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PRAIRIE ROAD POND


Lake Information

County: Kane

Acreage: 15

Recreational Amenities

Boat Ramps? No

Boat Rental? No

Skiing? No

Swimming? No


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There are no zebra mussels in this lake.


Fishing Outlook  ( Full PDF Report )

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Species

Rank

Fish Status

BLACK CRAPPIE

Fair

One 6.6 inch black crappie was captured in our sampling. The IDNR does not recommend stocking crappie into ponds this small as they are extremely successful spawners and their offspring can compete with bass and bluegill. Stocking crappie in this pond would only be feeding the abundant bass population.

BLUEGILL

Excellent

Bluegill abundance (measured by catch rate) is extremely high. The sampling shows evidence of stunting in the bluegill population as the largest fish was only 6.5 inches long with an average size of 5.0 inches (only four percent of the sample was over six inches). The overabundance of bluegill may be due to the availability of gizzard shad to the largemouth bass. Harvest of this species (when regulations are determined) should help reduce abundance and allow for growth of larger bluegill.

CHANNEL CATFISH

Improving

One twenty-three inch channel catfish was caught in the most recent survey. It weighed a healthy 5.3 pounds. This lake will likely be entered into the IDNR channel catfish stocking program to help bolster the population.

LARGEMOUTH BASS

Excellent

Prairie Road Pond has one of the best largemouth bass populations in the area -- very high abundant with relative weight (the measure of a fish’s “plumpness”) high in all size categories. Forty-five percent of the catch was over 15 inches and 20% of the fish caught were over 18 inches. The largest fish in the sample were a pair of 21.5 inch bass that weighed 5.2 and 5.6 pounds. These fish have multiple forage species and seem to be exploiting them well! Multiple size classes (age classes) were present in the sample indicating successful reproduction of adult largemouth bass.

Location: Prairie Road Pond is located in Kane County, 200 yards west of Orchard Road on the north side of Prairie in Aurora.

Description: Prairie Road Pond is a 15-acre dug lake that serves as a retention pond for a tributary of Blackberry Creek. The lake is owned by the Forest Preserve District of Kane County (FPDKC). There is good shoreline fishing access available. There are no amenities at this pond, only parking (about 30 spaces), which is also used for the nearby jogging/bike path.

History and Status of the Sport Fishery: In 2014, the FPDKC entered into a cooperative management agreement with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to facilitate fisheries management activities. Channel catfish will be occasionally stocked to supplement the population. Site-specific regulations apply. An electrofishing survey was conducted in May 2014.

This pond should offer anglers an excellent chance at catching some big largemouth bass. Easy access makes this a great place to take kids fishing.

Gizzard shad are fairly abundant in this pond. Since this pond has connectivity to a stream system (Blackberry Creek), yellow bass, white sucker, common carp and green sunfish are also present.

Contact Information:
Forest Preserve District of Kane County
630-232-5980
IDNR Fisheries Biologist, Andy Plauck
815-675-2386 ext. 214