Early Summer Lake Michigan: Salmon, Trout & Harbor Bass Bite Strong

This is Artificial Lure with your Chicago–Lake Michigan fishing report. We’ve got classic early-summer conditions on the big lake. Around Chicago, sunrise is right around 5:15 a.m. with sunset close to 8:30 p.m., giving you a long, workable window. Winds are generally light southwest to west, and nearshore surface temps are running upper 50s to low 60s, a touch cooler right along the rocks overnight. Skies are mixed clouds and sun with only a slight shot at a passing shower. Lake Michigan isn’t tidal like the ocean, but barge and wind-driven seiches can nudge water levels up or down a foot or so; watch sudden surges on the wall. Salmon and trout action has been solid for boats working 70–130 feet off the city and Evanston lines. Mixed bags of **coho**, a few **kings**, plus **steelhead** and **lake trout** are still coming on standard Lake Michigan spreads. Best bets are orange or red dodger–fly combos, small orange spoons, and flasher–flies in green glow or white pearl run 40–80 feet down. Early in the morning, high lines with thin orange spoons are taking coho up higher in the column. From shore, the harbors and rockwalls are starting to give up some summertime variety. Montrose and Diversey have been giving decent **smallmouth** and **rock bass** around the riprap. A 1/8–1/4 oz tube jig in green pumpkin or goby pattern, dragged slow along the bottom, is hard to beat. Ned rigs and little swimbaits in natural shad work too when the sun gets up and the fish slide deeper off the rocks. Perch have been spotty but improving. Anglers picking at them around Navy Pier, Burnham, and the Calumet area are doing best with **live minnows**, soft shell **crabs** when you can find them, or pieces of **shrimp** on drop-shot or simple spreaders. Smaller fish are thick; you’ve got to weed through to get your keepers. Early morning and late evening still rule for perch, especially on the calmer, overcast days. For multi-species action inside the harbors, slip bobbers with medium shiners or fatheads are catching a mix of perch, rock bass, and the odd smallmouth or bonus trout nosing in. A small jig under a float tipped with wax worms or gulp-style plastics will keep you busy if you’ve got kids along. If you’re running crankbaits for bass along the lakefront, think natural: silver/black, perch, or goby colors with a tight wobble. Keep your retrieve steady and let that lure tick the rocks. When the lake lays down, downsizing to finesse plastics often outfishes power baits. Two hotspots to circle today: - **Montrose Harbor and the adjacent rocks**: Good shot at smallmouth, rock bass, and scattered perch. Work the points and transitions where rock meets sand. - **Calumet area and the slips**: Best perch numbers lately, plus a chance at bonus cats and sheepshead on minnows, cut bait, or nightcrawlers. Boat anglers running out of Wilmette, Montrose, or 31st Street should keep trolling speeds in the 2.2–2.6 mph range, zig-zagging to find the best bite window. Watch your graph: a lot of hits are coming on turns and on the outside boards when you speed up just a tick. That’s your Lake Michigan Chicago fishing rundown from Artificial Lure. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss a report. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai. Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn