Some really big Chinook, a few turning color already, lead this sprawling raw-file Midwest Fishing Report.

ILLINOIS’ LAKEFRONT CHINOOK

Ryan Merkel sent the photo at the top Sunday evening and this:

Hi Dale,

Pete Merkel, my cousin, caught a new boat record for us today out of Winthrop Harbor. (Two photos of the fish are attached below)This king was 28 lbs and 42″ long. Hit on a green/white flasher with an Aqua Howie’s fly behind a rigger. We were in 125 feet of water and the rigger was set 110 feet down. Fish took a massive initial run pulling 500+ feet of line off the reel. Great day on the water, we also got a 23 lbs king a just few minutes prior. Not a lot of bites but the two we got were awesome.

Thanks for considering our fish,

Ryan Merkel

Sleepy Hollow IL

Provided

On Monday, Andy Knapp messaged about the four kings pictured above:

85 pounds 4 fish and some sore arms! Friday out of Northpoint marina

On Saturday, Andy Mikos emailed:

Hi Dale! Got some kings today. One was a male and already turning colors. Could be an early run? Hope all is well.

Time marches on.

WISCONSIN LAKE TROUT

The Wisconsin DNR sent this:

Update To Lake Trout Harvest Regulations For Lake Michigan & Green Bay

As a result of an emergency rule, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is restoring previous recreational regulations for harvesting lake trout for Lake Michigan and Green Bay as of July 23, 2021.

The previous regulations ended earlier this year and returned to a daily bag limit of two lake trout and a season running from March to October. With this emergency rule, the season will be open year-round for waters of Lake Michigan, Lake Michigan tributaries, Green Bay and major Green Bay tributaries, and have a daily bag limit of five trout or salmon, but all five may be lake trout.

This bag limit will also apply to all tributary streams, rivers and ditches to Green Bay upstream to the first dam or lake. However, the regular fishing season, from the first Saturday in May to the first Sunday in March, will remain in place. The Mid-Lake Reef Complex will remain closed to lake trout fishing.

This change will provide additional fishing opportunities for anglers and charter businesses while maintaining a balance between lake trout and their alewife prey base.

The DNR is working on a permanent rule to continue these changes into the future.

STURGEON SPEARING

The deadline to apply for a sturgeon spearing tag for the Upriver Lakes (Poygan, Winneconne or Butte des Morts) on the Winnebago system in Wisconsin, only 500 will be selected, is Sunday, Aug. 1.

ILLINOIS FROG SEASON

Illinois’ bullfrog (only) season runs through Oct. 15. A fishing license is required. “Bullfrogs may be taken by hook and line, gig, pitchfork, spear, bow and arrow, hand, or landing net.” Daily bag limits eight, possession limit 16.

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

BIG FISH: The Forest Preserve District of Will County’s Big Fish Contest at Monee Reservoir runs through Aug. 31. Click here for details.

Provided

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-bass have been good very early and late with the recent hot weather. Work the outside weedlines with a wacky stick-o. Frog fishing is starting to heat up with a few blow-ups. A few frogs will draw interest from your bait as well. Always entertaining.

Here is the nature pic of the week. A setting sun after a thunderstorm.

TTYL

—

Ken “Husker” O’Malley

Husker Outdoors
Waterwerks fishing team

Credit: Ken “Husker” O’Malley

Pete Lamar emailed the photo below and this:

Hi Dale,

I only got out briefly on Sunday afternoon (taking advantage of the lower humidity while it lasted). I never changed flies: only a foam hopper-as can be seen in the bluegill photo-on my kid’s tenkara rod. Bluegills-some of them large, the tail of the one in the photo extended past my wrist-were active. I also got a bonus largemouth on the last cast of the day.

The aquatic vegetation on the edges of the lakes and ponds is high and thick, chest height at least. I couldn’t see what was going on, but I could hear a lot taking place. I think bullfrogs were taking dragon and damsel flies and making a ton of noise in the process.

Pete

Provided

BRAIDWOOD LAKE

Open daily 6 a.m. to sunset. Click here for the preview.

CHAIN O’LAKES AREA

Jason Fox emailed the photo below and this:

Good morning Dale. My friends and I had a great morning on the chain yesterday. My buddy Mark hooked into this beast on his second cast at route 12 bridge. He got it in on 8Ib test and a 7ft ultra light. 20 minute fight. I have to add it was made possible by my excellent boat control and net job. I got an 8 lb channel on the very first cast of the day. We also got 12 walleye all keepers, one slot 19.5.

We also got a dozen good size gills. Everything caught on jig and crawler. We were off the water by 11. It was a great morning!

That’s truly a great morning.

Provided photo

Staff at Triangle Sports and Marine in Antioch said bluegill are pretty good, shallow in the channels and around docks with brush; catfish are good on cut bait, live bluegills or crawlers; bass are slow, shallow in the slop on frogs or off deep weed lines with swim jigs or drop-shots in 9-12 feet; crappie suspended in deeper water; catfish and walleye are better at night.

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

NOTE 2: The Stratton Lock and Dam is open 8 a.m. to midnight through Sept. 30.

