a lot better by the 1st part of November when the other Salmonoids come in. The populations are always good in Chicago, so we don’t have much to worry about there. Good stuff coming on the big lake after Inland Trout. Thanks so much for the report, we appreciate it!

[@billyjin2062]

Hey Tony, would a lipless crankbait work? I own quite a few for bass fishing, going to be visiting Chicago to see family figured I'd try fishing for a day or two. A lot of people talk about using the deep diving crankbaits, Do you know if a lipless would work?

[@gregalpinab7]

Mr Tony, Do you have any tips or comments regarding fishing Waukegan harbor for salmonids?

[@zredfearn3016]

Thank youuuuu!!!!!! love it

[@tonysspotonfishing]

Z Redfearn Awesome! Thank you so much for watching and thank you for commenting! We are so happy you’re loving the show!

[@bobfishnut]

I have a feeling that the bite is going to come on early, perhaps this week with the cold air mass we're going to get. Going up to the lake to try again before I give up on the city!

[@tonysspotonfishing]

bobfishnut It’s worth a shot for the 4 year old Kings. Surface temps coming in at 60 degrees. Water is a little cloudy but the western winds will help clear it up and drop some more water temps. Air temps have an extremely slow effect on Lake Michigan water temps. West winds push the warm water out and circulate the colder water back underneath. The bite for the rest of the Salmonoids will pick up around the end of the month or first part of November. The last new moon phase brought in the last wave of 4 year old Kings. Kings favor water temps around 55 degrees. I do believe you’re right, with water temps at 60 and dropping this weekend should be the best shot at the 4 year old Kings. Don’t give up though on Lake Michigan coming up. Catching those other Salmonoids are a blast! (And so much easier to catch then the Kings in Chicago) I have to admit I almost prefer the fight of the Steelhead over the Kings. They love to jump and dance on their tails once hooked. They’re kind of like a Chicagoland Tarpon, LOL!

[@bobfishnut]

@@tonysspotonfishing Great! Getting my newly purchase hot n tots in, bobbers, and tubes today! 5 mannums and 2 smalls! Just need shrimp and fish!

[@tonysspotonfishing]

bobfishnut Sweet! Good luck and please let us know how you do!

[@raulelizalde6636]

Tony , when you use shrimp on bobber do you use live or dead shrimp? Or will both work

[@tonysspotonfishing]

Raul Elizalde we’ve always used the dead ones. Cooked, frozen shrimp from the freezer section at your grocery store. The medium to large size is all we use. The cooked shrimp hold their color better and the sent is perfect for the salmonoids. If the shrimp you’re using is on the larger side and you’re not getting bites, go ahead and cut the shrimp down a bit.

[@raulelizalde6636]

Spot on Fishing awesome! Thank you tony and good luck the rest of the season.

[@zacharynichols2320]

Great video as always! What size hook do you use for the shrimp? I typically use a pretty small hook for minnows and spawn bags, but i'd imagine I need a bigger one for shrimp.

[@tonysspotonfishing]

Zachary Nichols Thanks so much, glad you enjoyed it. We usually use a size 2 octopus hook for the shrimp. The Lake Front has been pretty good lately. Good reports from most harbors. Thanks for watching!

[@zacharynichols2320]

@@tonysspotonfishing Thanks so much! One more question: any hope of perch coming in by next weekend? Looks like the temps are steadily dropping.

[@tonysspotonfishing]

Zachary Nichols Water temps are 48-50 degrees in the city. West winds coming tomorrow night and Tuesday for sure. That’ll push the dirty water out. There’s a shot for sure. Just a lot easier on the Perch in the clearer water. Hopefully the west winds stick around after Tuesday

[@davidbrown7932]

David from Detroit I just can’t wait to try these techniques on saint Joes pier this fall wahoooooo🌠🙏

[@tonysspotonfishing]

They’ll work there for you. Good luck and let us know how you do!

[@zjoaquin]

awesome great video. thank you. I'm on vacation next two weeks would love to see you fish and join you on shore? When will you be by Montrose Harbor? Thanks

[@tonysspotonfishing]

Jack Quinn Thank so much! Glad to hear you enjoyed the show. Right now we are filming some Fall Muskie and Bass shows. Unfortunately we won’t be back on the big lake till the end of October or so. But ya never know. We may try to pop up down there sooner. Thanks for watching and thanks for writing in to us!

