AP

Tuesday evening Quigley took the court ahead of DePaul’s season opener with the Sky’s championship trophy in hand. She was welcomed onto the court by DePaul coach Dough Bruno, Sky coach/general manager James Wade and Texas Southern coach, Cynthia Cooper.

Allie Quigley ran past a photo of herself ahead of every Sky home game during the 2021 season.

The Sky moved into DePaul’s home locker room this season, and the hallway they would emerge from at Wintrust Arena was adorned with photos of Blue Demons who made it to the league. Quigley’s image served as a consistent reminder to the 14-year veteran of all the work she put into making her WNBA dream a reality.

Tuesday night at DePaul women’s basketball’s home opener against Texas Southern, Quigley was honored.

“Allie Quigley is the classic Chicago story of grit and determination,” DePaul coach Doug Bruno said. “Every time you get knocked down, get right back up and keep fighting. Allie has a passion for the game and just loves to play.

When it wasn’t working out originally with the WNBA, it looked like she would become a European lifer, and that would be her fate.”

Quigley and the Sky are just three weeks removed from winning their first WNBA title. The championship journey was riddled with adversity for Quigley.

Before signing with the Sky in 2013, Quigley had been cut four times by three different WNBA teams. Between 2013 and 2014, her offensive production more than doubled. She averaged 3.8 points per game during her first season with the Sky and 11.2 in her second.

She started every game she played for the Sky in 2017 and averaged a career-high 16.4 points per game, earning her first All-Star nod.

Quigley started the 2021 season off the Sky bench before moving back into the starting five after the Olympic break. In the Finals, Quigley led the Sky averaging 18 points a game.

Her 11-points in the fourth quarter of Game 4 propelled the Sky past the Mercury to their first title. WNBA Finals MVP Kahleah Copper said she knew the Sky would be champions the day before Game 4 when she saw Quigley getting shots up alone at the team’s practice facility.

“I hope now with us bringing a championship to Chicago, little girls and boys will want to be like me, Candace our legend, Courtney, our amazing point guard — be like Kahleah our MVP,” Quigley said. “I hope this can inspire so many young kids to dream about a championship one day.”

Quigley’s 2,078 career points for DePaul has her third on the school’s all-time leading scorer list.

Tuesday evening, she took the court ahead of DePaul’s season opener with the Sky’s championship trophy in hand. Bruno, Sky coach/general manager James Wade and Texas Southern coach Cynthia Cooper welcomed her.

Less than 30 days before, she ran past her photo onto the same court and was welcomed by a sold-out crowd of 10,378. She dropped 26-points, and the Sky were crowned champs.

“My WNBA dream started at DePaul back in 2004,” Quigley said. “Now, 17 years later, to be able to win a championship on DePaul’s floor is a storybook ending.”

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FILE – Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Wade Miley delivers during the first inning of the team’s baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Pittsburgh on Sept. 14, 2021. Miley was claimed off waivers by the Chicago Cubs from Cincinnati on Friday, Nov. 5, a surprising cost-cutting move by the Reds. A left-hander who turns 35 on Nov. 13, Miley was 12-7 with a 3.37 ERA in 28 starts, and he threw his first career no-hitter in a 3-0 win at Cleveland on May 7. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File) ORG XMIT: NYDB501 | Gene J. Puskar, AP Photos

Hoyer added on Tuesday that the Cubs would like to add different looks to their pitching staff, including power arms.

CARLSBAD, Calif. — President Jed Hoyer has talked in the past about being opportunistic as a team when players you value become available. In the case of Wade Miley, the left-hander being on waivers for the Cubs not only allowed them to capitalize on that, but also help them attack their top priority this winter.

The Cubs picked up Miley’s one year, $10 million option on Sunday, officially making him part of their 2022 rotation. Miley, 34, had a strong year for the Reds last season, going 12-7 with a very respectable 3.37 ERA in 28 starts.

“I think we try not to be surprised, but yeah, I would say we were excited when he was on waivers,” Hoyer said on Tuesday. “I guess the “benefit” of being high up in the order is we knew we had a real shot at it. We had a lot of conversations for two days do as much research as we could get, we were excited to land him.”

Hoyer was not shy when the offseason began about the need to add arms as the Cubs ranked near the bottom of almost every major category as a staff last season. The addition of Miley is a strong start to strengthening their biggest weakness, but it won’t be the end.