CHICAGO RIVER

Provided

Sgt. Lucas Wise emailed photos, including the one above, and this:

Dale,

Sgt Lucas Wise from the Police Marine Unit here. Hope all is going well for you. The largemouth bass have been biting really well on spinnerbaits in the river near the police marine unit lately. Double willow white and bluegill pattern #4 Colorado blade have been the ticket. Me and the little guy have been casting em out, reeling as slow as possible and waiting for the strike. I even had a big hog hit the jackall gantarel jr glidebait, which was a ton of fun. Tight lines brother!

Sincerely,

Lucas Wise

Provided by Jeffrey Williams

Jeffrey Williams messaged the photo above and this Tuesday afternoon:

decent crappies and bass being caught by the riverwalk

DELAVAN LAKE, WISCONSIN

Dave Duwe emailed:

Delavan Lake 7/26/21 through 8/2/21

Fishing remains fantastic. The fish are in their mid summer pattern and they have schooled up and can be caught if you find the schools.

Northern Pike fishing has been relatively slow this week. I think most of the problem is that the bluegills have slid off the weedline and are in 18-24 ft of water. The few pike I’ve been catching have been in 22-24 ft of water. The pike are getting filled up on the small bluegills. Either that or the anglers are so good there aren’t any left. The best locations that I’ve found have been by Willow Point or by Belvidere Park.

Bluegills are literally everywhere on the lake. If you find a weed line, you will find the bluegills. Unlike prior weeks, the bluegills schools are all integrated with different size fish. You can fish a school and catch big ones, even though there are small ones present. The biggest fish I’ve caught have been by Willow Point or Belvidere Park. The best depth has been 20 ft of water. I’ve been casting the split shot rigged leaf worm and catching all I care to catch.

Largemouth bass are schooled up really heavy right now. They can be caught on jigs and split shot rigged nightcrawlers. The key is finding areas with rock and weed. They are schooling up very heavy. At certain times last week, I fished for four hours with a guide party and never left the first location. The key is to stay in a location where the fish are feeding, if you catch one, you should catch many.

Walleye Pike have been a bit slow. The only fish I’ve heard about have come from trolling crank baits in 20 ft of water, right off the weedline. The best location is by Delavan Lake Marina or by Belvidere Park. You want a crank bait that dives 16-18 ft and then troll it at 1 1/2 – 2 mph. The best color has been pearl.

Crappies have again been biting over the medium depth weeds in 12-15 ft of water. They can be caught by the Oriental boat house or by Assembly Park. The best approach is small plastics, try purple or chartreuse. The fish have been on the smaller side, the average size has been about 8-9 inches.

Good luck and I hope to see you on the water. For guide parties, please call Dave Duwe at 608-883-2050reported

DOWNSTATE

POWERTON: Hours are 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. through Sept. 30.

EMIQUON: Access permits and liability waivers are again required. They are available Tuesday to Saturday at Dickson Mounts Museum, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

HENNEPIN-HOPPER: Open through Sept. 6. Closed Mondays (except Labor Day). Check regulations at http://www.wetlands-initiative.org/dixon-paddling-fishing.

SHELBYVILLE: Check with Ken Wilson of Lithia Guide Service. SOUTHERN ILLINOIS: Check with Jason Johns of Boneyard Fishing.

FOX RIVER

Dicky’s Bait Shop in Montgomery reported water is way down, “lowest in seven years I have been here.”

GENEVA LAKE, WISCONSIN

Arden Katz said he had the best day of the year, 25 bass and six walleye, drop-shotting at night in 18-22 feet on the south end; biggest walleye was 22 inches.

Provided by Roger Jackson

Roger Jackson followed that with the photo above and this:

Dale, my name is Roger Jackson I live in Elkgrove Village I was fishing Saturday night with Arden Katz, on Lk Geneva walleye are doing great we were drop shotting in 20 feet of water for smallmouth bass and couldn’t keep the walleyes off!

“Couldn’t keep the walleyes off!” sounds like the right kind of problem.

Dave Duwe emailed:

Lake Geneva 7/26/21 through 8/2/21

Fishing on Geneva remains very consistent. There are fish to be caught every time out. The best bite is the Northern Pike and Walleyes after dark.

Northern Pike fishing has been excellent. Most of the fish are being caught in 30-32 ft of water. The best location is in Fontana or the north shore in the narrows. The best presentation is lindy rigged medium suckers right on bottom. Most of the fish can be seen using your electronics. I typically will not fish a spot unless I see active fish.

Lake Trout are being caught on the main lake basin. They are in 108-120 ft of water, 70-80 ft down. Nickel/blue and nickel/green spoons have been the best presentation. I have been doing a big circle from Conference and Cedar Point. The best bite still remains 1/2 hour before sun up and 1/2 hour before sun down.

Perch have been very aggressive. They have been in the 10-12 ft depth range. They can be caught on 1/2 nightcrawlers or fat head minnows. The best location has been by Rainbow Point or Knollwood. The biggest issue as always is the size, you need to sort through a lot of small fish to get to the keepers.

Rock Bass have moved deeper. They are in the 14-18 ft depth range. They can be caught on split shot rigged nightcrawlers. The best location has been by Elgin Club or by Maytag Point. With the water temperature being so warm, their meat is getting soft. I wouldn’t recommend keeping them this time of year.

