Midwest Fishing Report: Lake Michigan Bite is On During Prime Morning Feeding Times

Good morning folks! This is Artificial Lure with your Monday fishing report for Lake Michigan and the Chicago area.

Let's start with what Mother Nature's throwing at us. We just came off a brutal weekend—Chicago O'Hare picked up over 8 inches of snow, the highest November single-day snowfall since 1951. But here's the good news: conditions are settling down a bit today. Sunrise is at 6:32 AM and we're looking at sunset around 7:16 PM, giving you just under 13 hours of daylight to work with. Water's still a bit rough from yesterday's gale force winds, but winds are dropping to 10 to 15 knots this afternoon.

For tides, we're looking at a coefficient of 36, which is running low, so don't expect dramatic tidal swings working in your favor today.

Now, here's where it gets interesting. According to the solunar data, we've got major feeding times from 7:26 AM to 9:26 AM and again from 7:52 PM to 9:52 PM. That's prime time, folks. Minor activity is 2:19 AM to 3:19 AM and 1:19 PM to 2:19 PM if you're desperate.

Recent tournament reports from the region show anglers are having solid success on drop-shots with soft plastics like PowerBait MaxScent worms. Smallmouth are also crushing soft plastic shads in green pumpkin and watermelon patterns on main-lake humps. For largemouths, oversized squarebill crankbaits that match local shad forage are producing, especially if you're targeting shallow cover.

I'd focus on the shallow grass and piles along the breaklines—get in 4 to 15 feet of water where you can cover ground with a trolling motor. Calumet Harbor and the areas north of Wilmette are your hot spots right now.

Grab your drop-shot rig, throw some soft plastics, and get out there during those morning windows. The bite should be on.

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