[SpecialEd]

been a tough year especialy for big smallies.

That's not accurate at all.

Unless he means it's been tough on their lips and jaws...

 

[Ken G]

Don't bother with Fabyan at all. I did a couple of times a long time ago and time can be better spent elsewhere.

If you're sitcking around Geneva, head upstream. From the dam all the way down to a ravine on the east side. Be real careful around the railroad tracks. In all these years I've only gone through them twice and it sucked. I fish up to them, get out, then fish it from below. Lots of rock under there and a hole or two. West side from the dam down is best. Don't even bother wading till the river is flowing at 1200 cfs or lower. At high water, walking the wall on the east side island park is the way to go.

Would it be more productive to just hit one or two locations and fish them like crazy and learn every square inch. Or did you find it productive just to wander blindly in search of holes?

I still do and did both. I wander around looking for spots, then I go back repeatedly and pick them apart.

I rarely go north of Montgomery anymore, so from there to Geneva I know a lot of details. Just ask and I'll gladly give you step by step directions to 95% of the spots. The other 5% I'll keep to myself just in case....

I don't target big fish, but big fish come with the numbers I like to catch. I'm up to quite a few in the 15-18 inch range so far this year and that's all out of creeks. So far this year I hit the river once for about 30 minutes, gave up and went to a creek.

I still stick with jigs and twisters. They're versatile, catch everything and a good cheap learning tool.

 

[HnG]

Don't read this guys maps↑↑↑. There from the 1950s :wink: :moresarcasm:

 

[Jesus]

When i first started fishing i thought casting far and using expensive lures would get me big fish....Ive learned through many days of skunking that presentation and reading water anywhere is the most important thing. Also, since i started fly fishing I've learned that fish are most often only a couple feet away from shore and casting along the shore rather than towards the middle of a body of water can work wonders. I am not a pro but i can usually avoid the big ol #0 count. Good luck

 

[Ken G]

Don't read this guys maps↑↑↑. There from the 1950s :wink: :moresarcasm:

HA, but the fish are still sitting in pretty much the same spots. They don't know what year it is.

Go fish all the spots I marked from North Aurora down past Indian Trail Road, you'll see.

 

[samson]

Ok everyone. Sorry for dropping out for a bit.Super busy but I managed to get out Sunday and Monday. Caught a couple dinks both outings which is better than nothing. I'm going to take everyones advice and stick with a spot or two and just pick them apart. Hit Glenwood by the old dam. Couple groups of waders out so I figure I'm in a good area to figure out. One guy was kind enough to give me some of his time and give me some pointers on the area.

The other spot is Les Ardens. I found Kens maps (thanks for posting those Ken!) and figure I'll give that area a try. His maps showed how the current flows around the islands and general areas on where to target. I need to learn both so I feel very fortunate to have those as a guide to understanding the river. I like that place due to the back channels. There seems like a lot to explore if I get bored which I think it will be difficult to do.

I think I'm going to make these my primary spots to learn but I will say this...I felt pretty uncomfortable at times at Les. Lots of fallen timber hidden under water. Had a hard time getting from point A to point B without getting caught up in a mess of branches. First time out so I did more exploring than fishing though.

Either way, I did catch a couple, mostly on twisters, one on a plastic craw and avoided Fabyan like the plague. No pics. Fish were pretty feisty and not worth struggling to hold them and the phone. Thanks again for the advice! Hoping to get out this afternoon and see what I can find today.

 

[Osprey]

Have you tried hand grenades? I'm pretty sure that's what Ken G really uses.

 

[WaterGuy]

Here's some timely (relatively) advice...last time out for me, smallies were crushing craw pattern cranks in heavy current. Unfortunately, I figured this out less than an hour before I had to head home.

 

[Rory_B_Bellows]

Here's some timely (relatively) advice...last time out for me, smallies were crushing craw pattern cranks in heavy current. Unfortunately, I figured this out less than an hour before I had to head home.

I disagree. Where I was fishing, I was getting nothing in heavy current on cranks, also craw pattern. I picked up some dinks on a white grub, but then, I switched to a pumpkin 4" tube next to riffles, and BAM! Picked up several in the last 30 minutes before I had to go home.

So I think the real trick to fishing the Fox, change lures less than an hour before you have to go home, and you'll catch fish.

 

[samson]

Here's some timely (relatively) advice...last time out for me, smallies were crushing craw pattern cranks in heavy current. Unfortunately, I figured this out less than an hour before I had to head home.

