THE FOX RIVER
CANOEING OPPORTUNITIES
CANOEING MAP
PRINTABLE FISHING GUIDE
The Fox River enters Illinois from Wisconsin near Antioch and flows generally in a southerly direction for 115.2 miles through heavily populated areas of northeastern counties before joining the Illinois River at Ottawa.
River conditions have improved in recent years and a variety of sport fish have been taken from this stream, including walleyes, northern pike, smallmouth and largemouth bass, channel catfish, carp and other panfish. Best fishing is found on the upper reaches.
The swift tailwaters below 14 dams, which impound the river into pools of various lengths, provide the best fishing action. Most of the dams are found in the Elgin-Aurora area and are located at Carpentersville, Elgin, South Elgin, St. Charles, Geneva, Batavia, North Aurora, Aurora (2), Montgomery, McHenry, Algonquin, Yorkville and Dayton.
The McHenry Dam is one of the best spots for channel cat on the stream and also produces excellent carp fishing for those interested in this fish. The dam at McHenry also backs up 6,500 acres of water that forms the Fox Chain O'Lakes which is covered elsewhere in this book.
Power boating and water skiing are most popular above the Algonquin Dam to the McHenry Dam. Boaters can go through the lock at McHenry and proceed to the Chain.
One of the better spots for smallmouth as been the dropoffs near rocky ledges at Ottawa in LaSalle Couty.
