As I write this, massive violent looking storms have been tracking north to south over Lake Michigan for at least the last 18 hours. I hear they’ve been raking the western shore causing some problems.
Inland a few miles, nothing but clouds.
For the first time this year, practically every river in the area is perfect for wading and fishing. As long as the storms stay out to the east, that’s good for those of us that need to be in the water.
From the Mazon to the south, the DuPage and the Fox to the west, there’s no real reason to be cautious about stepping into the water. The only river I would be hesitant about is the Kankakee. The first time I checked it was flowing at about 4600 cubic feet per second. I’ve gone wading in the Kank when its been around the 4000 mark and it was not a fun experience. Not dangerous, just not fun. These storms have been spreading out over northern Indiana. That’s the headwaters of the Kankakee. All that water has to head down stream, so if you’re heading down to the Kank, you may want to check the river gauges before you go.
Kankakee River Real Time River Gauge.
As a matter of fact, the Kank is already on it’s way back up and just went over 5000 cfs. I’d think of somewhere else to go.
At the top of this page you’ll see a button called “Chicago Area Fishing.” There is plenty of information listed that will get you into the rivers around here.
You’ll notice I never mention the Des Plaines River. We have a history and it’s a hard one to forget. Forty years ago I used to play along its banks. It was not much better than an open sewer back then. Though I know better and I know things have improved dramatically, I have a tough time going there.
One of these days I’ll fix that issue, one day. In the mean time I rely on others. In the blog roll to the right you’ll see a link to the blog The Accidental Angler. He’s out fishing the Des Plaines River. If you’re used to the Des Plaines where I grew up, where I-55 crosses it, you’d think this is some kind of joke. You’d think that these are photos of anything but the Des Plaines. When you see the photos of the fish being pulled out of this river, you really start to feel like the joke is played out.
No joke, he’s doing well on that river and he makes it look appealing.
I knew that. Memories of the past just won’t die. I’ll have to get out there to see things for myself. One of these days.
Looks like I’ll be getting out every day this holiday weekend. The Fox one day, a venture to the DuPage on another. Those days are both days out with friends. The last day is for me, for a wander off into the woods to get lost a few miles up a creek somewhere. I like to go where I see no other foot prints, by myself.