Walleye Pike fishing has been good at night if there is some wind. Without wind Lake Geneva is a dead sea for Walleye. The best location has been by Fontana Beach or Abbey Springs. Work a depth of 16-18 ft of water with medium diving crank baits. I prefer chrome/black Walleye Bandits.

Largemouth Bass can be caught in the shallows or on the deep weedline. The shallow fish can be caught on split shot rigged nightcrawlers or on top water lures. The best location has been Trinkes Bay or by Linn Pier. I’ve been working a depth of 10-12 ft. Some of the largemouth are starting to school on the hard rock bottom in 18-25 ft of water. They can be caught Carolina rigging Arkie Crawlin’ grubs or drop shotting 4 inch finesse worms. In either case, green pumpkin is the only color to tie on.

Good luck and I hope to see you on the water. For guide parties, please call Dave Duwe at 608-883-2050

GREEN LAKE AREA, WISCONSIN

Guide Mike Norris emailed:

Fishing Report 7/23/2021

Mike Norris

Big Green Lake – Both largemouth and smallmouth bass are active, and we are catching them on jig and pig combos out along weed edges in 14 – 18 feet of water. We are also finding smallmouth bass in 15 – 20 ft water along the Sliding Rock area. Try a drop shot rig with a KVD dream shot, or with a half crawler or a leech. Bluegills are grouping up nicely and can be caught with a red worm on a drop shot rig just outside of the deep weed edges.

Fox Lake – Largemouth bass and pike fishing on Fox Lake has slowed considerably with the return of hot weather. We are still getting some bass and pike on guide trips, but the numbers are down. The walleye bite has also slowed. Bluegill are biting along weed edges in 5 – 9 feet of water on jigs suspended beneath floats.

GREEN/STURGEON BAYS, WISCONSIN

Click here for the Wisconsin DNR weekly report.

HEIDECKE LAKE

Open 6 a.m. (6:30 bank fishing) to sunset. Click here for the promising preview.

KANKAKEE RIVER

Provided

George Peters emailed the photo above and this:

Hi Dale, fishing continues to be tough on the kkk. High water is coming down but not low summer level. Shore eddys have some fish , this 18″ on a jig. G. Peters

LAKE ERIE

Click here for the Ohio DNR Report.

LAKEFRONT

See some good reports of big Chinook at the top.

Provided by Henry’s Sports and Bait

Steve Palmisano at Henry’s Sports and Bait texted the photo above and this:

This sheepshead was caught last week. Sorry no angler info.caught on a crawfish from the lake.

Stacey Greene at Park Bait at Montrose Harbor texted:

Good morning Dale.When the winds are out of the North Northeast the sheephead we’re going crazy on the horseshoe and surrounding areas. Seems to be a lot of carp being caught in and around the harbor. Some big ones. My husband went out last week just messing around for some perch or rock bass and hooked into one that was over 20 lb of course he didn’t land it on his ultralight Rod but he had fun playing it for a long time. Smallmouth have been hit or miss. No perch that I know of.Have a great week!

Capt. Bob Poteshman of Confusion Charters said out of Chicago on Tuesday morning they had a couple steelhead and lakers; “Fish keep going deeper all way to 160-180, most everything is down 70-80” on a little bit of everything. Out of North Point, there’s some good king action on the hill, for about an hour around dawn, it’s between 80 and 100 feet early, then deeper; out in 180-300 (changes every day) there’s decent fishing for a mixed bag.

Lori Ralph at the Salmon Stop in Waukegan texted:

Deeper water, south, for quality kings and Lakers.No boat perch reports, but guys are doing it, just not getting back to me.A few guys fishing perch off the pier, but there is NOTHING in Waukegan harbor to bring anyone in, so it’s a ghost town.

Capt. Scott Wolfe emailed:

Hi Dale – Waukegan fishing is definitely an early bite now. Boats are doing well on staging kings in 115 to 140 from 3 am to about 6 – 7 am. After that they are shut down. There are lakers moving to structure in 107 – 140 on hills and humps, mostly holding in deeper water off the humps. The lakers are hitting until 9 or 10 am. After 10, it has been really, really slow. The afternoon trips were a real struggle. It was a spoon bite for our boat this week with the Warrior Spoiler series taking everything, Kings and lakers. We had several kings on Warrior Green Spoiler and Spoiler up to 25 pounds on downriggers run within 10 feet of the bottom. 300 to 450 coppers with those same spoons in Standard and XL sizes were good for lake trout.

Capt. Scott Wolfe

School of Fish Charters/Manipulator
630-341-0550
schooloffishcharters.com

LaSALLE LAKE

Open daily 6 a.m. to sunset. Click here for the preview of prospects.

MADISON LAKES, WISCONSIN

Click here for the update from D&S Bait.

MAZONIA

Both units are open for fishing.

MILLE LACS LAKE, MINNESOTA

Provided by McQuoid’s Inn

Justin Lederer from McQuoid’s Inn in Isle, Minn.: emailed the photo above and this:

Justin Lederer checking in from McQuoids Inn Lake Mille Lacs. Fishing has picked up now that the bug hatch is over. Evenings are the best for walleye leeches and slip bobbers are still the go to. 30′-35′ of water is the key. Smallmouth are in 18′-22′ around big boulders drop shots with tubes and lindy rigs with small suckers or night crawlers is producing the best. Hope everyone is enjoying the summer it’s going bye quick.