“We talked about needing to add innings this winter,” Hoyer said. “The need to add quality starting pitching, quality pitching throughout, and to be able to do that in early November was exciting for us to start that process. It’s certainly not the end of that process, it was a great way to start up.”

Besides right-hander Kyle Hendricks, Miley now feels like a lock for next year’s starting staff. But with a desire to add more pitching via trade or free agency, the future of Alec Mills, Keegan Thompson, Justin Steele and Adbert Alzolay is less clear.

The acquisition of Miley adds an additional left-hander to a rotation that was very right-handed until Steele’s arrival in the rotation. But it also adds another redundancy in the team’s rotation of pitchers who are command/control arms.

While there’s always a need for pitchers who can attack the strike zone, balancing that with pitchers who can miss bats is also something the Cubs need more of moving forward.

“You love guys that know how to pitch and how to get outs,” Hoyer said. “But you’re also putting a tremendous pressure on your defense and a fair amount of luck, as well. I think that we have to get away from that. Finding guys that can get good swings-and-misses in different profiles. We’ve had a lot of very similar profiles in the last few years.

“I do think we have to find some different looks and some of that comes with some more power.”

Every team is looking for starting pitching in the winter, which makes it expensive. While names like Max Scherzer or Justin Verlander won’t be walking through the door, other available arms like Jon Gray, Anthony DeSclafani, Carlos Rodon and Kevin Gausman are available. Each had strikeout rates above 20% last season and only Gausman has a qualifying offer attached to him.

If the Cubs signed a player with a qualifying offer, they would lose their second-highest selection in ’22 Draft, $500,000 from international bonus pool for upcoming signing period. If they signed two players with rejected QOs, they’d also lose their third-highest remaining pick and additional $500,000.

“It’s certainly something we have to factor in,” Hoyer said. “You just have to weigh it accordingly as you think through it. I wouldn’t go past that, it’s just something that is a calculus that we have to do if we’re gonna if we’re gonna swim in those waters.”

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Brian Williams has been with divisions of NBC for 28 years. | MSNBC

The news anchor, who lost his prestigious NBC job for making false claims about a wartime story, says he’ll ‘pop up again somewhere.’

NEW YORK — Brian Williams, who remade his career as an MSNBC host after losing his NBC job for making false claims about a wartime story, is leaving the company after 28 years.

Williams said in a note to colleagues that “following much reflection,” he had decided to exit when his contract ends in December.

“This is the end of a chapter and the beginning of another,” Williams wrote. “There are many things I want to do, and I’ll pop up again somewhere.”

Willliams, 62, said he will take a few months off to spend time with his family.

Williams was NBC’s “Nightly News” anchor from 2004 until 2015, when he was suspended for falsely claiming that he had been in a helicopter hit by enemy fire during the Iraq War. A subsequent investigation found that he had made other inaccurate statements about his experiences covering events, and he lost the job.

He was later given the 10 p.m. hour at MSNBC, which he turned into a fast-moving, entertaining newscast summing up the day’s events.

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A man was shot Nov. 9, 2021, in Hyde Park. | Sun-Times file

The victim was a 24-year-old U. of C. graduate. In the earlier incident, activist Jahmal Cole said he was nearby and had to run to dodge the bullets.

A man was shot and killed Tuesday afternoon during an attempted robbery in Hyde Park, a few blocks north of the University of Chicago campus.

The man, 24, was on the sidewalk in the 900 block of East 54th Street when a dark-colored car pulled up and a gunman got out shortly before 2 p.m., Chicago police said.

Witnesses told officers the man struggled with the robber and a shot went off, according to preliminary information from the scene. The man was hit in the chest and taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Police said the robber got back in the car, which fled west on 54th Place.

The man was a recent graduate of the university, according to the school, which said campus police were increasing patrols in the area.

About two hours earlier, just blocks away, businesses and cars were damaged by gunfire. The shots were fired from a Hyundai Sonata about 12:10 p.m. at 53rd Street and South Harper Avenue, according to a security alert from the University of Chicago.

No injuries were reported, but several cars and two businesses were damaged by gunfire, the alert said. The Sonata had been reported stolen Monday, according to the alert.

Jahmal Cole, founder of My Block My Hood My City and a U.S. Congressional candidate, posted on Facebook that shots flew in his direction during the incident.

