Today marks the start of the 2021 Bears training camp for the upcoming season. From today, July 28 all the way to August 30, the Chicago Bears are set to see some football action! It’s certainly been a long and painful wait after the team traded up to select quarterback Justin Fields in this year’s draft.

But out of all the fandoms in the NFL, it’s safe to say that Bears fans are some of the most patient out there. Can anyone really blame us though? We haven’t had a long-standing, competent franchise quarterback in forever. And this past year as we’ve mostly stayed at home, the Bears drafted a play-caller with the potential to lead this franchise into the next decade. We’ve sat, we’ve waited, and now, we’re here to talk some Chicago football and what to keep your  eye out for at the 2021 Bears Training Camp.

David Montgomery’s Progress

Third-year running back David Montgomery is certain to be a focal point for the Bears offense in training camp as well as the season. That’s not speculation either, as Matt Nagy set the bar at 20 carriers a game in a recent interview. 20 touches per game would be extremely impactful if he can pull it off. Through his first two years as a pro, Montgomery has posted an average YPC of 4.0. He’s definitely elusive and talented enough to continue that trend. Given that he’s only 24 years young, he should have no problem keeping up with that many carries each week. The return of Tarik Cohen and addition of Damien Williams will only help him further. Two competent guys in the backfield that serve as the perfect compliment to Montgomery’s play style could make for a dangerous Chicago Bears offense. That is, if the offensive line can hold up.

How The O-Line Looks

Offensive line struggles and quarterback woes go hand-in-hand for the Bears franchise. Fortunately, Nagy and Pace set the tone in the second round of the draft when they selected OL Tevin Jenkins from Oklahoma State. The  kid is a 6-foot 6-inch, 320 pound tank of a football player that apparently can’t wait to put the pads on and start some contact drills. He won’t get that many opportunities at training camp, but he will in the regular season. Jenkins and the rest of the offensive line can and should be a focal point at the 2021 Bears training camp until we see some real improvements when it counts. Oh, and speaking of players looking to make improvements.

The Development of 2nd Year Players

Second year starters Cole Kmet and Darnell Mooney are another pair to watch at training camp. Both players showed some promise at last year’s limited practice sessions, but it didn’t necessarily translate right away in games. Kmet was virtually non-existent until week 10. Mooney however made a big splash right away as a pass catcher for the Bears. If he and Kmet only reach their expected potential that comes with year two it could mean trouble. And it won’t even matter who’s slinging the ball down the field.

Chicago’s Quarterback Situation

We’ve all heard the soundbites from Nagy on their plans for the development of rookie quarterback Justin Fields. They’ll string Fields along behind Andy Dalton while he gets his feet under him. Throughout the offseason, Matt Nagy made it crystal clear that Fields would not start in week 1. Until now that is. When asked the question again at a recent press conference, Nagy admitted that things can change between now and the first week of the regular season. It’s an interesting comment given how adamant he was that Fields wouldn’t be able to show him anything to change his mindset. But now his tone has changed, and as  the 2021 Bears training camp rolls on, it’ll be an interesting situation to watch.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo . — The Royals walked Jose Abreu intentionally to pitch to Eloy Jimenez.

It wasn’t a good choice.

With Adam Engel on third base as the tying run and Abreu on first, Jimenez launched a hanging 0-1 slider from right-hander Kyle Zimmer in the eighth inning Tuesday for his first home run, giving the White Sox a 5-3 victory against the Royals at Kauffman Stadium.

It was an interesting, choose-your-poison strategy and Jimemez seemed to acknowledge Royals manager Mike Matheny’s decision as he watched his 459-feet to left-center. It was Jimenez’s second hit of the night following his 0-for-4 season debut Monday.

“I was ready for that moment because I know Jose is a RBI machine,” Jimenez said, “so they don’t want to pitch to him. Because they think I was off time [playing only my second game after coming back from a pectoral muscle tear]. But I was ready for that.”

Reynaldo Lopez pitched a scoreless seventh for his first win, Michael Kopech struck out the first three batters in the Royals lineup in a perfect eighth and Liam Hendriks pitched a perfect ninth to even the Sox’ four-game series with their division foes.

Jimenez, who said he was too excited his first game back Monday when he went 0-for-4 as a designated hitter, was more under control. He also made a shoestring catch in left field and threw a runner out at home. He’ll DH again Wednesday as manager Tony La Russa looks to protect his legs.

“First of all Eloy was the defensive star of the game. He played Gold Glove stuff out there, with a Gold Glove throw,” La Russa said. “And that was a legitimate home run.”

Citing Abreu’s 75 RBI and acknowledging Jimenez’s rust, La Russa said he would have done the same thing as Matheny did — walk Abreu.

Jimenez provided a needed jolt to a Sox lineup that had scored only eight runs over their previous five games. The Sox had lost four of those.

It was the latest in a list of moments the Sox have packaged together in an eventful season.

“You look at this team, guys are winning and having so much fun,” Engel said. “It’s a characteristic of this team and I think it’s because we’ve been on the bottom and we know what it’s like to stink. Now that we are playing good baseball, it’s a lot of fun. I wouldn’t want to go back through the [rebuilding] years and re-live that. But now that we’re on this side of it, it’s like man, this is so much better than being the worst team in the league.”

Dylan Cease pitched six solid innings, allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits while walking one and striking out six. The walk, to Jorge Soler leading off the second, was converted into a run on Hunter Dozier’s sacrifice fly, which preceded right fielder Andrew Vaughn’s drop of Michael Taylor’s slicing liner in the Royals’ two-run second. Andrew Benintendi doubled and scored on Ryan O’Hearn’s single in the fourth.

Royals right-hander Brad Keller, who entered with a 5.84 ERA, held the Sox to four hits over seven innings, one of them Gavin Sheets’ sixth homer for the visitors’ only run against him.

Cease strung three scoreless innings before being pulled after six innings and 89 pitches, perhaps as manager Tony La Russa monitors his workload. Cease, whose career high is 141 ¹/₃ innings between the Sox and the minor leagues in 2019, is at 108 ²/₃ innings.

“I’ve never had a full year in the show yet so it’s hard for me to say [what my limit would be],” Cease said. “I want to throw as many innings as I can.”

Jimenez will hit as many homers as he can, but this one was special for more reasons than one.

On a postgame Zoom call, Jimenez gave a message to 12-year-old Brady Nelson, who is fighting pediatric brain cancer.

“That was for you,” Jimenez said.

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The Blackhawks traded the retired Brent Seabrook’s contract to the Lightning late Tuesday in exchange for forward Tyler Johnson and a 2023 second-round draft pick.

It was their second trade of Tuesday alone in which they acquired a useful NHL player for essentially no trade cost, after doing the same with retirement-contemplating goalie Marc-Andre Fleury earlier in the day.

It also continued a hyperactive July for general manager Stan Bowman, who has also traded Duncan Keith and acquired Seth Jones in the past two weeks alone.

Johnson, a 30-year-old center, has seen his production decline in recent seasons, down from a career-high 72 points in 2014-15 and an impressive 47 points as recently as 2018-19 to 22 points (in 55 games) last season. But the Hawks will be able to offer him more playing time than the stacked Lightning could.

“Johnson adds a large amount of skill and depth to our offense,” Bowman said in a statement. “His versatility across the lineup, two-way play and championship experience throughout his career make our lineup stronger.”

The impact of the trade on the Hawks’ rapidly evolving salary cap situation is tougher to evaluate, though.

Johnson’s $5 million cap hit for the next three years is technically cheaper than Seabrook’s $6.875 million cap hit for the next two, but Seabrook will spend those two years on long-term injured reserve whereas Johnson is an active player.

Seabrook medically retired in March due to a variety of health issues, and Bowman thanked him again Tuesday for his “cooperation in this process.”

If Fleury actually does report to Chicago next season, the Hawks have now added $12.7 million in active 2021-22 cap hits to their books in the past two weeks (factoring in the Jones brothers’ additions and Keith’s subtraction).

They can still create more flexibility by moving Andrew Shaw’s $3.9 million hit to LTIR, but the financial situation looks a lot tighter now than it did at season’s end — a reality potentially reflected in the Hawks’ peculiar decision not to qualify young Pius Suter on Monday.

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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.

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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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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.

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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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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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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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