NORTHERN WISCONSIN

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

The fires in Canada, as bad as they’ve been, have had a small silver lining for those of us in the Northwoods. On mornings with North winds, the haze from the smoke has cut down on the sun, causing lower light levels than usual, bringing about good conditions for early morning Walleye and Crappie anglers.

Largemouth Bass: Very Good-Good – Fish cabbage beds as signs of heavy feeding on crayfish (look down their throats, you’ll see antennae sticking out). Jig and creature combos, Wacky worms and Ned rigs have been producing well. Evenings and early mornings for top-water lures.

Smallmouth Bass: Very Good-Good – Outside coontail edges using tubes and drop-shotting 3″ minnow imitations. Out over rock humps, drop-shotting 3″ Wackys and small craw imitations best.

Bluegills: Very Good-Good – Lots of active Gills hovering along coontail tops and edges. Easy marks with small leeches, worms suspended under floats 3-5′ down.

Northern Pike: Good – Targeting using spinner baits best. Anglers using red tail and black chubs for Walleyes in weeds reporting good action.

Musky: Good – Best evenings and early AM on top-water baits. Work gliders and twitch baits fairly quick in warm waters of summer. Staff member Bob Weigandt boated a 45″ er this week from a canoe! Boy has balance.

Crappies: Fair-Good – Found Crappies surprisingly shallow gorging on young of year Perch in 3-5′ heavy weeds. 1-2″ twister tails on 1/32 oz jig worked over weed tops, surprisingly hard hits. On the same trip – same body of water, also found similar sized (10-13″) Crappies in 14-17′ relating to weed and deep weeds.

Walleye: Fair-Good – Good weed action on “smokey”, overcast mornings on red tails, crawlers. Evenings next best if you fish a day without clouds. Clouds, rain hit the weeds again.

Yellow Perch: Fair-Good – Most as incidental catches targeting Walleyes and Crappies in weeds

Forecast of mild lows (upper 50’s – low 60’s) in morning, warming sun bringing temps into 80’s followed by night showers this week won’t hurt. Cloud cover for most of weekend helpful

Kurt Justice

Kurt’s Island Sport Shop
Like us on FaceBook

NORTHWEST INDIANA

Provided

Capt. Rich Sleziak at Slez’s Bait in Lake Station texted the photo above and this:

Fishing still good out of burns ditch mix bag most days.

Perch fishing is at a stand still not many boats out fishing for them. North wind coming Thursday and Friday won’t help.

Willow slough giving up lots of panfish for groups putting the time in and fishing in a boat moving around.

Catfish in the evening at portage river walk using triple s stinkbait.

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

Hi, Dale. I hope you’re keeping cool. Here’s what we have for this week:

Trolling on Lake Michigan is really heating up right now with some very large kings being caught there been 20 over thirty pounds weighed in the past week to 10 days. Trolling out of Chicago, East to Michigan City, all the way to Saint Joseph has produced great catches of Coho and Steelhead and some Kings. Small spoons and spin doctors and flies seem to be best.

Perch fishing has really been spotty with all the current on the lake.

Walleye in the river remains very good, drifting nightcrawlers and trolling crankbaits.

Inland lakes are still producing a nice number of Gills and Crappie

Catfish doing excellently, on Cutbait & Stinkbait

ROOT RIVER, WISCONSIN

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

SHABBONA LAKE

Staff at Boondocks reported heat slowed fishing, in general leeches are working best for walleye and big bass.

Site hours through Oct. 31 are 6 a.m.-10 p.m. daily. Concessions are going.

SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN LAKEFRONT

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

SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN

Staff at Tackle Haven in Benton Harbor said perch slowed; it’s 110-150 for silver fish; a few skamania off the pier; a few walleye being caught in the river and smallmouth bass.

Paddle and Pole hosts the Berrien Springs Fish Ladder Camera.

WISCONSIN RIVER

Provided

Rob Abouchar emailed the photo above and this from the Alexander Flowage:

Hi dale

Up un the Wisconsin river and the action is good for bass pike and almost the muskie on a senko. Topwater is good early and bitsy but with a ned trailer. . . .

Tight lines and good health.

WOLF RIVER, WISCONSIN

Guide Bill Stoeger in Fremont texted:

Perch and gills are biting on Partridge and in the bayous along the river. Walleye bite still good up river. Water temp in the mid 70’s and levels are dropping

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A colorful Chicago businessman on parole in a $10 million fraud case failed to report to prison late last month for parole violations and is now a federal fugitive, court records show.

Lee Anglin, 50, was freed in 2018 after serving about a dozen years in prison for running a real estate scam in the mid-2000s. His early investors got paid with money put in by later investors who were left with nothing, prosecutors said. The feds said Anglin bilked more than $10 million from his investors but he put their losses at about half that amount.

Anglin, in a wide-ranging interview with the Chicago Sun-Times in 2018, described his past as a debt collector for loansharks, a politically connected newspaper publisher, and a restaurant and bar owner in business with the Chicago Outfit.

He pledged to go back into business to make enough money to repay the victims of his real estate scheme.