“I want to be clear that, I am not sure if I was an intended target today or if it was a random shooting,” Cole said in the post. “Regardless, this is unacceptable.”

Police declined to comment on Cole’s post.

Just before noon Tuesday, Cole was walking to Nando’s for a lunch meeting when he heard shots, Block Club Chicago reported. Cole dove under a car to avoid being hit and scraped his neck doing so, though he wasn’t struck by gunfire, he said on Facebook.

Cole also said in the post that he’d been shot in the arm less than a month ago. He hadn’t shared information about the first shooting because he “wasn’t ready, dealing with my trauma everyday still.

“I’m tired of running for my life,” he said.

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Nicholas D. Griffo’s complaint led to a Department of Defense investigation that found widespread problems with the way the government handles GI Bill claims. | Joed Viera / For the Sun-Times

A leaked report shows that GI Bill snafus have been a problem since 2009. That report should be made public, even if the full details are incomplete.

We’re still wondering why it took a fed-up whistleblower, leaking a secret report to a journalist, to find out bureaucratic screw-ups involving GI Bill benefits have been going on for years.

Because of those screw-ups — no one knows how many — the children of eligible veterans have been wrongly denied college benefits. The Sun-Times’ Stephanie Zimmermann has been reporting on these GI Bill snafus since 2019 — most recently on Sunday — and has uncovered case after case of bad record-keeping and miscalculated service time among veterans.

Correct calculations are crucial. The Department of Veterans’ Affairs uses them to determine eligibility under the Post 9/11 GI Bill.

We still don’t know how many families have been affected by the snafus. That secret report from the Department of Defense doesn’t say — but it acknowledges the mess has been going on since 2009.

We just hope the whistleblower’s estimate of “hundreds of thousands” of affected veterans is much too high.

No family should be caught up in the same mess as former DePaul University student Paige Dotson, whose story Zimmermann told in 2019.

Paige’s father, Russell Dotson, served 22 years in the Navy, on active duty and as a reserve. He was deployed overseas six times. He saved two lives in Afghanistan. He eventually agreed to re-enlist for four more years, so he could transfer his GI Bill benefits to his two children.

But the government made a math mistake, miscalculated his service time and eventually stopped paying the college bills. Paige Dotson began getting collection notices from the government for back tuition amounting to $20,000.

Under pressure from Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and others in Congress, Acting Navy Secretary Thomas B. Modly eventually canceled Dotson’s debt.

Meanwhile, dozens of families, Zimmermann soon found out after the Dotsons’ story was told, were in similar straits. Nicholas D. Griffo, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs whistleblower and a longtime claims investigator, complained about the snafus he knew were occurring. That sparked the DOD investigation and report, which Griffo recently gave to Zimmermann.

In a letter from DOD’s human resources director, included in that report is this telling admission: The DOD has known about the problems with gaps in calculating veterans’ service time since 2009.

In fact, veterans often don’t know there are problems with their service records. “They didn’t know they’re being screwed,” as Griffo, whom the VA is now seeking to fire, told Zimmermann.

Griffo says the DOD promised to make the report public. It’s time for the DOD to follow through. A public release of all the available details, however incomplete, is a first step to fixing the problem.

In a letter to the secretaries of the Army and Air Force, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., urges a “compassionate resolution,” citing the Navy’s handling of the Dotson case.

Compassion is certainly in order. So is speed, in making matters right for the men and women who risked their lives to serve our country.

Send letters to [email protected].

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Frank Smith with one of the slab crappies from the Calumet system. | Provided by BoRabb Williams

In this sprawling raw-file Midwest Fishing Report, there’s a good run of smallmouth bass on many waters, pier passes for select piers at Chicago harbors come back Monday, Nov. 15, and time is near or here for crappie inland and for lake trout and perch on southern Michigan.

There’s a good run of smallmouth bass on many waters, pier passes for select piers at Chicago harbors come back Monday, Nov. 15, and the time is near for here for crappie inland and for lake trout and perch on southern Michigan in this sprawling raw-file Midwest Fishing Report.

BoRabb Williams texted the photo at the top and gave details in the CALUMET report. He also added this on fishing Chicago:

When the salmon and steelhead LEAVE …. the perch and crappie will Take Off good….. then ICE

The rhythm of the year.

