I'll be hitting Geneva tonight below the dam to the R.R. tracks per Mr. G's advice. I figure 5ish to 9ish....

If any of you uncouthy river creatures care to join, I'll be the guy stumbling around out there NOT catching fish.

Just looked at the flows, went up to 560ish this morning, and is already back down to 500. Not much of a push, but I'll take it since I don't have a choice. lol

I'm hoping the rain over the next couple days will get the river flowing a bit better.

Was out today between 3 and 5. North Aurora, 1 smallie, 2 hits.

Indian Trail Road, not even a hit.

These used to be for sure spots after rain and a slight push like that. Indian Trail alone was good for 10 fish in an hour. Ran into a guy there that said the last 2 years have just sucked. Something is up. I told him I agreed.

I want to know where the white bass went down from North Aurora. Once upon a time this time of year you couldn't keep them off the hook.

Hit Saw Wee Kee again for 2 hours on Saturday end of day. Went down stream from the canoe launch. 2 smallies. All these spots used to be my for sure 30 fish fall day spots. Things just aren't the same.

I was reading reports on other sites. Guy says he had a great day. Caught 9 smallies in 4 hours. I once stood in one spot at Indian Trail, this time of year, and caught 27 in under 2 hours. How do you tell someone, no, 9 smallies in 4 hours is not even an average day.

I think I'm going to take up needlepoint.

Hey Ken, You said things are not the same. Any theories why? I respect your knowledge on the river and I believe you know it more than anybody else through all your hard work. I would just like to hear what you think!

I know where all the fish are. They're swimming around in the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers. The massive blowouts and river flooding we've had the last few years has pushed a large number of fish out of the Fox and into the bigger rivers. Probably wiped out a ton of fry of all species as well. Some of those 9000 CFS floods came smack dab in the middle of spawn for several species. How many of those fiesty little 4-8" smallies have you guys caught the last two years? I've not seen more than a handful... Three years ago, we would go out ANYWHERE on the fox, and you couldn't keep those little guys off if you threw a bait near shore. It's going to take a while to recover from those fucking floods, and that's assuming it doesn't become a regular spring occurrence.... Disappearing floodplains and over development can be blamed for most of it.

Man was it brutal out there last night. I picked up one fat catfish right off the bat below a small shelf down from the dam on the West side, and that was it. 1 fish for 4 guys out there from 6:30 to 9pm, all fished jigs and minnowbaits from below the Geneva dam to, up, under, and past the R.R. tracks. The only deep holes (waist high or better) were two or three spots under the tracks where the main channel was pushing through.

All this rain may do something, but if there are few if any fish around, it won't make much difference.

The flooding may have something to do with this, but why are there still so many carp in the river? I still see an absolute TON of baitfish in the shallows when wading the lower stretches, and the creeks were absolutely LOADED with everything this year......

Ken, I might check the poo-poo plant Sunday morning..... Travis and I are thinking of getting dressed up in our costumes and making some kind of odd poo-plant zombies on Halloween video..... - Bring some popcorn, this will be good for a laugh.

Ken G wrote:I was reading reports on other sites. Guy says he had a great day. Caught 9 smallies in 4 hours. I once stood in one spot at Indian Trail, this time of year, and caught 27 in under 2 hours. How do you tell someone, no, 9 smallies in 4 hours is not even an average day.

I think I'm going to take up needlepoint.

you just tell them!!! if you dont think its a difference in ability and all things equal then there is aproblem with the resource and peoples awareness should be raised imo. if its conditions or lack of bait or whatever one of the billion variables that effect the fishing on any given day then maybe mention that.
not everyone has been fishing the same river and keeping notes for 14 years!!
i fished for stripers from the beach in nj for over 10yrs before moving to IL. i kept a very detailed log and was out 3-5 nights/week. when some internet expert proclaimed that something was great when it really wasn't myself or my friends had no problem relating our experience and the times when we were wrong one of the old timers would chime in and let us know what things were like 50 years ago.
9 fish in 4 hours might be pretty good depending onthe spot..especially if they were all solid 17"+ fish. might take 20 minutes to rest the spot between landings?

The flooding may have something to do with this, but why are there still so many carp in the river? I still see an absolute TON of baitfish in the shallows when wading the lower stretches, and the creeks were absolutely LOADED with everything this year......

Good points, and I really don't have an answer. Maybe the bigger fish were able to find holes and cover during those floods? All I know is, the younger smallies seem nowhere to be found the last couple years. Everything I see is like 10-12". Those fiesty little guys that would tear the tails off your twisters every other cast just aren't around. Still seeing the same numbers of nice sized smallies. Whenever we go out now, it seems like we're catching 5-6 smallies in that 10-12" range, or just a few 14-16" fish. That points to poor recruitment, and I have to think the flooding smack dab in the middle of smallmouth spawning season has a lot to do with it. Seems like a ton of bait, and shad specifically, has been coming down from the chain, and if there's poor recruitment for predator fish, baitfish are going to be everywhere. I couldn't believe the bait I saw the other day in Montgomery, with no smallies to be found. You're absolutely right on that.

Btw, I still think it's early for the walters to be really turning on and making their run up river and feeding heavily. The leaves have just started turning and falling off the trees, and the river is still sitting at around 55 degrees. Have we even had a frost yet? I don't recall. I'm betting on them turning on next week though(hopefully, as I will actually be able to attend). This nasty weather and storm front could have turned the fish off as well. Don't get discouraged, yet.

This season's fry most likely did get hit really hard. They don't last long in flows like we had this Spring.

Ken will tell you though, there is no shortage of 1 and 2 year old smallies out there pecking away at the tails of your twisters. At a few points earlier this Fall that's all I was catching, 4 to 8 inch fish.

The eyes typically don't start moving around much gorging until after the first good rise in flows after we hit 52-55 degree water. HOWEVER! - lol they will move from their "holes" at night after the first few good cold nights after we get into "Fall" weather.

They do it all summer too, but they are usually right under some high O2 content water. (Dams, riffles, chutes, etc.)

Early Fall is my favorite time of the year for eyes since the weather don't beat ya up too bad, and the fish still have a bit of kick in them.


Regardless, I'll be out every Monday, find them or not..... hope to see you out there.

Special Ed wrote:This season's fry most likely did get hit really hard. They don't last long in flows like we had this Spring.

Ken will tell you though, there is no shortage of 1 and 2 year old smallies out there pecking away at the tails of your twisters. At a few points earlier this Fall that's all I was catching, 4 to 8 inch fish.

The eyes typically don't start moving around much gorging until after the first good rise in flows after we hit 52-55 degree water. HOWEVER! - lol they will move from their "holes" at night after the first few good cold nights after we get into "Fall" weather.

They do it all summer too, but they are usually right under some high O2 content water. (Dams, riffles, chutes, etc.)

Early Fall is my favorite time of the year for eyes since the weather don't beat ya up too bad, and the fish still have a bit of kick in them.


Regardless, I'll be out every Monday, find them or not..... hope to see you out there.

I will almost 100% be in for this coming Monday.

We got some rain, and the river still hasn't even hit 600 CFS yet.

I'm hoping for some steady showers over the week and before Monday. Ideally, I'd like to see the flows at 700-800. As you mentioned, not much deep water in what are typically productive holes. That jump in flows will turn the fish on pretty well too, and the water should start hitting that magic 50ish degrees over this next week. I have an itch to fish like you wouldn't believe.