Lake Michigan Walleyes
There have been reports of a walleye fishery in southern lake michigan since before Chicago was a city. The lake has gone through a lot of changes since then and walleyes have been forgotten in this part of the lake for a long time. In the last 15 years there have been sporadic reports of walleyes being caught in this part of the lake especially northwestern Indiana.
More recently there have been increasing reports of walleyes being caught in the Chicago area.
On December 11, 2002, Scott Hoswell caught a 14.47lb walleye inside the waters of the Port of Indiana. This fish would have been the new Indiana state record but unfortunately, the Indiana DNR dissallowed the record because it was caught in restricted waters.
In February, 2002, Andy Loyd caught a 31", 13lb walleye while shore fishing in the Port of indiana at an approved site.
On Oct 8, 2007, Toni Pelligrino caught a 6.75 lb walleye at Dusable Harbor in Chicago.
On Sept 11, 2008, Mike Osuch caught the largest walleye recorded in the lake Michigan waters of Illinois, 7.55lb
In late July, 2009, reports came in of a 28" 7 lb walleye caught off the Hammond public fishing pier.
More recently there have been increasing reports of walleyes being caught in the Chicago area.
On December 11, 2002, Scott Hoswell caught a 14.47lb walleye inside the waters of the Port of Indiana. This fish would have been the new Indiana state record but unfortunately, the Indiana DNR dissallowed the record because it was caught in restricted waters.
In February, 2002, Andy Loyd caught a 31", 13lb walleye while shore fishing in the Port of indiana at an approved site.
On Oct 8, 2007, Toni Pelligrino caught a 6.75 lb walleye at Dusable Harbor in Chicago.
On Sept 11, 2008, Mike Osuch caught the largest walleye recorded in the lake Michigan waters of Illinois, 7.55lb
In late July, 2009, reports came in of a 28" 7 lb walleye caught off the Hammond public fishing pier.
The Chicago lakefront alone offers 18 miles of shoreline along beautiful lake Michigan. Northwestern indiana offers many more miles of the same type of shoreline. Much of this shoreline is composed of rock and concrete debris put there to slow the erosion process. The lake front also offers numerous warm water discharges and harbors. In the last decade there has been a population explosion of gobies in the lake. Some estimates are that they make up 1/4 of the wieght of the forage base in Lake Michigan.Some biologists have suggested that the only way to combat these invaders is by stocking of smallmouth bass and walleye.
There has been a stocking program in effect in Wolf Lake by Perch America for several years and some suggest that walleyes may be migrsating from Wolf Lake into Lake Michigan. There has also been a sustainable population of walleyes in the St Joe River in Michigan for many years. There have been many succesful stockings of Walleyes in the St Joe. There has been speculation that these walleyes have migrated into Lake Michigan and are now showing up in areas from Chicago south and east along the Indiana lakefront. There have been documented reports of walleye catches at the power plant discharges in spring for the last 20 years. This all documents that there is a walleye fishery of some kind in southern Lake Michigan. How large this fisihery is somewhat unknown due to the fact that not many anglers target them and the ones that do have been keeping information pretty close to the vest. We encourage anglers who do catch walleyes in the big lake to practice CPR (catch, photo, release). This fishery is fragile and should be protected.
There has been a stocking program in effect in Wolf Lake by Perch America for several years and some suggest that walleyes may be migrsating from Wolf Lake into Lake Michigan. There has also been a sustainable population of walleyes in the St Joe River in Michigan for many years. There have been many succesful stockings of Walleyes in the St Joe. There has been speculation that these walleyes have migrated into Lake Michigan and are now showing up in areas from Chicago south and east along the Indiana lakefront. There have been documented reports of walleye catches at the power plant discharges in spring for the last 20 years. This all documents that there is a walleye fishery of some kind in southern Lake Michigan. How large this fisihery is somewhat unknown due to the fact that not many anglers target them and the ones that do have been keeping information pretty close to the vest. We encourage anglers who do catch walleyes in the big lake to practice CPR (catch, photo, release). This fishery is fragile and should be protected.
