I was wondering if anyone out there has had a good experience fishing the Fox River south of the Chain O Lakes, but north of the Algonquin Dam? I have been in the area for 2 years now and the biggest thing that keeps me away from this body of water is the skier's/jet skier's and oversized boats that don't care about fisherman. I know that you will find this anywhere, but is the early spring and late fall a good time in this area?

OCTOBER THROUGH SPAWN ARE AT TIMES VERY GOOD NEAR THE DAM. THROUGHOUT THE SUMMER FISH ARE IN THE RIVER. NOBODY IS GOING TO GIVE YOU THEIR SPOTS. TAKE YOUR TIME TROLL THE RIVER TO FIND ACTIVE WALLEYE. GET A FEEL OF THE BOTTOM WHEN CRANKS START BUMPING YOU HAVE FOUND A CLAM BAD. WALLEYE RELATE TO THESE CLAM BEDS MOST OF THE SUMMER. JIG THEM TROLL THEM. CRUISE THE RIVER WATCHING YOUUR SONAR, MOST OF THE RIVER IS 3 TO 5 FEET. FISH THE AREAS WHERE YOUU FIND DEEPER WATER. FIND YOUR OWN FISH AND YOU DO NOT HAVE TO RELY ON OTHERS. AFTER YOU FIND THE FISH RECORD, DATE, WATER TEMP, WATER LEVEL. THESE FISH ARE CREATURES OF HABIT AND WILL RETURN TO THESE LOCATIONS EVERY YEAR DURING SIMILAR CONDITIONS. NO SECRETS JUST TIME ON THE WATER WILL BRING YOU SUCCESS.

Ranger1, don't let the traffic scare you away. Sure, there are a ton of boaters out there, but there's also some pretty good walleye fishing to be had. Like WAZ said, nobody is going to give you their spots, but his advise is solid. Pay attention to what he said. The Chain, in my opinion, is pertty unique in the way that the walleyes behave, but their behavior is predictable.

Best Regards,

FJH

R1; The only thing I would add to the above comments is to also consider fishing days on the water, off-weekends. I know that may not be practical, but the river/chain becomes a different body of water with less traffic. Learning the system off weekends will help your confidence and learning spots when you are on the system during the weekends. Good Luck. Walleye Mike