Anglers take note of LaSalle Lake

My choice for some hot, soft-water angling is LaSalle Lake, which opens to the public March 15.

It's a man-made, 2,058-acre lake eight miles southeast of Marseilles.

I predict there will be quite a few large striped bass caught during the first week of operation. And anglers may get a chance to tie in to some hefty smallmouth bass as well.

In the meantime, ice anglers are really cashing in with great catches from area lakes. There is a lot of safe ice remaining on various bodies of "water."

Fox Chain: Here's where we have a classic scenario of late-season pots of gold. Some fishermen have been very successful on the north end of Channel Lake, taking big bluegills and crappies. Petite Lake has also be offering quite a menu of channel cats and walleye in shallow water.

Fox River: Some of the backwater areas have open water with deeper pockets. That's where some fishermen are finding fat crappies and bluegills, with a few yellow bass tossed in for good measure.

Lake Michigan: The spring coho run is an on-again, off-again situation at both Indiana and Illinois locations. Gary anglers are taking a few small fish, while their Illinois neighbors in Chicago are finding a few fish here and there, especially where one can find plenty of open water.

Wisconsin River: Traveling Illinois anglers are working slack-water areas near the Dells with fairly good success for walleyes.

• Mike Jackson's radio program can be heard from 6-7 a.m. Sundays on WSBC 1240-AM.