Our week here in northern Illinois started with an impressive drop in surface temperatures along with a screaming high pressure system. Our temperatures dropped to sixty degrees sending most of the gizard shad, perch, panfish and Muskies back into the dense vegetation on the primary flats and early shoreline structures. Slower moving bucktails and jerkbaits were deadly.

     As the week progressed, we had a calm and clear warming trend pushing surface temperatures back into the low seventies (73*) by Saturday June 5th.

If our fish didn’t have enough to deal with by means of temperature fluctuation, the local Fox Waterway Agency dropped our pool height 4-5″ preparing for the long rainy forecast that never gave us any measurable precipitation. With the water levels down slightly and the temps rocketing back up to 71* by 6/4/21, it was off the flats to the primary breaklines 6-8′ or deeper.  If the sun was bright and the barometer was high my boat had success casting mid sized rubber or trolling 6″ baits in as deep as 10-12′ of water.

 

Uscg Captain Andrew Schiera

262-455-5228