Skokie Lagoons fishing: Northern Pike, Walleye, Black Bullhead

Target species: Northern Pike, Walleye, Black Bullhead, Bluegill, Green Sunfish, Pumpkinseed, Channel Catfish

The lake

Skokie Lagoons covers 302 acres in Illinois, across Cook County. It is a lake: 90.4% of it is 8 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is at least 16 feet (4.9 m). Our records hold 11 species for this water.

Skokielagoonsqqare.jpg
Qqgare · CC BY-SA 4.0

7 target fish, led by Northern Pike

  • Northern Pike — Feeding water: 50–75°F.
  • Walleye — Feeding water: 50–75°F.
  • Black Bullhead — Feeding water: 70–80°F.
  • Bluegill — Feeding water: 70–85°F.
  • Green Sunfish — Feeding water: 65–80°F.
  • Pumpkinseed — Feeding water: 65–80°F.
  • Channel Catfish — Feeding water: 70–85°F.

Also recorded here: Orangespotted Sunfish, Common Carp, Goldfish, Western Mosquitofish.

Skokie-Lagoons-01.jpg
bradhoc · CC BY 2.0

Stocking: 78,735 fish, 2022–2026

Illinois DNR Division of Fisheries records list 78,735 fish released into this water from 2022 to 2026.

Tower Road Bridge.jpg
Ironandwire · CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Walleye: 56,773 in 2022–2026
  • Channel Catfish: 17,102 in 2022–2025
  • Northern Pike: 4,860 in 2022–2026

Depth and bottom

Deepest measured point: at least 16 ft (4.9 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. 90.4% of the water is 8 feet or shallower. We hold 62 depth contour lines for this water.

  • 0–2 ft: 11.5% of the water
  • 2–3 ft: 18.8% of the water
  • 3–4 ft: 16.6% of the water
  • 4–5 ft: 15.1% of the water
  • 5–6 ft: 11.3% of the water
  • 6–7 ft: 9.4% of the water
  • 7–8 ft: 7.7% of the water
  • 8–9 ft: 5.7% of the water
  • 9–11 ft: 3.3% of the water
  • 11–13 ft: 0.7% of the water

Water and conditions

Our water temperature readings average 69°F; they do not cover the whole year, so this is not a yearly average. pH averages 8.3. These readings span 2016–2021. The latest reading is from 2021, more than three years ago: read these numbers as history, not as the water today.

What is hard here

With 90.4% of the water 8 feet or less, low level turns the flats into hazards.

Where this data comes from

  • USGS Central Midwest WSC / Cook County Bureau of Technology — USGS Central Midwest WSC / Cook County Bureau of Technology: depth contours: class A, a survey of the bottom.
  • Webster, K.E., McCullough, I.M., Soranno, P.A. LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0, EDI, doi:10.6073/pasta/64ddc4d04661d9aef4bd702dc5d8984f (CC BY 4.0); Cheruvelil et al. LAGOS-US LOCUS v1.0 (EDI) — LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0: Lake depth for 17,675 lakes in the conterminous U.S.: class B, a depth figure measured and published by an agency, without a bottom map.