Tag Archives: fox river fishing

Three Days and a Few Hours of Fishing

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I toy with the idea of writing something interesting, but my brain is frying with other things.

Will the temp to hire job I’ve been working actually turn into a hire, possibly ending a few years of financial drought.

Will the Rheumatoid Arthritis that came out of nowhere and viciously attacked my wife’s joints a few months ago do even more damage soon. Will the chemo treatments she’s on actually make her lose more hair than she has and will she be able to walk or use her hands in another year if the treatments fail.

Will we heavily arm and back whoever the hell that is in Syria only to have them denounce us and try to kill us all down the road.

Will the fault line that runs under Illinois finally split and bring the Gulf of Mexico all the way to Peoria.

And what about the next Iron Chef?

Hard to concentrate with all that running around in my head.

On top of that, even with all the greening going on and all the flowers and birds and critters, I’m totally uninspired to take pictures of my surroundings while out fishing.

But I did get out on three days and a few hours of fishing.

Started out in a creek on Wednesday after work. Peering down from the bridge at still deep water, I was encouraged by some landmarks that told me I can get in and walk around a bit.

Couldn’t have been more wrong. Took a half hour to go 50 feet. Most of my time was spent on my toes with water closely approaching nipple level. I did catch eight smallies in that 50 feet, but walking with your arms already over your head makes it difficult to set a hook, so I missed the hookset on at least twice that. I do have one lame photo of a fish, but hardly worth putting up. Besides, I was too busy trying not to go under the water to think about pictures. The creek bed should have been coming up, but it was going down instead. Going back the way I came was out of the question against the current and it took me almost a half hour to figure out how to get the hell out of the creek.

Speaking of lame photos, there’s more. I knew the fishing I would do this day and any other day I chose to go out would be good too. Since my surroundings weren’t inspiring, I considered taking a picture of every fish caught and posting them. This day would have been eight.

The next day out the fishing lasted for the duration of a cheap cigar, about 20 minutes and resulted in nine more fish. There were no botched hooksets. That would have been 17 lame photos of fish up here so far. I’ve decided to put up just one. I blew this way up in Photoshop. I can see myself in the eyeball.

I see you!

Speaking of creeks that aren’t doing what they’re supposed to do, this creek has changed with the floods we’ve had. The width of the creek used to go all the way to the trees you see on the right. That gravel bar is now almost two feet above the water. The channel that can now knock you on your ass was usually around ankle deep.

Further downstream, besides being decorated with new trees, the creek is a good 30 feet wider. Will be interesting as the water comes down and I get to do more exploring just what I’ll find. I already know another creek has similar issues. It’s not the new depths that bother me, it’s what’s down in the depths.

This would be Sunday, definitely a good day of fishing that resulted in the thumb pictured above. I initially thought I was out for 2.5 hours, but it winds up it was barely two. This resulted in 42 fish. Two green sunfish, two largemouth and the rest were smallies.

It would have been fun to put up 59 lame pictures of fish, but I’ll save you the scrolling and just put up a few. But take a look at the backgrounds. For years I’ve been taking lame pictures of fish where I try to show the type of water I catch them out of. This day it was every imaginable type of water, including some of the fastest roiling water where I thought for sure nothing would be living. This was found out by accident as I dragged a lure through the rush of water.

This is the most piss poor shot I’ve ever taken of an 18 inch smallie.

And for those that must know such things… A Cabela’s 1/16th ounce plain head jig with a 1/0 hook. Three inch Producto Spring Grubs, in pearl.

I thought of switching to something else, but really, how stupid would that have been.

All fish were on the bottom whether in 1 or 4 feet of water. A few came up off the bottom as I reeled in the lure, I could see them come up.

If you don’t know how to get a 1/16 ounce jig on the bottom in fast moving, three foot deep water, you’re on your own. I don’t show anyone how to do that. I only cast downstream, so casting upstream is not the answer and doing that definitely won’t catch you that many fish.