But his new ventures have gotten him in trouble again.

He failed to tell his parole agent about several business deals he and his wife, Jenni, got involved with in Utah, prosecutors said. Some of their business partners complained the couple failed to comply with the terms of their contracts, according to court records.

Anglin was serving his parole in Chicago, while his wife lived in Utah.

Lee Anglin also got in trouble for doing legal work for inmates without permission — and without a law license. One inmate wrote to U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman complaining that he paid $24,000 to Anglin, who did “shoddy” legal work on his appeal.

Gettleman sentenced Anglin to six months in prison for those parole violations and ordered him to surrender by June 29. The U.S. Marshals Service is looking for him, according to a warrant for his arrest issued July 9.

Google Street View

In addition to the Utah ventures, Anglin’s wife operates a sports and dining complex on 143rd Street in Orland Park, according to Fletcher Handford, who says he’s in charge of its daily affairs. The complex reopened in June after closing under a previous owner during the coronavirus pandemic.

Previously called the Riviera Country Club, the facility has tennis and basketball courts and a swimming pool, and its banquet hall is under renovation, Handford says. He says the plans for the complex include a restaurant called Jenni’s Country Grill & Saloon.

Handford says Jenni Anglin is the president of the Orland Park business. He says he was told the Anglins are separated and that Lee Anglin isn’t involved in the venture. But a Facebook post in May, signed by “Lee & Jenni,” said they planned to invest “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in the complex. Jenni Anglin couldn’t be reached for comment.

The Orland Park venture isn’t among the deals mentioned in court records involving Lee Anglin’s parole violation. The U.S. attorney’s office declined comment.

Contributing: Jon Seidel

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Lollapalooza is set to welcome hundreds of thousands of people this week in Grant Park for the first time since the pandemic, and with the return of Chicago’s biggest music festival comes strict COVID-19 protocols.

Despite a rise in COVID-19 cases in Chicago and Illinois and growing concern about the Delta variant of the virus, city officials have insisted Lollapalooza will be safe, and Gov. J.B. Pritzker has said he’ll attend the festival himself.

Concert-goers will be required to present a COVID-19 vaccination card or a negative COVID-19 test at the entrances to the park at Michigan Avenue and Ida B. Wells Drive or at Columbus Drive and Monroe Street.

For people not fully vaccinated, a negative test result must be obtained within 72 hours of attending Lollapalooza, according to the festival’s website.

Multiple tests may be needed for unvaccinated individuals who plan to attend the festival all weekend. Those individuals are also required to wear a face mask while at the festival. Masks will be provided at entry gates, guest services and medical tents.

The festival is asking people to comply with the Lollapalooza Fan Health Pledge, which asks patrons to not attend the festival if they have tested positive or been exposed to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 within 14 days; if they’ve had a fever or any symptoms of COVID-19 within 48 hours of attending the festival; or if they have traveled to any foreign countries subject to travel or quarantine advisories due to COVID-19.

The festival will have increased hand sanitizer stations on-site and will have crews cleaning high-touch areas.

Other advice from the Chicago Department of Public Health includes staying away from crowds if you’re unvaccinated or at high risk for severe COVID-19; activating your wristband and registering for cashless transactions to make purchases at the festival; avoiding physical contact with those outside your party; washing or sanitizing your hands frequently; and limiting consumption of substances to ensure you follow safety measures.

The festival kicks off Thursday and wraps up Sunday.

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Patrick Finley and Jason Lieser debate what’s at stake for Matt Nagy, Ryan Pace, Andy Dalton and Justin Fields on the day players reported to Halas Hall.

New episodes of “Halas Intrigue” will be published regularly with accompanying stories collected on the podcast’s hub page. You can also listen to “Halas Intrigue” wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Luminary, Spotify, and Stitcher.

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Chicago’s top doctor on Tuesday acknowledged that she expects “some cases” of COVID-19 to spring up among crushes of music fans in Grant Park later this week, but she stood by the city’s decision to host Lollapalooza as infections jump across the nation.

City Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said she’s confident in organizers’ plan to check for concertgoers’ proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test — and insisted that despite concerning case numbers, Chicago remains in relatively good shape heading into the massive outdoor festival.

“Here in Chicago, we remain actually in quite good control for COVID, but that is not the case around the country,” Arwady said at a City Hall news conference.

“I would not feel comfortable moving ahead with Lollapalooza without COVID protocols in place. I don’t think I would feel comfortable if this were an indoor event, either, and I frankly don’t think I would feel comfortable if we were sitting in Louisiana right now.”

That’s one of 14 states spanning most of the South and Southwest that are now back on the city’s travel quarantine advisory list, as the more infectious Delta variant of the virus takes hold in less vaccinated areas.

Some critics, including the University of Chicago’s top epidemiologist, have said that surge should make the city reconsider its decision to cram 400,000 people downtown over the course of the four-day festival. Arwady maintained that “we’re being a lot more responsible than many other settings that are just as large” elsewhere in the country.

“I can’t promise that there won’t be any COVID cases associated with Lolla. When you’re having this many folks who are coming through, almost certainly there will be some cases. But I’m confident that the combination of what we know about limited risk in outdoor settings, pairing that with vaccination and/or testing — and ideally mostly vaccination, which is what we expect — as well as all the other mitigation factors, you know, I’m certainly hopeful that we won’t see a significant problem.”