LAKEFRONT PERCH

Jeffery Kantor emailed Monday:

Hi. Dale, are they catching any perch around 87th street ?? I caught a few small perch at Burnham this morning

That’s good to know and here is some of the answer. But the time is near for perch fishing to take off at the South Side slips.

Brian Caunter at Henry’s Sports and Bait said he’s only been getting gobies at 87th, but that shore anglers are getting some perch up the Calumet.

Capt. Rich Sleziak at Slez’s Bait in Lake Station texted:

Perch at cal park area and up the river will start real soon few perch caught but mother load isn’t there yet.

PIER PASSES

Provided
A sample pier pass for select piers at most Chicago harbors.

On Monday, Nov. 15, the $6 pier passes become available allowing legal access to select piers at most Chicago harbors. A number of additional piers were added this year to bring the total to 31 piers.

Carl Vizzone, fishing coordinator for the Chicago Park District gave these details:

A pier pass gives fisherman an opportunity to use various docks in 6 of our harbors. There are 31 different piers to choose from in our harbor system. The only harbor that may not be ready to go on schedule is Burnham as it is our late leaver harbor for boaters. We printed Covid guidelines on the passes as well as Westrec has hand sanitizer stations at each accessible gate that we will try to keep filled. Pier pass program runs from November 15th through March 31st, from 6 AM to 11 PM 7 days per week. Passes will be available at Henry’s Bait & Sports, Park Bait Shop and at Northerly Island Visitors Center. There should be metal signage on all eligible pier gates with info and contact number.

LAKEFRONT PARKING

Chicago Park District’s parking passes for the fisherman’s parking lots at DuSable and Burnham harbors are on sale at Henry’s Sports and Bait in Bridgeport and Park Bait at Montrose Harbor.

Readers suggest SpotHero app downtown. Otherwise, here are some basics: Foster (free street parking or pay lot); Montrose (now a mix of metered and free street parking); Belmont (pay lots on north and south sides); Diversey (pay lot or street parking); DuSable Harbor (pay lot or fisherman’s lot); Northerly Island/Burnham Harbor (meters, pay lot or fisherman’s lot); 31st/Burnham (meter parking between McCormick Place and 31st Street Harbor); Oakwood/39th (meters); 63rd Street/Casino Pier (pay lot); Steelworkers Park (free street parking at east end of 87th); Cal Park (free parking).

AREA LAKES

Provided
Ken “Husker” O’Malley with a fall largemouth bass from a local lake.

Ken “Husker” O’Malley emailed the photos above and below, and this:

Hey Dale,

Here is a recap of this past weeks fishing.

Area lakes-while the recent warmup has been nice, it has slowed the fall bite some over the past few days.

Crappie have become scattered. Focus on shorelines that have been pounded by the winds for a couple days. A variety of plastics under a slip float worked along the inside and outside weedlines will take the aggressive biters.

Bass have slowed with the temperature swing. The most consistent bait has been a Kalin jerk minnow worked slowly over the top of the weeds.

Here is the nature pic of the week [below]. Taking in the fall vibe.

TTYL

—

Ken “Husker” O’Malley

Husker Outdoors
Waterwerks fishing team

Provided
Ken “Husker” O’Malley’s weekly nature photo, a sign of the times.

That’s apt for the season.

Pete Lamar emailed:

. . .

I fished a forest preserve pond on Sunday afternoon. The water is cooling rapidly, so I went with a more vertical presentation: a white minnow pattern tied on a jig hook fished under a very buoyant strike indicator. I tangled with a few largemouths. Some hit on the drop; some hit when I moved the fly horizontally (slowly); others hit with the fly completely stationary. The bigger lakes in the area cool more slowly and this kind of fishing can be effective for a few weeks longer: I’ve caught largemouths around Thanksgiving and crappies as ice was forming on a streamer under a strike indicator.

. . .

Pete

CALUMET SYSTEM

BoRabb Williams texted the photo below and this:

Frank Smith … Dwayne Armstrong and BoRabb Catch Gorilla Crappie in the Calumet RIVER under the Bridges and Barges

Provided
BoRabb Williams with a good crappie from the Calumet system.

CHAIN O’LAKES AREA

Arden Katz said water cooled to 46; white and yellow bass remain very good in 7-14 feet around current at the mouths of Bluff and Marie; bluegill are good on the south end of Channel.