I give it the rest of May and then we enter the summer doldrums where all fish have lockjaw and only dynamite in well placed eddies will get you anything.

So go out and get it while you can.

High, Fast and Muddy Fishing

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A few times a year we get enough rain to make the Fox River ideal for high, fast and muddy fishing. Wading at that point is out of the question, so walking the shore of the flooded river and fishing the nooks and crannies within a foot of shore is simple. The fish tuck in tight to get out of the current, making them relatively easy pickings.

The problem is, I’ve done this so many times I’m bored with it. I usually wait a few days then go fish creeks. They drain and clear up much faster than the river.

I think this time it’s not going to work out that way.

That’s Big Rock Creek. I usually get in at this spot then go either up or down stream. Usually the water beneath this bridge is barely crotch deep. I’d say it’s about 10 feet deep now. There were a lot of nice eddies, but it was a little too muddy. I think the ideal spot would be off in the distance, beyond that thin strip of green. That’s the field where the cattle graze. I hear smallies have a penchant for cow pies.

The other direction is even more out of the question.

A pool beneath that bridge in the distance is almost impossible to walk through even at low water. Based on what I saw, I’d say it’s about 15 feet deep now. There’s not a whole lot of traffic that crosses that bridge and those that do drive across it give wandering anglers a wide berth while they walk the bridge. Might be worth dropping a line over the rail.

Another favorite high water spot is the outflows of treatment plants, or crap plants. The outflow is always crystal clear and when the river is blown out and muddy, they’re fish magnets.

In Yorkville right now, fishing the crap plant couldn’t be easier. You can go sit on the porch of this building, out of the rain and fish in dry comfort.

Or, you could wander through the two to three feet of water and hit the walls of the building next door.

Personally, I’d be targeting the dumpster.

There’s always the holding tanks. I hear some crap plants keep them filled with carp, carp will eat just about anything you know.

The question becomes… should I use a floater or a sinker?

All up and down the river there’s new structure to fish and you should make an effort to cast at as much of this new structure as possible. Everything can hold fish under these conditions.

I almost wish I lived here…

Off on the left is the kitchen. I could drop a line right out the window, catch a fish, reel it in directly into the kitchen and have it cooked and plated in less than half an hour.

Doesn’t get any fresher than that.

Blackberry Creek Dam Removal Update, Dam Free and a Fishing Report

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To play catch up, you can read the past progress reports here.
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In the past week I’ve wandered over to the Blackberry Creek Dam Removal site three times. I have over 50 photos to go through and a brain full of crap to sort out. Neither of which I’m in the mood to do. I’ll get to it.

First and foremost, the dam is gone and Blackberry Creek is dam free for the first time in over 175 years.

But my initial ventures to the creek were for fish. Documenting things would come later. I wanted to catch something, see if the fish were up here, patiently waiting. I got out one day before the water was flowing.

I caught a couple of these.

A couple of these.

And even one of these came out to play.

To put things in perspective, on Saturday I went to the two other creeks to see if fish were finally moving in. They were high from the rain, but clear. I could see the bottom clearly in five foot deep pools and I could see clearly that they were still devoid of life. I should clarify that.

I saw a minnow.

But that was it. I walked them and fished them and cut it short, the water was ice cold. I knew I was wasting my time.

Saturday was when I took the photo at the top. Of course I was there to fish, not explore. Fish were in, carp after carp. I even hooked one in the mouth and landed it, but it was camera shy. Which is fine by me, I hate handling those slimy things. After rolling and foul hooking another 30 or so, I gave up. The carp were in too thick.

What a difference between the creeks. One teeming with life, the other two barren. I have my theories. Springs on the other two, those two also dried up pretty good in last year’s drought. Other theories, but the fish always come back. Just have to be patient on the one hand and there when they arrive on the other.

Sounds easy enough.

And, for those that need to know… a three inch Producto Spring Grub, in Pearl, on a plain head 1/16th ounce jig with a 1/0 hook from Cabela’s. It catches everything, even carp.

Why switch now.

