Put this up a week ago on WCF and forgot to put it here. Pretty much nothing has changed in the last week, so the info is still good for this week. Good any time the water is high actually.
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The gauge down in Montgomery has topped out at 3100 cfs and it looks like the rain is pretty much done.
At that level I know a lot of shores I can walk along in the water. Don't recommend that for anyone, it can still get dicey, and it may be unnecessary if you fish the right places from shore.

Past favorite high water spots I don't go to anymore are St. Charles, Geneva and Batavia, so you guys can have them.

In St. Charles on the west side you can walk the shore from the 64 bridge pretty much as far down as you want to go. Remember you'll be tossing lures down stream and tight to the shore with a nice slow drag back to you. Let the lure bang into things and look for pockets of slower water even if its the size of a bucket. Other times you'll be dropping lures straight down behind cover into small holes with no more than 8 or 10 feet of line out. You'll be doing this everywhere, so get used to it.

Only fished the east side in St. Charles at high water once. Found a big pocket full of crappie and gills. Never fished that side again. Might be worth wandering along the shore.

In Geneva on the east side from the 38 bridge as far down as you feel like walking. You can even keep going through the woods picking apart the shore all the way to Fabyan F.P. if you feel ambitious. Few do that last stretch. Too difficult for most. This stretch has a lot to pick apart, so take your time.

On the west side from the tracks down as far as you can go. No one seems to go here. Not as easy as the other side. But has been worth it in the past.

Downtown Batavia area I won't bother with because every one goes there. It's pretty simple to figure out. Go for a walk.

Further down on the east side is Glenwood Forest Preserve. Start there. You can go north, but it's harder. Going south is a piece of cake and you can go for quite a distance. Might want to be wearing your waders. Once you get this figured out you'll be tempted to step in the water, especially further down.

West side is the hard side. You'll be starting out at Les Arends F.P. Walk north on the bike path till you get to the beginning of the channel. You want to be on the island. The beginning of the channel will be moving pretty good, but it's not that deep. Now I'd be surprised if it made it to crotch level. You want to pick apart the river side shore of the island for as far down as you can go. Every little piece. I vaguely remember having to crawl on my hands and knees to get through a couple of thick spots, otherwise just expect a stumble through the woods. On the channel side, there's fish in there.

If any try this leave a post and let me know how you do. It's been 6 years since I've done it and I hear the pattern for fishing these areas at high water hasn't changed at all.

Hey Ken and who ever else-


My son and I found a decent high water- shore fishing area. Some of you probably already fished it. It is the North side of the Orchard road bridge, or should I say the North shore of the river by the bridge. We basically fished from the bridge and going west. We never did get to the east side. Right next to the bridge on the west side there are some nice deep spots right off the banks. We caught a few. We parked on the South side of the river. Just before you go over the tracks there is a little gravel area, thats where we parked. I didn't see any no parking signs, just an I.S.A sign that has been bull-dozed over. Then we just walked back over the bridge and dropped down on the other side. Bring bug spray.

John, that's the place to park. Supposedly if you are going to fish the north side you can park on that side by whatever building that is on the west side of Orchard. If that made any sense. I've seen guys do it though I never have.

The north side is the more accessible from shore at high water. The water is deeper there right off the rocks than on the south side and you can walk along there more.

At the current water level, 2250 cfs, I can wade the south shore from the duck blind back to Orchard without much of a problem. Further down I've crossed the river at this level, though I don't recommend that.

Trying to figure out whether to hit that stretch or go hit a creek after work this week. Not staying light out late enough yet, doesn't give me much time on the water.

Nice to know there are some fish around.

I'm not sure what that building is. I thought I saw some kind of Girl-Scout sign on there and yes there are some nice deep holes by the rocks. WE messed around in that back water area west of the bridge for a couple of minutes until we both got locked up on downed trees in the water. That was enough , my 10 yr old is still getting used to river fishing. He caught on to fishing a couple of years ago , so for those couple of years we spent more time in lakes because it was easier for him. So last year in the spring I took him to Dayton just below the dam. He caught a walleye, sauger, some smallies a largemouth, a 24" northern and a ton of white bass. He certainly liked the variety. I told him you just can't go to a lake and have a day like that.