Art Frisell at Triangle Sports and Marine in Antioch said crappie are excellent on small minnows on slip-bobber rigs, usually early; walleye fair on 1/4-ounce Lindy rigs on Marie and Bluff; muskie fair on big suckers or big jerkbaits.

NOTE: Check updates on water conditions at foxwaterway.com or (847) 587-8540.

NOTE 2: The Stratton Lock and Dam is closed through April 30.

CHICAGO RIVER

Provided
Jeffrey Williams with a Chicago River largemouth bass.

Jeffrey Williams messaged the photo above and this:

still getting on em on the chicago river, 3 lb channel cat and a 1 lb LMB, water temp is in the mid 50s, not a bad day

COOLING LAKES/STRIP PITS

Braidwood, Heidecke and LaSalle are closed for the season; so is Mazonia, except Monster stays open all year.

DOWNSTATE

POWERTON: Fishing is closed.

SPRING LAKE: Boat fishing is closed on the main lake; boat fishing is allowed from the Sky Ranch Road ramp to Maple Island buoy during waterfowl seasons. Bank fishing along South Lake Road is not allowed until after 1 p.m. during waterfowl season.

EMIQUON PRESERVE: During waterfowl season, non-waterfowl hunting boating (which includes fishing) is not allowed until noon. Access permits and liability waivers are required. They are available Tuesday to Saturday at Dickson Mounts Museum, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

SHELBYVILLE: Check with Ken Wilson of Lithia Guide Service.

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS: Check with Jason Johns of Boneyard Fishing.

HENNEPIN-HOPPER: Closed for the season. Check regulations at http://www.wetlands-initiative.org/dixon-paddling-fishing.

FOX RIVER

Dicky’s Bait Shop in Montgomery reported walleye starting below the Montgomery dam and crappie in the side channel there on minnows.

Pete Lamar emailed:

I fished a couple of spots on the Fox tribs on my way home and didn’t catch a thing. The only fish I saw were some big carp cruising in the deep slow pools, but I wasn’t desperate enough to try to hook one. Maybe by January or February, when cabin fever is severe.

. . .

Pete

I think cabin-fever time will be here before I care to think about it.

GREEN LAKE AREA, WISCONSIN

Mike Norris
Laura and Don Hiestand, of Schaumburg, with a doubleheader of smallmouth bass caught on their first casts over the weekend while fishing with guide Mike Norris on Green Lake.

Guide Mike Norris texted the photo above of Laura and Don Hiestand, from Schaumburg, on Green Lake in Wisconsin, and this:

“Yes. I guided these two yesterday. Each of them tossed a chub out and hooked up immediately. I have been seeing a lot of grouped up Smallies this fall and getting three to four double headers on each outing.”

Here is his general fishing report:

Fishing Report – 11/8/2021

Mike Norris

Big Green Lake – Surface water temperature has dropped to 51 degrees. With cooler water temperature’s smallmouth bass location has changed. The shallower areas where I have found smallies in the last month are now devoid of fish. Rocky ledges and drop-offs are now the key areas to catch bass. Alabama rigs are still producing big bass. Working with a tube jig will also produce fish. Live bait rigging remains an option. We may see snow flurries by next weekend and the approach of colder weather should push the bass deeper.

To book a guide trip reach out to me via my Facebook page at mike.norris.7773 or email me through my website at www.comecatchsmallmouth.com

GREEN/STURGEON BAYS, WISCONSIN

Click here for the Wisconsin DNR weekly report.

KANKAKEE RIVER

Provided
Bob Johnson with a good smallmouth bass from the Kankakee River.

Bob Johnson emailed the photo above and this on Monday:

Hey Dale -When the river is in good shape and weather cooperates good things happen. We are now into November so the Bass are loading up. Water temp is 50 and clear. This evening they were taking finesse style baits. I tried crainkbaits along with spinner baits but finesse baits worked. The largest smallmouth was 3.5 lbs 18″. I found a pack of them stacked up on a current break in slack water. Catch and Release

Earlier he emailed about the weekend:

Hi Dale –

Fished the Kankakee River today catching mostly Smallmouth and one largemouth but no Walleye either by accident or design. Water is up however clarity is pretty good just a lot more water these days. Temps were in high 40s. Caught most of my fish on Rapala OG slim but biggest fell for finesse bait green pumpkin. I talked to another angler who reported about 20 Bass up to 3 lbs. He said his fish were caught on swim bait and spinner baits. Rivers in good shape but rains are expected again this week. Fishing the river is top shelf this time of year!

