Fox River has plenty to entice anglers
There are many fishermen within the Daily Herald's circulation area who have made the Fox River their home-based angling treasure chest, and rightfully so.
This wonderful stream has seen its up and downs. Like other rivers in the Midwest, this waterway gem seems to fall prey to the antics of a group of miscreants destined to ruin a good thing.
Allow me to digress for a moment.
August is just half over, and I know firsthand that the good angling in the Midwest is going full blast.
Our recent rain storms fall into the bad-news, good-news scenario. Water levels have gone way up, thereby causing flooding conditions near the Illinois-Wisconsin border, as well as areas of McHenry County.
The good news is that, despite the rising levels, smallmouth bass fishing here is decent, while smallie angling in rivers to the north seems to be as good as it gets.
On our beloved Fox, a stretch of shoreline ranging no more than 50 feet gave a couple anglers some of the best surprises of the year. In slightly over an hour's time, the two lucky souls managed to catch and release over a dozen smallmouth measuring 12-18 inches. All of the fish were taken inches from the actual shoreline.
Conditions are much different way to the north, especially on Wisconsin's Menomonee River, where visiting fishermen who hired guides have been having a field day with scrappy fish.
Arlington Heights resident Richard Worthington, a new transplant from St. Louis, accepted a friend's invitation to float the Menomonee River in northern Wisconsin last week.
"We had unbelievable smallmouth fishing using top-water lures, and unlike the Fox, water levels were way down, so it was fairly easy to sight fish," he said.
I received a call from Bob Salerno in the Crivitz, Wis., area.
"Even though we've had quite a bit of rain, the Peshtigo River has been giving up some big walleyes and smallmouth," he reported.
When I told him about the high-water conditions here on the Fox and the success stories, he just whistled, as if he was completely amazed.
Do not let local, high-water level conditions deter you from shore fishing the Fox River. There are opportunities awaiting you if you explore all the nooks and crannies along this stream.
Tap in to all the options you can by constantly switching from artificial lures to live bait until you hit the right triggering method.
The fish are there and waiting.