This is Artificial Lure with your Lake Michigan Chicago fishing report.

We’re locked in a full-on Arctic pattern this weekend. The National Weather Service open-lake forecast is calling for stiff northwest winds pushing up near 30 knots, with 6–10 footers offshore and freezing spray building through tonight and into tomorrow. Closer to shore it’s more manageable, but still rough and bitter – this is serious cold-water gear-only weather.

According to SolunarForecast’s Chicago tables, the better feeding windows today line up around the early morning and mid‑afternoon majors, so that first light to mid‑morning window is worth grinding, then again toward late afternoon as the wind eases a touch.

Sunrise is right around 7:10 local, sunset just after 4:20 , so you’ve got a short, gray-light day to work with. These low, stable winter light levels usually help the bite once you find fish; you’re not relying on a midday sun window.

Water temps along Chicago’s lakefront are sitting in the upper 30s to very low 40s in harbors and discharge areas. That’s put most action into two zones: warm-ish pockets and deep wintering edges. Local pier regulars and shop chatter out of the South End report light but steady mixed bags the last few days – mostly lake trout with a few bonus brown trout and the odd coho around warm discharges and harbor mouths. Perch catches have been spotty, with small pods producing a dozen or two keepers if you land on them.

For lake trout and browns, think slow and subtle. Jigging heavy blade baits and 1/2‑ounce spoons tight to the bottom has been the ticket, just like winter patterns Wired2Fish lays out for cold-water bass – same idea, different species. Snap them up, let them flutter back to bottom, long pauses. Chrome, gold, and white with a touch of glow are producing. Big white or alewife‑pattern swimbaits on 3/4–1 oz jigheads are also connecting when fished painfully slow along the rocks.

If you’re chasing perch inside the harbors, downsize. Small jigheads tipped with minnows or waxies, or classic perch rigs with live minnows, are outfishing artificials. Natural colors – browns, greens, and subtle chartreuse – on tiny plastics will clean up when they’re finicky.

A couple of hot spots if you’re braving it:

• **Montrose Harbor and the outside horseshoe** – Deep wintering lakers along the rocks on big spoons and blades, and roaming pods of perch inside when the wind lets you fish vertical.
• **Burnham and Calumet area discharges** – Any warm water coming out draws browns and the occasional early coho. Work jerkbaits and swimbaits just outside the color line, and heavy spoons deeper.

For lures, locals are leaning on:
• 1/2–1 oz casting spoons (Kastmaster‑style, Johnson‑style) in chrome/blue, chrome/green, or gold.
• Blade baits in silver and gold for vertical work.
• 3–4 inch paddle‑tail swimbaits on heavy heads in white, smelt, and goby tones.
• Inside harbors: tiny ice jigs, tungsten teardrops, and small crappie tubes tipped with live bait.

Bait-wise, lake trout and browns are mostly coming on artificials, but a lively shiner on a slip rig or float near bottom will steal the show on slow days. For perch, live minnows are still king, with worms and spikes as backup when shops run short.

Safety note: with these northwest winds and freezing spray warnings offshore, pick protected water, wear a real flotation suit or life jacket, and treat every surface like black ice. One slip in this water can end your day fast.

That’s it from Artificial Lure on the Chicago lakefront. Bundle up, fish slow, and stick to those warm pockets and deep edges.

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