[@archiepoints2502]

Hey Tony I’ve been fishing the lake with still no luck I wanted to ask you if the cohos, browns, and steelhead are in yet around the montrose harbor area and how I can get on some lake trout as those weren’t mentioned very much in this program thanks a lot love your videos

[@tonysspotonfishing]

Archie Points There has been a couple reports of some steelies. Literally a couple. Water is still a little warm. We should see the action pick up towards the end of Oct and go through Nov. The Lakers from shore are never a guarantee but we do catch a straggler that comes shallow from time to time. In 20 years of fishing the big lake I’m up to 8 Lakers from shore now. There’s no rhyme or reason, other then food, that a Laker is found that shallow. The best opportunity for “Shallow” water lakers is still from the boats, fishing late Feb and early March, just off the break walls, to the main lake. 95th street and the break walls off Navy Pier can be very good. But throwing the Baits we talk about in this show will produce a Laker if there is one around. I have caught 3 off the Horseshoe at Montrose, the other 5 have been off the Pipe at Burnham. Like I say though, that’s over the span of 20 years. They’re always a pretty welcome bonus fish. Thanks so much for watching and thanks for writing us. Good luck this fall out there.

[@archiepoints2502]

Thank you so much tony!!!

[@tonysspotonfishing]

Archie Points You’re welcome. Always happy to help.

[@bamch7751]

Thanks for the info! Are you also familiar with places like Wilmette, Winnetka or Highland Park harbors?

[@tonysspotonfishing]

Bam Ch You’re welcome. Always happy to help when we can. Unfortunately, to be honest, we have not fished any of those harbors you’ve mentioned. We pretty much stick to Chicago and then over the boarder into Wisconsin, fishing Kenosha and Racine. Wish we could offer you some guidance on those harbors. Thanks for watching and thanks for writing us.

[@apexvideos3646]

Im going to burnham tomorrow with 2 of my boys. We'll be tossing deep divers, crappie jigs, wiggle and mag warts and possibly shrimp or synthetic spawn sacs. During the perch season there we're barely alive kings ans steelheads. My shrimp had little luck but they we're hanging out around the pipe. Any tips for tomorrow with my set or day?

[@tonysspotonfishing]

Apex Videos You’ll probably see a few more Lakers running around this time of year too! The 4 year old Kings will be gone. Don’t have to worry about those Zombies anymore LOL. Steelies will be around as will the Browns. Floating Shrimp, Crappie Tube and Waxie will be great. Take some Wiggle Warts, Hot N’ Tots, Mag Wart and some Spoons - KO Wobblers and the little Cleo. Burnham and Diversey would be my top 2 picks to fish right now. Thanks for dropping us a line and thank you for watching. We truly appreciate it. Good luck and let us know how you do.

[@apexvideos3646]

@@tonysspotonfishing thanks man appreciate the quick reply! You're my favorite fishing youtuber and much much better then those clickbait "BIGGEST CATCH THIS YEAR, NEW PB, RARE CATCH". Keep it up!

[@tonysspotonfishing]

Apex Videos Thank you so much for the compliment! When we launched Spot On Fishing 5 years ago (wow it’s been that long? Time flys! LOL) we wanted to showcase a lot of the bodies of water around Chicagoland and how to fish them through various times of the year. Our motto has become, it’s always fun to go fishing but it’s more fun when we catch fish. We just try to do what we can to help our fellow anglers. Thanks again!

[@archiepoints2502]

Hey Tony we met at the Chicagoland fishing expo and I didn't know how to get ahold of you again but I was just wondering where you think is a good place to start off the coho run, the ice just melted off the harbors and I hear park bait opened today! so I figured I'd try my luck tomorrow any tips on bait or location would be great. (Im going for any of the salmonoid species)

[@tonysspotonfishing]

Thanks so much for stopping by at the show to say hi! It was so crazy busy this year, such an awesome show! Water temps are still really cold for Chicago. 34-36 degrees. Indiana had a few days in the low 40’s and they saw a little action on the cohos. Water temps cooled back off there to the upper 30’s and slowed things down. We really won’t see much action till we get water temps in the low to mid 40’s at least. Over the last week or so there was 1 or 2 reports were a powerline angler caught a Coho, in Chicago. There are a couple around but it’ll be slow going for a while yet. Diversey would be my starting point. Just north or the mouth of the harbor lakeside gives you access to a deeper hole and staging area. Just south of the mouth lakeside gives you a nice flat that the Cohos will push alewives up on to feed. I would set a slip bobber anywhere from 3-6 feet deep with a shrimp on it and cast with another rod with a spoon (KO Wobbler, Little Cleo or a Krocodile) or a crankbait (Hot N Tot, Wiggle Wart or Jointed Shad Rap). Things will start heating up soon. My hope is by the end of March things would get rolling. With water temps still this cold I wouldn’t be surprised if there are still a couple of Lakers around. The Browns are always there. They’ll probably be hunkered down at the base of the rocks so setting the shrimp a little deeper could get a bite or two from the Browns. They won’t be too aggressive yet though in that cold water. Steelies and also some Kings can be around. If you see the gulls dive bombing you’ll know that alewives are there and some salmonoid is chasing them. Like I always say, you can’t catch them sitting on the couch but it’ll take some work to get a salmonoid to go right now. Little more time and it’ll be game on! Thanks again for watching and thanks so much for writing in. If you get out let us know how you do.

