Don't let a chilly breeze deter you from hot fall fishing

Strong winds aside, please perish the thought of putting your fishing gear away for the year.

Right now could be your magic moments for bass and pike in the area.

For example, local guide Darrell Baker (847-337-5559) has been mining gold on lakes just over the Illinois-Wisconsin border.

As many of you already know, we here in the Chicago area did not have much in the way of a "traditional Chicago" summer. The usual waves of obtrusive, sweltering days seemed to bypass us and stick to the southwest regions.

Baker works like an indentured serveant for clients, making sure he puts customers on fish every time out on the water. Of course, other local guides do the same thing, in that they are only as good as to the numbers of fish their customers catch - and release, of course.

But it's these southern Wisconsin lakes, like Silver, which have been laying dormant much of the summer season. It's also been an eye-opener on Lake Elizabeth and Powers Lake.

Often overlooked by some Chicago-area fishermen, the border lakes appear to be somewhat cleaner and more clear than the Chain. And even the illustrious Lake Delavan, the aquarium loaded with big bass, has been taking a snooze of late.

I have seen some very recent pictures of anglers who have been out for a day's worth of fishing with Baker. Some of these photos are astonishing, with images of both smallmouth and largemouth bass weighing anywhere from 3-6 pounds. I say astonishing because because the lakes that were targeted are the ones that get a tremendous amount of angling pressure.

Over the years I have discovered that a number of anglers who consider themselves "average fishermen" focus their efforts on bluebird days, the mornings and afternoons with warm weather and sunshine. If they happened to stumble on a bass or two and some fat crappies, they would tend to say it was a very good day on the water. And for all practical purposes it was in fact a perfect day for them under perfect weather conditions.

And now the water conditions have started to change. In fact on Silver Lake alone the water temperature is warmer than the air temp.

Baker's favorite go-to rig is the Whacky-Worm setup for bass. Spence Petros has been favoring that presentation much of the season, especially on Lake Geneva and Lake Delavan.

Instead of using a bass hook through the nose of a plastic worm and then burying it in the body to make it weedless,like with a Texas rig, the Whacky-Rig hook is inserted in the middle of the plastic thereby allowing the worm to "pulsate" through the water when retrieved.

Now, I haven't given up on the Chain. In fact, the walleye fishing there is starting to really take off, but Baker is putting a lot of effort in locating schooled bass on the border lakes in Wisconsin, and his batting average is quite high. Even Lake Elizabeth has been giving up some hefty largemouth as well as jumbo crappies and bluegills.

Just wear a windbreaker and take your rain gear along for the ride, and be prepared for some excellent angling as we jump in to October.