I thought about fishing craw patterns in heavy current but since I've only seen cray fish near shore I figured that would be the only place to use them. So much for over analyzing. I'll give them a try next time I'm out.

 

[Bent Hook]

When I went out on Saturday the crayfish patterned crank bait bite was still going strong, but not in what I would call heavy current. The strikes were coming mostly in riffles created by small rock piles close to shore, and one was hooked from a current seam along the edge of an eddie, but that one got off. All were pretty close to shore nothing near the main channel.

That was Saturday. Today I did get one closer to the main chanel in what I would consider more of a heavy current. My biggest one, however, still bit very close to shore. It should also be metioned that today I was using my standard jig and chigger claw not a crank bait like I used on Saturday.

 

[WaterGuy]

For me that crankbait bite was going last thursday. They were absolutley crushing it. Picked up 7 fish in pretty short order and had to leave....really wish I had another hour. Haven't been out since. It was the fastest current in the section I was fishing. Things change fast so who knows, but that crankbait bite is usually pretty consistent for me starting sometime after the spawn and lasting a good long while.

 

[Rory_B_Bellows]

For me that crankbait bite was going last thursday. They were absolutley crushing it. Picked up 7 fish in pretty short order and had to leave....really wish I had another hour. Haven't been out since. It was the fastest current in the section I was fishing. Things change fast so who knows, but that crankbait bite is usually pretty consistent for me starting sometime after the spawn and lasting a good long while.

Interesting, this observation leads me to believe that some fish have indeed finished spawning. I'm guessing some haven't though. That cool weather streak over the weekend got the water back down to 62 degrees, makes me wonder if some of the spawning activity was held up for a few days. My understanding is that smallmouth spawn around the 60-70 degree range, and once water temps reach 70, you can figure that they are done spawning. Good news though, the crankbait bite last summer was really good for me too, I fished craw and shad pattern shallow divers almost exclusively from early June through September, and my two best fish of the year came on cranks.

 

[WaterGuy]

Getting a little off the original topic, but it's my belief based on what I've seen that not all the bass in the river are spawning at the same time.
The spawn is still a bit of a mystery to me and i'm certainly no expert though. I do try to stay away from what you would consider spawning areas during this time of year. Could start a whole other topic just based on this I suppose.

 

[jwojo2]

From what I've read on this (and of course, I too am no expert) the spawn is spread out over a period of time. In other words, they don't all spawn at the same time. It's Mother Nature's way of protecting the species in the event of some catastrophic event (flood, etc.)

 

[jmdog2003]

Craw cranks in current are still producing.

 

[lefty_stratton]

Samson-

A buddy and I were discussing your conundrum last night. This may or may not be valid advice, but if you're catching more largemouth than smallmouth, you might be fishing in the wrong type of water.

-SB

That was my thought exactly! I go to the river to catch Smallies...when I get LM, I get disappointed.

I have a theory of bait types to use for the Fox. With all the crap that floats through (especially in Aurora-Oswego sections) if you throw anything something is gonna hit if it's front of them and they're hungry. More specifically....I went out yesterday. I saw a "fishy" spot and cast an Inline spinner (my locate bait). Lots of bumps but no solid hits. I noticed a lot of minnow activity in said area (slow moving water out of the fast moving current). So I tied on a crank (resembling a minnow) and chose Gold (because of overcast). Pretty much works for me everytime.

I haven't used a jig on the Fox since I was a kid, and I've done pretty good. MY 2 cents.

 

[djsend]

Ok, I've read this post pretty much everyday since it went up and I'm still stumped. I live in Batavia, I've been hitting all the areas mentioned and have only had one fish this season. That said this is my 2nd season fishing so I'm guessing technique has a lot to do with my goose eggs along with the fact that I've mostly been fishing from the shore. i had only wet waded once last year which turned out to be my most productive day on the river with 4 moderate fish in a 30 minute stretch. So my question is this, knowing the area of the river you are talking about but not knowing what the rifles, eddys, etc are, what are things I should be looking for and what should my presentation be? I've used Mepps inline spinners and white twisters and feel like anytime I hook something it's more luck than presentation. Are you bouncing jigs or slow rolling them? My limited time fishing has mostly been ponds with plastics and I feel like the presentation should be totally different. Am I correct in that? I'm hoping to get out again early tomorrow am for an hour or 2 before the kids get moving but I've been hesitant to do this because quite honestly I have no idea what I'm doing and I get more and more frustrated with every trip. Any thoughts?
~ Jay