[@archiepoints2502]

Alright thank you so much tony

[@archiepoints2502]

Will do!

[@tonysspotonfishing]

You’re welcome!

[@apexvideos3646]

Tony I have a question that has gotten mixed anwsers. Is it legal to use round gobies as live bait?

[@tonysspotonfishing]

Apex Videos Gobies can be used but they must be dead. No live gobies can be used nor can you be in possession of live gobies. The IDNR wrote administrative code 805 on this topic in their laws.

[@apexvideos3646]

@@tonysspotonfishing thank you

[@ezhang09]

what would you recommend chucking early november from shore?

[@tonysspotonfishing]

yearoftheinfinitetsukuyomi Everything we talked about in this show. All go to stuff for late Fall Salmonoids. As long as there is open water these Baits will work.

[@ezhang09]

@@tonysspotonfishing thank ye xo

[@tonysspotonfishing]

yearoftheinfinitetsukuyomi You’re welcome. Good luck fishing!

[@Zoro16288]

Tony ,do u lived in Indy too? Cuz u wearing Colts sweater , I want to know more condition about the water there so I won’t be wasting gas and time to go there and can’t fish hahaha

[@tonysspotonfishing]

Gary fisherman No, I’m in Illinois. That is actually a Colt Firearms sweatshirt. Surface temps in Chicago are coming in at 60 degrees still. Water is fairly churned up. We’ve had some mix of high winds lately. Straight North, then Northwest, one day of straight West and now Southwest. Will be turning back to Northwest by Wednesday. There’s a chance things will improve towards the end of the month but more then likely the steelies, browns and cohos should be around, come the first part of November with the way things are looking. Not too much longer till things will be pretty good in Chicago.

[@Zoro16288]

Spot on Fishing , oh I see , thanks for the information Tony, hope to see you there one day , I normally go there on Thursdays but I’ll wait till November cuz been going here for the passed couple weeks with no luck need to rest this week Hahahaa , here’s my number 4699718928, maybe we can fish together sometime buddy

[@castacouple6551]

Can you do a video on perch? And maybe some local lakes to catch rainbow trout

[@tonysspotonfishing]

Cast a Couple Absolutely, we definitely have a late Fall/Winter perch show in mind for Lake Michigan still this year. We did a summer show last year on the perch but that often times is smaller fish. Bigger ones can be found in the colder water late in the year around Navy Pier. We’ve done a Spring and Fall Inland Trout Show last year and a top 5 Fall Inland Trout Show for Fall last year and Spring this year. We may or may not get to another one this year, if we don’t for sure next year we’ll be back on them again. Just trying to schedule days with our production company to film everything left on the docket this year can get a little crazy. We’ll get to it though. Thanks so much for watching and thanks for the suggestions!

[@bobfishnut]

Going up to boarder from now on. Two years in a row and nothing has been caught.

[@tonysspotonfishing]

bobfishnut Yeah, Wisconsin is the place to be. Too many factors are stacking against us here on the South end of the lake for the Kings. Shallower, warmer water, more days with east winds, dropping Alewife populations and less King stockings. Kenosha and Racine is where it’s at for the Kings. Thankfully we still get a great amount of the other Salmonoids in the City. Thanks for watching!

[@5winder]

*Salmonid

[@tonysspotonfishing]

5winder Actually both spellings are acceptable. When looked up, both words have the same definition. The first know use of Salmonoid is circa 1842. Salmonid is 1868. Both are a description Salmonidae and the sub order Salmonoidea which cover all Salmom, Trout, Char and Whitefish species. But definitely a good shout out to help stop some confusion amongst anglers, as some may not know that they are one in the same. Thanks so much and thank you for watching. We truly appreciate it!

[@catfishslayer5452]

HEY Tony got a question for you are king salmon still being caught in October after spawn or is it just snagging season ? Do spoons still work at this time ?