Statewide, the virus is spreading at the fastest rate seen in over three months. The seven-day average case positivity rate is at 3.7%, multiplying by a factor of six since June 25.

The worst flare-ups have been concentrated in areas of southern Illinois bordering Missouri, where average positivity rates have soared past 9% — troubling metrics that would have triggered “mitigations” such as indoor dining closures from Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office before the state fully reopened June 11.

For now, with nearly 72% of all eligible residents at least partially vaccinated, Pritzker is leaving potential restrictions up to local governments.

Positivity rates hovered close to 20% in the worst days of the pandemic. Chicago is at 2.6%, but that’s doubled since last week.

Graph not displaying properly? Click here.

Still, the city has gone a full week without reporting a COVID-19 death. And while statewide hospitalizations are up more than 40% since the start of the month, that burden is still less than an eighth of what hospitals faced at the peak of the crisis. Hospitalizations are up only about 5% in Chicago over the last week, with about seven people being admitted each day.

But experts say rising cases lead to more hospitalizations and deaths — a predictable pattern that has already played out across the state three times previously.

Arwady said city officials “certainly are concerned” about the spike that she expects to keep increasing, “but I don’t want there to be unnecessary panic at this point. I just want to make sure people get vaccinated.”

The city expanded appointment hours for its in-home vaccination program, which is available to all residents by calling (312) 746-4835.

For help finding a shot in suburban Cook County, visit cookcountypublichealth.org or call (833) 308-1988. To find other Illinois providers, visit coronavirus.illinois.gov or call (833) 621-1284.

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People who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 can still go bare-faced in most indoor Chicago settings — for now.

But have that mask ready if you’re heading inside a store in Mokena, a restaurant in Joliet or any other indoor public spot in suburban Will County.

The same goes for just about all of southern Illinois and other parts of the state that are considered to be at a “substantial” or “high” risk for COVID-19 transmission — labels that federal public health officials have now applied to more than half the state’s 102 counties.

And anyone inside a school anywhere in the state should mask up as well.

New masking guidelines laid out Tuesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention added the latest web of regulations for Illinois residents to follow — ones that vary county by county — as the more infectious Delta variant of the coronavirus tears through unvaccinated communities.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s Illinois Department of Public Health immediately announced it would adopt the new CDC guidelines, which call for indoor masking regardless of vaccination status in those high- and substantial-risk counties. Masks are also now recommended inside schools no matter what the risk level.

“Cases and hospitalizations due to COVID-19 both continue to increase, overwhelmingly among the unvaccinated, but the risk is greater for everyone if we do not stop the ongoing spread of the virus and the Delta variant,” state Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said in a statement.

“We know masking can help prevent transmission of COVID-19 and its variants. Until more people are vaccinated, we join CDC in recommending everyone, regardless of vaccination status, wear a mask indoors in areas of substantial and high transmissions, and in K-12 schools.”

Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times file

Under the latest CDC guidelines — which walk back the agency’s controversial protocol in May that said vaccinated people could go maskless in most situations — counties that are adding new daily cases at a rate of between 50 and 99 per 100,000 residents are considered to be at the substantial risk level. That applies to 30 Illinois counties, including Will.

Counties averaging 100 or more cases per 100,000 residents are at a high risk, according to the CDC, including 37 Illinois counties. Many of those border Missouri, which is among several south and southwestern states where the virus is raging once again. The Delta variant is thought to be driving more than 80% of new cases in the Midwest.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The rest of Illinois, including Chicago, is at a moderate risk level for now, meaning most mask recommendations haven’t changed. They could eventually be implemented, though, especially if cases keep piling up as they have over the past month.

At a Tuesday news conference held shortly before the new guidelines were laid out, city Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said her agency would review them, but the CDC’s initial risk rating backed up her assertion that “we’re not at a point where we’re needing to recommend” universal indoor masking again.

An average of 176 Chicagoans have tested positive each day over the past week, a rate that has jumped 69% since last week. On Monday, Mayor Lori Lightfoot suggested she’d start considering more restrictions or a mask mandate like those that have been reinstated in some other major cities if the city starts topping 200 cases per day.

Arwady said that’ll likely happen within a few days, but a citywide mask mandate isn’t likely to be back on the table until Chicago hits 400 cases per day — which would still fall well below the CDC’s threshold for “substantial” risk. Under the new CDC guidelines, Chicagoans wouldn’t need to start masking up until the daily caseload was exceeding 1,300.

Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times file

“When we get over 200, we start certainly watching more closely — we may make some recommendations around people who are older or have underlying conditions,” Arwady said.

“But my feeling is, we want to make sure if we are moving to particularly a mandate around masking again, even for people who are unvaccinated, I want to do that based on our local data and our local risk, and I want to do it at a time where really the risk is significantly higher. At this point, luckily it remains in that lower risk.”

Arwady added: “I wouldn’t be surprised if we get there. We may, but if you’re worried about it, talk to anybody you know about getting vaccinated, because it really is where more folks are vaccinated, the risk drops for everybody, and we’ve seen that so, so clearly regionally.”