LAKE ERIE

Click here for the Ohio DNR Report.

LAKEFRONT

Provided by Bruce Noworul
Lake trout might not have been in yet, but the smallmouth bass were in the Cal Park area.

I’m putting Bruce Noworul in both the NW IN and LAKEFRONT reports. He messaged the photo above Sunday and this:

95th Calumet Park update. Water 50 degrees stained. There were a few boats jigging for Lake Trout, we trolled and had a few bumps, one on for a few minutes that got off. The good news is they are starting to come in, I think another week with cooler temperatures and clearer water it should pickup. I didn’t want to get skunked so we did some smallmouth fishing, this was our best.

James Baranski messaged the photo below about fishing out of Chicago last Tuesday.

Provided
James Baranski with a smallmouth bass from the Chicago lakefront.

Brian Caunter at Henry’s Sports and Bait said some steelhead are being caught around the lakefront; there’s pike nd straggler salmon at 31st; he’s only been getting gobies at 87th, but that shore anglers are getting some perch up the Calumet.

Stacey Greene at Park Bait at Montrose Harbor texted:

Only report I’ve had is still doing pretty good on steelhead at Diversey and there’s a few here around Montrose and there’s a few coho and Northern also in the mix and I did finally hear of one brown trout.

Capt. Dan Leslie at the Salmon Stop in Waukegan said fishing slowed; mostly using spawn sacks for mostly kings; crappie picking up inland around Waukegan.

SALMON SNAGGING: Here are the details from the IDNR:

4) Snagging for chinook and coho salmon only is permitted from the following Lake Michigan shoreline areas from October 1 through December 31; however, no snagging is allowed at any time within 200 feet of a moored watercraft or as posted: A) Lincoln Park Lagoon from the Fullerton Avenue Bridge to the southern end of the Lagoon. B) Waukegan Harbor (in North Harbor basin only). C) Winnetka Power Plant discharge area. D) Jackson Harbor (Inner and Outer Harbors).

d) Disposition of Snagged Salmon and Paddlefish. All snagged salmon and paddlefish must be removed from the area from which they are taken and disposed of properly, in accordance with Article 5, Section 5-5 of the Fish and Aquatic Life Code.

MADISON LAKES, WISCONSIN

Click here for the update from D&S Bait.

NORTHERN WISCONSIN

Kurt Justice at Kurt’s Island Sport Shop in Minocqua emailed:

First full week of November under our belt and things on the water seem to be slowing down. With most lakes having surface temps of 46 degrees to as low as 41 degrees, and forecast of rain, then snow through the weekend, lakes will see even less pressure this week. Most lakes and launch sites were pretty empty as it was.

Musky: Good-Fair – Action best on live bait this week (suckers/trout), but fish not aggressive. Reports of Musky just holding on to back end of bait, not committing. Set back hook further back or use a 3-hook rig to combat. Is it possible they’ve seen these rigs too often come fall? Seems like a common scenario late season. Slow working large swim baits and jerks moving fish, but not many hits.

Yellow Perch: Good-Fair – Not lots of action, but quality Perch (9-12″) fishing medium fat heads or 1/2 crawlers around drowned wood. Following last weeks “non” report, reader submitted report…and I confirmed. Thanks!

Smallmouth Bass: Good-Fair – Few targeting, but those fishing Walleyes along transition breaks of 22-26′ finding some big Smallies on chubs fished on Lindy style rigs.

Walleye: Good-Fair – Deep water anglers catching Eyes in 24-40′ using suckers and chubs. Deep clear lakes best with fish hovering along breaks to mud from gravel.

Crappies: Good-Fair – Warming afternoons best with anglers finding scattered fish 2-3′ off mud bottoms. Deeper wood and breaks best.

Northern Pike: Fair – Few targeting. Anglers fishing Musky with suckers being “bothered” and those targeting Walleyes and Crappies on flowages catching some using minnows.

With forecasted lows in the 20’s and nothing higher than 37 degrees forecasted after Friday (11/12) expect water temps to fall further.

Deer hunters: Rut going on right now!!

