Good morning folks, Artificial Lure here with your Lake Michigan, Chicago fishing report.

We’re locked in a brutal early-winter pattern. AccuWeather and ABC News are both talking about an Arctic blast and polar-vortex driven cold pushing wind chills well below zero around the lake, with spray freezing into icicles on the Michigan side and snow on the Chicago shoreline. Expect stiff northwest to west winds 10 to 20 knots and 1–3 foot waves on the Illinois nearshore, per the National Weather Service marine forecast.

Sunrise is right around 7 a.m. with sunset just after 4:20 p.m., so your prime windows are a short first light bite and a quick dusk flurry. With the cold, today is a low-activity day overall: fish are glued to deeper, more stable water and tight to structure, moving in short feeding bursts.

Recent shore reports around Montrose, Diversey, and Navy Pier have been a grind but not dead. Guys braving the cold have picked off a few lake trout and the odd brown trout on bottom rigs and slow-rolled hardware. Numbers are low, but quality is decent—think a fish or two for the persistent angler instead of fast limits.

Best bets right now:

- For lake trout: heavy silver or white spoons, blade baits, and 3–4 inch paddletails on 3/4–1 oz jig heads, worked painfully slow near bottom. Tip with a minnow head if you can.
- For browns and steelhead nosing around harbors: spawn sacs under a slip float, or a small pink or chartreuse jig tipped with waxies or shrimp, fished just off the rocks.
- For perch when they slide in: small crappie minnows or fatheads on plain hooks or tiny jigs, tight to bottom, very subtle movements.

Live bait is king in this cold. Emerald shiners, fathead minnows, and spawn are outfishing artificials, but if you’re throwing lures, keep it slow and simple: silver/blue spoons, white tubes, and natural shad-colored swimbaits.

A couple of hotspots to try:

- **Montrose Harbor and the horseshoe**: Deep water close to shore, rock and concrete edges holding what little warmth there is. Good shot at lakers and a bonus brown.
- **Navy Pier and downtown wall**: Classic winter structure with deep troughs; when the wind lines up, it funnels bait and gives you a crack at trout and the first waves of perch.

Given the cold and the Small Craft Advisory level conditions we’ve had, I’d call today a hardcore-only day. If you go, dress for real winter, watch the ice on the rocks, and keep your trips short, targeting those dawn and last-light windows.

That’s the word from the big lake. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss a report.

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