Fox River Report . . . or Lament

I had the opportunity to drive along the Fox River from North Aurora to my home in Yorkville. It was a severely depressing site to witness for those that live for open water. If I had beer in the fridge I’d go kill a few, but that may only worsen my mood.

The recent push of cold arctic air has finally won and locked up more of the river with ice. Up until now there was a fair amount of open water available which I have done a fair job of informing you about in the last few weeks (For my Fellow Iceaphobes – The Plan). Sadly, no more.

There are still rivulets of open water meandering down the river, but those are occurring over shallow riffles with no more than a few inches of water. No fish in its right mind would be sitting in that water right now and you would have to be a complete river fishing moron to think throwing lures into these waters might be a good idea. Besides, that open real estate is currently occupied by thousands of ducks and geese. Yes, an estimate, but accurate.

The one savings grace is the warm water discharge downstream from Montgomery. The truly desperate wading angler will find solace here and a shoreline wide open, though shagging a few hundred ducks and geese out of the way first will be required.

With the air temperature in the low teens and the outflows’ usually consistent water temperature of 55 degrees, a beautiful low lying haze was glistening in the light of the setting sun, beckoning anglers. I know the pools and shallows by heart. I know all of the undercut banks that have created quiet pools alongside. These pools have depths that are capable of holding fish eager and willing to please with the take of a lure if offered.

The haze lifted delicately off the water all along the eastern shore. More ducks and geese were warming their butts in this gift of warmth. The haze continued much further than I remembered from times past. The warmer water was finally absorbed by the slush ice laden water over a half mile downstream and the beautiful haze disappeared.

But I’ll be damned if I’m going out there to freeze my ass off trying to catch some stupid fish. I don’t care how beautiful the scene. I’m not crazy and I’m not starving and in need of the free meal. I’ll wait for a report from some more hardy and possibly insane angler.

I hate ice.

The look and feel of it appalls me. Walking on it, especially when covered in snow, is like fingernails on a chalkboard to me. I come home all hunched up and it takes hours for my shoulder muscles to relax.

The long term forecast shows temperatures rising above the freezing mark by the weekend and staying that way for a good week, possibly hitting the 40 degree mark by the following weekend. This should rapidly eliminate a big portion of this disgusting hard water from the river. The spring fed creeks, which are also having a tough time battling the encroaching ice, should open up completely.

There are a couple of deep slow holes on the creeks that might have to be explored. There’s always a possibility that a lazy smallmouth decided to tough it out rather than make the 9 mile journey back to the Fox River.

My records from the not so distant past show smallies being caught from Fox River creeks in the latter half of March. Come April, all is good again and the ice is pretty much a distant memory.

Can’t happen soon enough and I think I’ll go raid the piggy bank and buy some beer. The hell with my mood.