Kurt Justice
Kurt’s Island Sport Shop – Like us on Facebook

Weekend snow has a ring to it. If it is going to be cold, might as well snow.

NORTHWEST INDIANA

Provided by Bruce Noworul
Lake trout might not have been in yet, but the smallmouth bass were in the Cal Park area.

I’m putting Bruce Noworul in both NW IN and LAKEFRONT reports. He messaged the photo above Sunday and this:

95th Calumet Park update. Water 50 degrees stained. There were a few boats jigging for Lake Trout, we trolled and had a few bumps, one on for a few minutes that got off. The good news is they are starting to come in, I think another week with cooler temperatures and clearer water it should pickup. I didn’t want to get skunked so we did some smallmouth fishing, this was our best.

Provided
James Baranski found tough fishing, but some smallmouth bass Friday in Indiana.

James Baranski messaged the photo above and this:

Dale, spent the day out of Indiana Friday. Tough pickins on the smallies but managed 8. Here are a few

Capt. Rich Sleziak at Slez’s Bait in Lake Station texted:

Crappie at lake George in Hobart around the bridges and below the dam using crappie minnows or Rufus jr jigs tipped with beemoth

Perch at cal park area and up the river will start real soon few perch caught but mother load isn’t there yet.

Some steelhead action in area tributaries using voodoo jigs tipped with waxworms or spawn sacks

Pine and stone lake in Laporte giving up crappie and bluegills for boat fisherman cubby jigs tipped with beemoth best

Lake trout off Michigan city peir using blade baits and spoons near bottom

Christina Petrites at Stan’s Bait & Tackle Center in Hammond emailed:

Hi, Dale! I hope the Autumn season has been treating you right. Here’s what’s been heard ’round town…

Steelhead fishing is starting to pick up on the rivers, with anglers using spawn & Maglips. Pier fishing has been solid for Lake Trout- jigging spoons, powerbait, & spinners working well.

Inland lakes guys are catching Bluegill & Crappie in nice numbers. Lake George, Powderhorn, & Willow Slough are particularly performing well.

Lake Michigan trolling hasn’t produced much action lately. Shore/pier fishing has been getting much better results as of late.

I’m one of the surly sorts who find fall a brown beige overall.

ROOT RIVER, WISCONSIN

Click here for the Wisconsin DNR’s report, usually on Tuesday or Wednesday.

SHABBONA LAKE

Concessions are closed. Site hours through Jan. 31 are 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN LAKEFRONT

Click here for the southern Lake Michigan reports from the Wisconsin DNR.

WOLF RIVER, WISCONSIN

Guide Bill Stoeger in Fremont texted:

Walleye action has been fair from Orihula down to Lk. Poygan. Drifting with jig and minnow, or pulling rigs with minnows. Water temp. 43 yesterday, up 2 degrees with the unseasonably warm weather

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NIPSCO will be using even more solar panels like these when two new solar farms come online next year. | Provided

The projects for the Merrillville-based utility come as it aims to retire all of its coal-fired generation by 2028 and generate more electricity from renewable energy sources.

Northern Indiana Public Service Co. has started work on two new solar farms in northwest Indiana that it says will generate a combined 465 megawatts of power when they come online next year.

The new projects for the Merrillville-based utility, a subsidiary of NiSource, come as NIPSCO aims to retire all of its coal-fired generation by 2028 and generate more electricity from renewable energy sources.

NIPSCO is partnering with EDP Renewables North America to build Indiana Crossroads Solar, a 200-megawatt solar farm in White County. That project is expected to produce $40 million in local taxes and pay $1 million a year to landowners, according to the utility company.

NextEra Energy Resources LLC is building the other new solar farm in Jasper County. To be called Dunns Bridge Solar I, that 265-megawatt installation will feature about 900,000 solar panels that will generate enough electricity to power 79,5000 homes.

A planned second phase, Dunns Bridge Solar II, will add 435 megawatts of solar with 1.5 million solar panels and 75 megawatts of battery storage and is expected to come online in 2023.

NextEra Energy Resources will sell both installations to NIPSCO once construction is finished.

NIPSCO has built two wind farms and has 10 other renewable projects in the works. The utility says it expects to finish 14 renewable energy projects by 2023.

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Drew Timme and Gonzaga are ranked No. 1 again. | Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images

Ten things to know about the college basketball season, which started on Tuesday.

