Dale Bowman

From a leucistic sandhill crane to a collared coyote in Lake County to tilapia in Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS) to a dark woolly bear this fall, there are freaks, mysteries and natural oddities to wonder about and enjoy around Chicago outdoors.

Fall trout season in Illinois opening Saturday and the setting up of general fall fishing patterns lead this sprawling raw-file Midwest Fishing Report.

Peeylair Caffie experienced something that is becoming more common, catching a northern pike while salmon fishing on the Chicago lakefront, and he earns Fish of the Week.

The inaugural Pawpaw Festival in Paw Paw celebrated the largest fruit in North America and gave a proper setting to appreciate and consider the unique native.

Another sighting of a wild turkey in Chicago and an observation on rabbits becoming prey are among the notes from around Chicago outdoors and beyond.

Leading the sprawling raw-file Midwest Fishing are inland fish putting on the fall feedbag and shoreline salmon and trout continuing on Lake Michigan.

Extremely warm water hasn't stopped salmon from a weird return to shore around Chicago; plus some notes on Illinois' stocking of salmon and trout this year.

Sandhill cranes on a suburban golf course and a question on the Chicago fishing advisory committee meeting are among the notes from around Chicago outdoors and beyond.

Shoreline salmon and trout and the shift toward fall weather drive this sprawling raw-file Midwest Fishing Report.

With Illinois' archery deer season opening next Tuesday, Oct. 1, suspected EHD reports now come from 43 counties.