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Throughout the week leading into the 2012 Big Ten championship game, Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema had a fine feeling in his gut. Nebraska had what it had — not a bad team at all — but the Badgers were stacked. Even though his team had blown a 17-point second-half lead at Nebraska in a maddening September defeat, Bielema thought about all the pieces he had to play with, particularly in the running game, and thought: This is going to be very good.

In Indianapolis, the tables turned on the Huskers almost obscenely. Riding an incomparable trio of running backs — Montee Ball, James White and Melvin Gordon — the Badgers piled up 539 yards on the ground alone, steamrolled to a 42-10 lead at the half and won 70-31.

“I remember at halftime I thought it was almost too lopsided, that it was going to work against us,” said Bielema, clad in a Cubs jersey — with his name and the No. 91, his digits as a player at Iowa, on the back — Sunday in the press box at Wrigley Field, where he led the seventh-inning stretch. “But our guys kept putting our foot down.”

It was Bielema’s last game at Wisconsin before he left for an ill-fated turn at Arkansas. Nine years later — and four years since his last season as a college coach — Bielema is counting down the days until his Illinois debut on Aug. 28 at Memorial Stadium in Champaign. The opponent: Nebraska.

“I’m excited,” he said. “I really am. It’s just a very exciting time.”

Bielema’s confidence in the Illini will need some time to develop. Training camp opens Sunday at a school that hasn’t seen a winning season since 2011. Even though they won 41-23 at Nebraska in 2020 — probably their best performance of the Lovie Smith era — the Illini are 8-point underdogs in the opener.

“The thing you don’t know is the unforeseen,” Bielema said. “A turnover, a caused fumble, something that changes the momentum of the game. That’s what you prepare for and try to be ready for. But I have a pretty good feeling [that] we’re going to play well.”

The Illini were picked to bring up the rear in seventh place in the West division in Cleveland.com’s annual media poll — I picked them fifth — but they do have a not-so-secret weapon, and that’s being the oldest team in any of the Power Five conferences. They have 22 “super seniors,” the moniker given to players who returned from a pandemic season for an extra year of eligibility, and 18 other traditional seniors. The “super” list includes quarterback Brandon Peters and the team’s top three offensive linemen, center Doug Kramer and tackles Alex Palczewski and Vederian Lowe.

Old dudes just want to win.

“Veteran players make veteran decisions,” Bielema said. “Obviously, they haven’t won a lot of games, right? That’s why there was transition [from Smith]. But they’ve been through a lot of experiences, been through a lot of ups and downs. I think they’re hungry and motivated to have success. That’s a very fun environment.”

Bielema was a bit taken aback by what he saw during spring practices. Frankly, he expected less in the talent department.

“Lovie left a lot of really good players,” he said.

Now, it’s about getting ready to pull off some surprises. The 2012 Badgers were at the height of their powers. The 2021 Illini will have to follow the old dudes and sneak up on some people.

JUST SAYIN’

“Root, root, root for the Cubbies …”

Anybody can sing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” but did Bielema really mean it? Yes. The Prophetstown, Ill., native grew up a Cubs fan. His father, Arnie Bielema, played baseball at Illinois, though not for long.

“Thankfully, I guess, he left Illinois because he was in love with a young woman by the name of Marilyn, who became my mom,” Bielema said. “So I’m glad he left. Otherwise, I might not be here.”

One would imagine not.

o In case you were wondering about Northwestern: The Wildcats were picked third in the West, behind Wisconsin and Iowa, in the aforementioned media poll. And that’s exactly how my top three looked. Look, at least wait until Pat Fitzgerald and company make it back to Indy before you yell at me.

o Just a thought: Maybe USA Basketball should put a coach in charge of the men’s team who doesn’t have a full-time gig in college or the NBA.

It’s called taking it seriously, folks. Unless, that is, everybody is OK with a bunch of NBA stars going out there with next to no plan and — win or lose — putting on a barely watchable show.

It sure doesn’t appear that Spurs coach Gregg Popovich is spending many sleepless nights trying to get this Olympic thing all the way right. The snoozy performance by his team in an 83-76 opening loss to France wasn’t the end of the world — some players had just arrived in Tokyo, after all — but this isn’t slalom canoeing we’re talking about. Or is it canoe slaloming?

“I think it’s just a little bit of hubris if you think the Americans are supposed to just roll out the ball and win,” Popovich said.

Hubris? Please.

Now go win gold. Chop-chop, Pop!

o A day before American gymnast Simone Biles withdrew from Olympic team competition, The Wall Street Journal ran a story claiming the 4-8 marvel rises so high on her tumbling passes that she could — and try to stay with me here — dunk a basketball with her feet.

In case anyone was wondering if expectations of the best athlete in the world were a little outsized.

o The latest craze among college football coaches — especially in the South — is not publicly disclosing whether or not they’re vaccinated.

Guess what: They’re all vaccinated. They have too many millions of dollars to lose not to be.

Some of them just don’t have the courage to say it out loud. Which is presposterously stupid, but here we are.

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Close to three dozen environmental and community activists held a more than hour-long protest outside the police-guarded gate of a controversial Target distribution warehouse in Little Village Tuesday, saying the new facility will add as many as 700 additional polluting diesel trucks a day to an already congested stretch of South Pulaski Road.