Nothing says the start of the college basketball season like the Champions Classic, the annual blue-blood-fueled doubleheader with a March-in-November feel. Tuesday, that meant Kansas being pitted against Michigan State and Duke against Kentucky in New York.

Best on best, right?

Not so much anymore.

Take those four programs, toss in North Carolina and you’ve got the five leaders in NCAA Tournament wins this century. But there has been a not-so-subtle falling off of late that was starkly evident when last season’s Big Dance rolled around: Kansas was a 3 seed, North Carolina an 8 and Michigan State an 11 — all three were quickly eliminated — and Duke and Kentucky were both absent from the field for the first time since 1976.

The 2015 tournament was the only one of the last nine in which more than one of the five traditional powerhouses reached the Final Four. Last season — for the first time in eight years — none of the five got there.

Of course, nobody at all got there two seasons ago, when the tournament was canceled as COVID-19 spread. Michigan State, Kentucky, Kansas and Duke were ranked 1-4 in the 2019-20 preseason Top 25, but only Kansas, as it turned out, would’ve had a shot at a No. 1 seed had the tournament been played.

This season? The Jayhawks were third in the preseason Top 25, the Blue Devils ninth, the Wildcats 10th, the Tar Heels 19th and the Spartans nowhere to be found. On the whole: not terrible, but no longer a group that stands apart from the rest.

To the rest of a season-preview Big 10 (where 10 actually means 10):

2. Gonzaga’s title quest: Guess who’s ranked No. 1 going in for the second year in a row. Are the Zags ever going to win a national championship? They’ve been to 22 straight tournaments, 21 of them under Mark Few, whose previously spotless reputation — not counting the whole can’t-win-it-all thing — took a hit with his offseason DUI.

3. What about Baylor? The defending champs are ranked eighth, but I put them at 18th on my ballot. Two reasons: Jared Butler and Davion Mitchell. As in, they’re gone. So are the Bears’ chances of being great again.

4. What about UCLA? The Bruins are No. 2 — and I ranked them fourth — because the whole gang is back. Come on, you remember them: Johnny Juzang, Tyger Campbell, Jaime Jaquez Jr. et al. But remember, their run to the Final Four almost didn’t happen; they barely got into the tournament. Are we all overrating them?

5. Coach K, all day: Nobody’s going to stop talking about Mike Krzyzewski, 74, who’s in his last season at Duke. Northbrook guy Jon Scheyer is going to replace him, if you haven’t heard. Hubert Davis is the new boss at North Carolina, replacing Roy Williams. That’ll take some zing out of this rivalry, won’t it?

6. Penny Hardaway’s comeback: It’s actually Season 4 for Hardaway at Memphis, but it has been easy to miss him; his Tigers have yet to get to a Big Dance. Yeah, well, that ends this season — and don’t be surprised if Memphis plays to a 1 or 2 seed. Jalen Duren and Emoni Bates are potential top-five NBA picks in 2022 and 2023, respectively.

7. Other duos: Gonzaga has Drew Timme, the frontrunner for national player of the year, and Chet Holmgren, the top freshman in the 2021 class. Must be nice. The Big Ten (where Ten doesn’t mean anything close to Ten) has Kofi Cockburn and Andre Curbelo at 11th-ranked Illinois and Jaden Ivey and Trevion Williams at seventh-ranked Purdue. Just spitballing here, but the Illini and Boilermakers really should think about putting together a best-of-seven two-on-two event with those guys.

8. Speaking of the Big Ten: At this point, I’ve got Illinois as the third-best team — behind Michigan and Purdue — in an excellent league. Ohio State is next. Don’t forget about Rutgers or Maryland and, sure, Michigan State could really rise up.

9. Oh, um, Northwestern: We should probably address the developing situation in Evanston, which is that nothing much seems to be, you know, developing. Since breaking through with their first-ever Big Dance appearance in 2017, the Wildcats have finished 10th, 14th, 13th and 12th in the Big Ten standings. I’ve got them 12th this time, ahead of only Minnesota and Penn State.

10. The big lie? Tons of people are saying the Big Ten is the best conference in the country. I would be, too, if the league had produced a single national champion since Michigan State in 2000. It’s hard to ignore a streak that’s old enough to legally drink. I’m going with the Big 12 instead.

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