The hottest fishing area during the 2006 season for Chicago-area trollers was the area adjacent to the R-4 buoy four miles off Winnetka. The famous marker sits in roughly 35 feet of water on one of the most prominent underwater structures in Illinois waters. On the west side of the buoy, the water depth is in the 30-foot range, but north, south and east of the marker, the bottom falls off precipitously to over 100 feet. Newcomers to this area will do well to approach the R-4 marker gingerly while keeping a close eye on the depthfinder. If you drag your downriggers onto the rocky reef, kiss them goodbye.

Luckily, the best fishing is not on the reef, but in the deep water surrounding it on the east, north and south sides. It would be best when fishing the R-4 for the first time to simply cruise over the reef from several directions before setting lines -- just to get an idea of where not to go. There is no reason to try to pull lures along the edge of this structure, since the fish are chasing alewives out in the open water within a mile of R-4. Just work the outer edge of the reef area until you locate a concentration of salmonids, then stay on the meat.

Anglers coming out of the Chicago Harbor will take a 3-degree compass heading to reach the R-4. From Diversey Harbor, the run is 12 miles. Add about five miles to that if you leave from Burnham Harbor. Be certain the weather is going to be safe before you go.

If you don't want to burn up all that expensive fuel running out to the R-4, you should find enough fish to fill up the cooler right in front of Chicago in 60 to 120 feet of water. These fish will be in pockets, so good information is critical to finding them quickly. It can turn out to be a long, boring day if you pick the wrong starting point. Hint: Watch where the charter boats are going.

The stretch of the Illinois shore from Waukegan north to the Wisconsin line always holds fish, sometimes more than others. As a rule, the humps in 60 to 100 feet of water off North Point Marina are reliable fish producers. Boaters coming out of Waukegan Harbor will find their quarry in about that same depth, but as off Chicago, the fish may be in tight pockets, so you will have to do some homework to get right on them. Talk to other anglers in the harbor, use the boat radio to listen for successful reports, and don't be afraid to call another boat for information. Most skippers don't mind helping another troller, as long as it doesn't lead to a daylong radio relationship. Find out where the fish are, what they are attacking, how deep they are hitting and then go do your own thing.

STOCKING NUMBERS
This will be the last year for a while that a full complement of salmonids will be stocked. This spring, Michigan significantly cut back on its coho stocking due to budgetary restrictions. As is the case with many other states, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources has experienced a shortfall in its appropriations. They are also faced with the need to upgrade some of their hatchery facilities. As a result, they decided to cut the 2007 and 2008 coho plantings by half, from the usual 1.6 million fish to 800,000.

Concerned Indiana sportsmen's organizations quickly acted to raise $8,000 to pay Michigan to add 100,000 more cohos to the 2007 planting, bringing that total to 900,000. Following that lead, Salmon Unlimited of Illinois and Wisconsin ($48,000), as well as the Wisconsin DNR ($20,000), sponsored 400,000 more cohos for the 2008 stocking when 1.2 million fish will be planted. The long-term average lakewide coho stocking has been 2.6 million fish.

This reduced coho planting will affect the 2008 and 2009 fishing seasons, but then things are scheduled to return to normal. It should be noted the other three states surrounding Lake Michigan are on target to hit their usual stocking goals for all species. Illinois was to stock 300,000 cohos, 250,000 chinooks, 100,000 rainbows, 100,000 browns and 60,000 lake trout this spring.

Chinook stocking has been reduced by 1.1 million lakewide (3.2 million total) to accommodate the greatly enhanced numbers of naturally occurring fish now entering the fishery, as well as migrants from Lake Huron where the alewife population has crashed. Releases this spring were Indiana with 220,000, Michigan, 1,593,000, Wisconsin, 1,144,000 and Illinois, 250,000.

ALEWIFE PROBLEMS
The U.S. Geodetic Survey conducts annual bottom trawls to assess the health of the alewife forage base. This little fish is the main nutrient for the salmonids, and their abundance level determines the health and survival of the big fish.