The action took place as about 100 people attended an indoor ribbon-cutting ceremony at the 1 million square foot warehouse at 3501 S. Pulaski Road. Unlike most ceremonial events to mark a business’ opening, media was banned from the indoor event despite Target’s insistence that the warehouse is a positive addition to the community, promising 2,000 jobs starting at $18 an hour.

Only one elected official, Ald. Michael Rodriguez (22nd), attended the event, while protesters held signs outside that read “Don’t Target us.”

The warehouse project has been controversial from the day it was announced three years ago by developer Hilco Redevelopment Partners. Community activists had fought for more than a decade to shut down the Crawford coal-fired power plant that was eventually closed in 2012. But the addition of a warehouse that would substantially increase truck traffic and subsequent air pollution was unwelcome in the Latino-majority community.

“The best we can get is more trailer trucks in our neighborhood,” said Little Village Environmental Justice Organization executive director Kim Wasserman, who helped lead the charge to shut down the Crawford plant. “That ain’t right.”

Calling the addition of another large source of pollution in a low-income community of color racist, Wasserman vowed to keep up the fight.

“We are fighting against environmental racism in this city and we are going to win,” she told the crowd.

Brett Chase

Community outrage grew even more intensely after an almost 400-foot smokestack from the old power plant was taken down with explosives Easter weekend of 2020, creating a giant dust cloud that covered the Little Village community.

“There are vocal folks who are upset with this project and they have their reasons,” Rodriguez said in an interview. “My focus is holding Hilco responsible for the wrongs they have done and making sure that Target is a good new neighbor.”

Rodriguez said he felt responsible as the alderman in the area to attend the ribbon cutting. He said he has a commitment from Hilco and Target that trucks to and from the facility will not cut through nearby residential streets and will remain on Pulaski to and from the Interstate 55 exit close to the warehouse. “I share those concerns and don’t want more trucks in the neighborhood,” he said.

But he welcomes the economic development.

“Job opportunities are important,” he said.

In a fact sheet, Target said it “built relationships” with Rodriguez and others in the community and noted the agreement on truck routes.

A Target spokeswoman declined to comment on environmentalists’ estimates of potential truck traffic, which is based on the numbers traveling to comparable sites.

Brett Chase’s reporting on the environment and public health is made possible by a grant from The Chicago Community Trust.

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It was brutal. It was deadly. It was no “loving crowd.”

The first day of the House select committee hearing investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol put to rest the cock-eyed storyline, pushed by former President Donald Trump, talk radio and Fox News, that the rioters were anything less than violent, traitorous law-breakers.

We watched video of a D.C. police officer, Michael Fanone, being dragged out and beaten by the insurrectionists. We heard him plead for his life: “I have kids.” We saw him lose consciousness. We heard an officer call out: “I need a medic! We need EMTs now!” We heard his partner say, “Mike, stay in there, buddy.”

Yet a frightening number of Republicans who are not serving on the committee can’t see the problem. The real issue, they would have you believe, is that the police were unprepared. Because, you know, insurrections are gonna happen. Kids will be kids.

We listened to another D.C. officer, Daniel Hodges, describe how he was pinned against a metal door frame by the rioters and wondered whether he would die there or be dragged outside and “lynched by the mob.” He was beaten with his own face shield and baton. He was taunted: “Here come the boys in blue!” He was called a “traitor.” He was warned he would die on his knees.

And all around him, as he testified on Tuesday, were flags. Some read: “Jesus is my savior.” Others read: “Trump is my president.”

Yet the Republicans who are not serving on the committee would have you believe the riot was somehow not the fault of Trump and others who fed the lie that Trump had won the election. It was all the work of antifa and Black Lives Matter.

We listened to a Capitol Police officer, Harry Dunn, describe how he repeatedly was called the n-word for the apparently unforgivable offense of saying he had voted for Joe Biden. “You hear that, guys,” a man said, “this n—- voted for Joe Biden.” A crowd chanted: “Boo, f—— n—”

Yet Trump would later say, “There was such love at that rally.”

We listened as another Capitol Police officer, Aquilino Gonell, described how the rioters sprayed him with chemicals, even after he had administered CPR to one of the insurgents. When Gonell finally made his way home at 4 a.m. the next day, his wife tried to hug him but he pushed her away. The chemicals saturating his skin and uniform were too toxic. He took a shower, and the pain welled up.

But Republican apologists would prefer to remind you the rioters were not armed.

Officer Gonell, who has been on medical leave for the last six months, had something to say about that:

“For those people who continue to downplay this violent attack on our democracy and officers,” he testified, “I suggest to them to look at the videos and the footage now, because common things were used as weapons, like a baseball bat, a hockey stick, a rebar, a flagpole, including the American flag, pepper spray, bear spray. Those are weapons, no matter if it is a pen. The way they were using these items, it was.”

The purpose of the House select committee hearings is to get to the bottom of what happened and why at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. To nail down facts, dispel myths and refute lies.

That mission began in a powerful way Tuesday with the testimony of four good cops.

No, there were no patriots climbing the walls, bashing through doors, beating police officers and hunting down senators on Jan. 6. But there were plenty of people who belong in prison.

We trust federal judges will agree.

Send letters to [email protected].

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