Fishing the Fox this year was tough. Usual patterns, especially during the warmer months, never really materialized. There were a number of us that just could not figure out what was going on. So we all started fishing elsewhere. Some went to retention ponds, some went creek and small river hopping. Retention pond fishing bores me to tears, so I went with the creeks and small rivers.

Part of this was forced on those of us that like to fish the Fox. We had two 15 years flood events about 5 weeks apart [This was in May and June of that year]. Went to North Aurora and Indian Trail Road, two favorite high water spots only to find that the island parks were practically under water. Went to some creek mouths only to find them unapproachable. But further up stream from the Fox, the creeks were clear and back to normal. Northwest Illinois didn't see near as much rain and the Apple River was running beautifully. This is where I concentrated my efforts for almost 3 months. With pretty good results in spite of poor fishing on the Fox itself.