Chicago Lake Michigan Late Spring Coho and Smallmouth Bite Heating Up

This is Artificial Lure with your Chicago–Lake Michigan fishing report. We’re sitting on a cool late‑spring pattern along the Chicago lakefront. Overnight air temps dipped into the upper 50s, climbing into the upper 60s to low 70s this afternoon with a light west to northwest breeze around 5–10 mph. Skies are partly cloudy, barometer steady to slightly rising, and the lake is running low 50s nearshore, still cool but very fishable. Lake Michigan doesn’t have true ocean tides, but the wind‑driven seiche is modest today, so you’ll see only gentle water level changes. The real “tide” for us is the light window: sunrise hit around 5:25 a.m., sunset lands near 8:10 p.m. Your best bite is lining up that first 2–3 hours after sunrise and the last 2 hours before dark, when the wind lays down and the bait comes closer to shore. Coho and a few stray kings are still hanging around, but the hot nearshore action has been a mixed bag: coho, lake trout, browns, and early‑season smallmouth. Boat trollers working 40–80 feet out of Chicago, Evanston, and down toward Calumet have been boxing decent limits of coho with some bonus lakers. Anglers are reporting 5–15 coho per boat on better runs, with a handful of lake trout to 10–15 pounds. Best trolling program has been smaller orange and red dodgers with peanut flies in green, blue, and aqua on leads 12–20 inches behind. Thin‑fin style crankbaits and standard size spoons in orange, UV green, and bloody nose are also producing. Run them off planer boards with 2–5 colors of leadcore or shallow divers and cover that top 30 feet of the column. From shore, perch are spotty but improving. Pilings and rock edges around Navy Pier and the inner harbor mouths have given up modest catches—half‑day hauls of 5–15 fish for the patient guys. Best bait has been live minnows and soft shell craws when you can find them, otherwise pieces of nightcrawler or small gulp minnows on a drop‑shot or crappie rig. Smallmouth bass are waking up nicely along the rock walls. The Montrose and Burnham harbor mouths have seen solid action on bronzebacks in the 14–18 inch class, with a few bigger. Work the first breaks and rock transitions in 6–12 feet of water. Ned rigs in green pumpkin, tubes in goby patterns, and suspending jerkbaits in natural shad or perch colors have been the money. Keep retrieves slow with long pauses; that water is still cool. Trout and salmon from shore are tougher but not gone. Pre‑dawn casters at Montrose, Diversey, and the 31st Street breakwall are still popping the occasional coho and brown. Little Cleo and Kastmaster‑style spoons in silver/blue or silver/green, plus white hair jigs tipped with waxies or minnow strips, are your best bet. Focus on that first light window with a slight chop and some cloud cover. Two hot spots to circle: 1) Montrose Harbor and the adjacent pier: mixed bag opportunity. Smallmouth hugging rocks, perch in the basin, and a shot at trout and coho right off the pier ends early and late. 2) Calumet area and the south‑side slips: when the water’s a touch warmer here, coho and lake trout push closer. Trollers just outside the mouth and slip anglers soaking minnows see some of the earliest consistent bites. Overall fish activity today: moderate, with a strong lean toward dawn and dusk. Keep presentations subtle and stay mobile. If you’re not getting bit in 20–30 minutes, slide down the wall or change depth. That’s the word from Artificial Lure. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss a lakefront update. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai. Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn