Skokie Lagoons Fishing Information | Skokie Lagoons Fishing Reports | WindyCityFishing.com

Lake Info and Reports:

Resources:

Bass Length Conversion Chart

Walleye Length Conversion Chart

Largemouth Bass Age Chart

Cook County Forest Preserve District

Illinois Department of Natural Resources

Purchase Fishing License

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FurnaceHelp.com

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Rich Murray's Guitar Channel

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Fishing at the Skokie Lagoons has increased dramatically over the past few years. The Skokie Lagoons are now considered one of the top Cook County Forest Preserve Lakes for fishing.

Map courtesy of www.chicagofishing.org

Location of Skokie Lagoons: The Skokie Lagoons are located between Dundee Road and Willow Road just east of the Edens Expressway (I-94). From the expressway, exit at Dundee east to Forestway and turn right. Or, exit Willow east to Forestway and turn left.

Get Mapquest map of entrance to Skokie Lagoon #6 (the northern most part of the lagoons accessible to the public). It is off Dundee Rd, south on Forest Preserve Way.

Known Species in Skokie Lagoons: Largemouth Bass, Walleye, Northern Pike, Crappie, Bluegill, Catfish, Bullhead, Carp.

Bait Shops near Skokie Lagoons: None on site or near by. I usually go to Ed Shirley's on Dempster on the way.

Jay's General Comments: Skokie Lagoons is a great body of water. Completely overhauled in the mid 90's, theSkokie Lagoons is now the NUMBER 2 Cook County Forest Preserve lake for fishing. The lagoons are vast with tons of shoreline to work from. The dams at Tower Road and Willow Road are popular spots to fish but are usually crowded with lots of "bucket" fishermen. There are so many other areas to fish that are very productive so don't get stuck on the dam areas. Parking is basically right along the road (Forestway) and only a few yards from the water. The Skokie Lagoons are not deep so don't get too caught up with working depth. Rather, work structure and weedlines. There is TONS of structure to fish at the Skokie Lagoons.

There are forest preserve bathrooms scattered throughout the preserve, but not that great. In the summertime, an ice cream truck sets up shop at Tower and Forestway and offers a decent selection of snacks and drinks. Gas stations and shops are no farther than 5 minutes away west of Dundee, Tower, and Willow.

Special Note: We have given names to 2 locations of Lagoon #6. "Walleye Cove" is the west bank of the lagoon just past the dike and up to where the brush gets really heavy. Several clearings can be fished there. "Topwater Bay" is a clear shallow bay with nice weeds just below the surface with some great pockets. It is located along the main trail right betweer the dike and dam. While facing the bay from the main clearing, more water will be right behind you (dirty). There is a nice point to work all the way to the right of the main clearing, and a smaller clearing to the left. BE QUIET! Fish spook easily.

Get up-to-date fishing information and reports for Skokie Lagoons and other waters on our message boards!

Skokie Lagoons Links

Nature Bulletin No. 646 September 9, 1961
This CCFPD bulletin from 1961 is really cool to read and provides some of the history of the origins of the Skokie Lagoons

Here is a great quick history of the Skokie Lagoons

Here is info on Bird Watching at the Skokie Lagoons

IFishIllinois.org - Skokie Lagoons Fishing Reports
This site has some some good fishing report "conditions".

2005 Skokie Lagoons Fishing Reports:

Report: June 3, 2005 -- Jason W. Norris
Temps around 70, hazy, light/variable winds, fished from 6:45pm-8:30pm. Not a bad evening. Used my inflatable boat and worked lagoon #6. All the action was near the point on the west shoreline of the lagoon. Picked up a 13.5 inch bass with a Berkley 7" Natural Gulp worm and a 20" northern pike on the same bait. Later I landed an 18.5 inch hawg with a Heddon Tadpolly crankbait/frog color. What a nice fish. Also got 2 other bass 10", and 12 inches on the plastic worm. Lots of fun!

Report: May 27, 2005 -- Jason W. Norris
Temps in the low 60's, fished from 7:15pm to 8:45pm. Storm rolling in. Wouldn't you know... as soon as I got there it started raining like hell. But I had my poncho and was ready. Worked Walleye Cove with Husky Jerks and a plastic worm. Nothing. Moved over by the dike and got two 12-inch largemouth bass. Rain stopped around 8:20. Then I worked by the parking spot (east side of lagoon 6) with a plastic work and a Hula Popper. Nothing. Fish were jumping, many of them carp.

Reports Archive:

Report: May15, 1999 -- Jason W. Norris
Partly cloudy, temps in the low 70's. Fished just north of Tower Road. My girlfriend got a nice 15 inch bass on a nightcrawler. Not much more action except for my 3 inch bass on a mini-mite.

Report: June 7, 2001 -- Jason W. Norris
Worked all of Lagoon #6 from a canoe. Fished from 5pm - 8:45pm. Several crappie, about 6 bass, largest about 15 inches, and a small walleye. All on a suspending Rapala Husky Jerk. Weather was real nice, sunny, temps in 80's. A big storm rolled in about 9pm.

Report: June 16, 2001 -- Jason W. Norris
Lagoon #6, 4pm to 8:30pm, hot, sunny and muggy. Picked many crappie and bass all around the lagoon, especially back in Topwater Bay. Used a suspending Rapala Husky Jerk.

Report: June 17, 2001 -- Jason W. Norris
Lagoon #6 again. This time as a Father's Day treat for my step-father and sister. Fished from 12:30pm to 3pm. Temps in the upper 80's, light SW winds, and sunny. Got about 12 crappie in Walleye Cove on a suspending Rapala Husky Jerk. Also got 1 small 10 inch bass.

Report: June 21, 2001 -- Jason W. Norris

Woked Lagoon #6. None of the crappie that had been hitting earlier in the week were around. And the bass were few and far between. My cousin managed a nice 16 inch bass in Topwater Bay with a Pop'R bait. Then we worked back to Walleye Cove and picked up about 8 walleye. Four of which were in the 16 inch range. Most on suspending Rapala Husky Jerks. Two were on carolina rigged plastic worms. Fished from 5pm to 8:30pm. The main Walleye window was from 7pm to 7:45pm. The weather was cool, in the 60's and it had rained early in the day when a cold front came through. This must have been what shut down the bass anc crappie. This evening was partly sunny. Great time!

Report: May 17, 2004 -- Jason W. Norris
Worked the west side of lagoon #6 (walleye cove) from 7pm-8:15pm. Temps around 80, calm wind. Very weedy. Worked several Husky Jerk baits and got nothing. One small bass on a 1/32 oz Rattlesnake jig. While leaving I tossed a jog by the inlet pipe and something big grabbed the line then snapped it right off. I then threw a 1/2 oz jig and the same thing happened. They were most likely walleye or northern as the break was clean and quick. Tossed in a few other lures but to no avail.

Report: May 20, 2004 -- Jason W. Norris

Again worked almost all of lagoon #6. Temps in mid 80's, no wind, huge storm coming in, cloudy skies. Fished from 5:30pm to 8:00pm. Perfect conditions to fish, right? I thought so. I threw all sorts of stuff at them and only managed one 14 inch bass on a plastic worm by the inlet.