Fox Prospects for Weekend of 09-13-08

From the Wisconsin border to the Illinois River, some of the best and easily accessible fishing in the Chicago area.
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Ken G
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Fox Prospects for Weekend of 09-13-08

Post by Ken G »

Well, that's a bite in the ass.

A couple of weeks ago I did a fishing/scouting trip to the area around Orchard Road. It was a couple of days before opening season on resident geese and I wanted to see if it would be worth trying to shoot a few of these geese in this spot two weeks down the line.

I did make the mistake of checking it out in the morning. By a certain time all the geese are off the water, usually around 7 AM. Better to be out at mid afternoon and wait for there return from the fields.

But the fishing wasn't bad.

And the geese were in nearby fields.

I knew I would have a free weekend in a couple of weeks so I made tentative mental plans to spend a Saturday or Sunday afternoon doing a combined hunting/fishing trip in this stretch.

So much for that.

The rains that plagued river waders for the first half of the year were back. Within a week we got enough rain to push the current flow back up to about 2500 cfs. Which is a level that makes it pretty stupid to try getting across the river. It's possible, but it's pretty stupid.

The river had been dropping steadily and was going to be in perfect condition for this coming weekend, but then comes the rains again. By Sunday morning the weather service is predicting 1 to 3 inches of rain. Possibly more depending on what Hurricane Ike decides to do.

This will not only make a mess out of any possible fishing, but will make crossing the channel to the blind virtually impossible. If not impossible, definitely not worth it.

I'll probably get out, but no geese.

I'll probably wander a shore line, casting jigs and twisters into the muddy, fast flowing waters.

I'll probably get in the water behind a current break where I know the depth of the water, if the river doesn't come up too bad.

I'll probably catch a few fish, I always do.

I'll probably start looking around the river at spots I'd like to fish, but can't unless I felt like going for a swim.

I'll probably show an interest in doing all of this for about an hour, maybe an hour and a half.

And then I'll probably get bored.

I'll probably pack it up and go home after that hour and a half.

Bummed that I didn't get the opportunity to do the fishing/hunting trip that was planned.

Damn rain.

Why couldn't it do this the year I opened my canoe livery.
Ken G
Stand still like the hummingbird.
http://www.waterdogjournal.com
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