Creek Hopping for Smallies

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Saturday temperatures were calling for somewhere around 40 degrees, perfect for getting out to do some creek hopping for smallies. I already knew the two creeks I wanted to hit and where I wanted to hit them. On the way I had to cross over one of them. Stopped to size things up.

I peered down over the bridge railing and saw this.

That’s right, nothing. Not a living thing. No minnows, no suckers, no carp, not a bug or a smallmouth to be seen. The creek was completely devoid of life. This was not a good sign. Usually by this time of year carp and suckers could be seen at this spot slowly migrating up stream. Or they’ll sit and hold in the current and the sun. I’ve noticed they hold more in the daylight and move more at night. The absence of these fish didn’t bode well for today’s fishing outing. But I needed to be out.

Though the Fox River is still high from all the snow melt and runoff from recent rains, the creeks are all relatively clear and flowing normally.

I got to the first creek fishing spot. All suited up in waders and layers of clothes, I stepped into the water. Along the shore were remnants of snow. I stuck my hand in the snow to calibrate it, pulled it out and let it dry and warm back to normal. Then I bent over and stuck my hand in the creek. There was no discernible difference between the cold of the snow and the cold of the creek. Another bad sign.

The creek did look good though.

I wandered down the creek. No signs of life in the water anywhere. Casts were made with no taps in return. Usually this time of year each cast is met with the taps from creek chubs. Bigger chubs would be hooked. Not a thing.

The sunlit slow moving spots normally hold large schools of minnows. They hold behind small rocks or in the indents in the bottom of the creek. Not a thing, nothing was seen.

This was partially expected. Last year the drought took it’s toll on this creek. It had all but dried up to a trickle and one nearly mile long stretch had dried up completely. For now I’m going to chalk up today’s lack of life to ice cold water and nothing felt like moving. I’ll know in a couple of weeks whether it was the cold or the drought that made the creek devoid of life.

Between casts, I looked for objects. What else was there to do.

Did find a big bone, I’m assuming from a cow (cattle?). There are cattle that are raised upstream of here. I would imagine now and then one wanders down the creek and dies. This bone looked like it had been around for awhile.

Gave this stretch of the creek an hour of fishing. Usually a few smallies come to hand. Nothing today, not even a tap. Wandering through the woods back to my car and out in the middle of nowhere I come across this.

Took a lot of effort to get this here.

I headed to the other creek, not far from where I first peered over the bridge. I knew I was going to waste my time, but I had the time to waste. I also knew where I wanted to get in the creek. Anywhere else would have had me entering in waste deep water, here the water would barely reach my knees.

I sized up the slope down the hill, steep. I hesitated. I can do it and went. Half way down my feet slid out sideways, out from under me. First my left hip hit hard, then my elbow, jamming my shoulder and neck. Then my ribs and I slid to the edge of the creek. Not very elegant. Soon as I put my weight on my left leg I knew I screwed something up. A pinch in the hip and a numbing tingle down my leg. A smart man would have gone home. I’m not a smart man.

I headed down the creek, casting as I went. This creek too was devoid of life. I stuck my hand in the water, no different than the other creek. Even the sun drenched stretches showed no life. Usually a small bug hatch occurs in these sun drenched spots, no bugs.

The closer I got to the mouth of the creek the deeper the water was getting. The current of the creek died as it met the river water, there was nowhere for the creek to go quickly. I got in up to my waist, crotch leak. I could feel it where I didn’t want to feel it. Luckily my hip and my leg were already sore and numb, in the great scheme of things, not feeling one more appendage was no great loss.

Cast to all the likely fish holding spots. Fish holding spots that in years past actually held fish. Not a thing. No movement, no hits, no taps, no rolls over the backs of suckers and carp.

My left leg was now twitching from the pain, the other appendage had disappeared to warmer climes and I was getting a massive headache from the jamming of my arm into my shoulder and neck. This was not even remotely interesting anymore. There were no fish here anyway, why continue to prove myself correct.

It was time to go. Try again next week, maybe.