Hey folks, this is Artificial Lure with your Lake Michigan Chicago fishing report for Monday, December 15th at 8:22 AM. Winter's grip is tight—National Weather Service marine forecasts show gale warnings kicking in late tonight through tomorrow morning across Lake Michigan, with southwest gales to 35-40 knots today, freezing spray, and chances of snow showers. Waves building to 8-12 feet occasionally 16 feet near Chicago from Wilmette Harbor to Michigan City, so stay docked if you're small craft—it's nasty out there. No real tides on the big lake, just seiche swings keeping current mild. Sunrise around 7:15 AM, sunset by 4:25 PM CST—hit those low-light windows hard.

Fish activity's slowed with the cold front, but steelhead and coho are staging in tributaries like the Chicago River and Calumet, per local angler chatter. Recent reports from Chicago fishing groups note small limits of 4-8 pound steelhead on yarnies and spinners, plus scattered lake trout in 40-60 feet off Navy Pier, and a few perch pods near breakwalls. Boats last week pulled 10-15 fish days when they braved it, mostly skamania steelhead running hot pre-freeze.

Best lures now: Match the hatch with 3-4 inch swimbaits or spoons like Moonshine or Silver Buddy in chrome/blue for steelhead—slow roll 'em deep. Ned rigs or tubes in green pumpkin for bottom bouncers. Bait kings are emerald shiners or skein on jigs; fatheads work if you're shore-bound.

Hot spots: Navy Pier structure in 30-50 feet for lakers and steelies—watch your graph for bait balls. And Montrose Harbor breaks for perch and early coho—grind slow if you mark fish.

Bundle up, fish smart, and respect those gales.

Thanks for tuning in, and don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss the next report.

This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.

Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn

This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI