Winter Smallmouth - Fox River Advice

2463 Views 38 Replies 6 Participants Last post by tonydim7, 2 mo ago

tonydim7

Discussion Starter · 6 mo ago

4

I have been fishing the Algonquin Dam a fair bit this year and occasionally the Carpentersville Dam and really enjoying the smallmouth fishing (see below for the best fish so far this year). Usually this time of year I pack it up and wait for spring, but this year I've been trying some winter smallmouth fishing and have been mostly unsuccessful. I've gone to the Algonquin Dam about 3 times over the last week or 2 and got skunked each time. I've been trying to find some (relatively) deeper, slow moving water and I just don't think there is much around the dam. I've been trying to drag some paddle tail swimbaits and bitsy bugs on the bottom real slow, but I haven't had much luck. Does anyone have any recommendations for locations between the Algonquin Dam and Carpentersville Dam where you could shore fish for some smallmouth in the winter? I'm thinking about trying Buffalo Park next, but am not sure if the river is much different there than the dam. Thanks in advance!

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tonydim7

Discussion Starter · #21 · 6 mo ago

Luckydawg13 said:
That stretch of river is really good in the spring

I could totally see that. Honestly, I had to turn off the part of my brain that is used to looking for spring/summer bass locations because there was some really promising spots for that.

Luckydawg13

· #22 · 6 mo ago

From Algonquin Dam South is very good for Smallmouth I've had my best luck with square bills in that stretch

tonydim7

Discussion Starter · #23 · 6 mo ago

Luckydawg13 said:
From Algonquin Dam South is very good for Smallmouth I've had my best luck with square bills in that stretch

Nice. I'll have to add that to the list of bait to try. Have you had good luck with them all year round or just when it warms up?

Luckydawg13

· #24 · 6 mo ago

I start using square Bills in early April until around November. Have caught everything on them from catfish walleye LG and smallmouth bass to northern pike when the water warm up I'll use inline spinner like a Roster Tails and don't forget to try a Ned rig. In late fall early winter I Pretty much just finishing for walleye.

And don't forget to pick up some Blade baits they work great at the Dam

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tonydim7

Discussion Starter · #25 · 6 mo ago

Luckydawg13 said:
I start using square Bills in early April until around November. Have caught everything on them from catfish walleye LG and smallmouth bass to northern pike when the water warm up I'll use inline spinner like a Roster Tails and don't forget to try a Ned rig. In late fall early winter I Pretty much just finishing for walleye.

And don't forget to pick up some Blade baits they work great at the Dam

Got ya. That makes sense. That is great that it produces for a variety of fish. The neg rig I will have to try out. I haven't tried that yet. I tried the blade baits this fall at the dam and they were awesome. Easily the highest volume of smallmouth I have caught over there. They were a blast. Honestly the trickiest part with them was the treble hooks getting stuck in everything. I even tried snipping off the leading hook and they still got hung up. Left a lot of money in the river those days... But totally worth it to catch that many fish.

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Luckydawg13

· #26 · 6 mo ago

I will probably head down to the Dam .if weather permits over the next few weekend's now that the Bucket heads are gone

tonydim7

Discussion Starter · #27 · 6 mo ago

Luckydawg13 said:
I will probably head down to the Dam .if weather permits over the next few weekend's now that the Bucket heads are gone

Nice. Hopefully the weather holds out (looks like it's going to get pretty cold soon). If you make it out there, let me know how it goes.

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Luckydawg13

· #28 · 6 mo ago

Just watching the weather doesn't look to Encouraging for the next 2 weeks

tonydim7

Discussion Starter · #29 · 5 mo ago

Took advantage of the nice weather yesterday to try and find some winter smallmouth on the Fox by trying some new spots. Unfortunately, I was unsuccessful again. I tried the southern stretch of Buffalo Park. There was a lot of good spots and structure for summer fishing, but it still seemed too shallow for winter bass. Tried fishing in the Brunner Family Forest Preserve, but couldn't find anywhere to park. I also tried out Fox River Shores Forest Preserve by the boat launch. I was successful in finding some slower moving water, but it was all pretty frozen over. Then tried around the Algonquin Dam for a while but couldn't find any there either. Maybe if it stays warm for a while the ice will thaw out some more and I can get back out there. As many people also mentioned, waders or a kayak might be required to reach the deeper water and figure out where they are hiding...

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Luckydawg13

· #30 · 5 mo ago

I also tried down by the Dam on Thursday with only 1 bump I think the fish are still moving super slow from the last cold snap.

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tonydim7

Discussion Starter · #31 · 5 mo ago

Luckydawg13 said:
I also tried down by the Dam on Thursday with only 1 bump I think the fish are still moving super slow from the last cold snap.

That's a good point. The air temp was warmer, but maybe the water temp didn't come up too much and it was brutally cold during the last cold snap. Good to hear I wasn't the only one that didn't catch anything.

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Luckydawg13

· #32 · 5 mo ago

I'll probably start going back too the Dam middle of February. I have better luck when the Eagle's start showing up .

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tonydim7

Discussion Starter · #33 · 5 mo ago

Luckydawg13 said:
I'll probably start going back too the Dam middle of February. I have better luck when the Eagle's start showing up .

That makes sense. I don't think around the dam will get better any time soon. I think I'm going to try and keep searching other places in the Carpentersville pool and see what I can find. They gotta be out there somewhere...

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mike son

· #34 · 5 mo ago

tonydim7 said:
That makes sense. I don't think around the dam will get better any time soon. I think I'm going to try and keep searching other places in the Carpentersville pool and see what I can find. They gotta be out there somewhere...

Good luck. It's tough going when you first start out. I remember the skunk outings way back when I started. The Dupe is smaller and was "easier" to figure out I'd say. It'll start to come together once you get a few. Maybe try the largest rocky eddy you know of. If it's at least waist deep, there's probably a few in there.

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tonydim7

Discussion Starter · #35 · 5 mo ago

mike son said:
Good luck. It's tough going when you first start out. I remember the skunk outings way back when I started. The Dupe is smaller and was "easier" to figure out I'd say. It'll start to come together once you get a few. Maybe try the largest rocky eddy you know of. If it's at least waist deep, there's probably a few in there.

Thanks. I appreciate it. That is very helpful advice. I'm still working on how to read the river for winter smallmouth, so that is helpful to try and narrow it down a little to one type of structure. Also helpful to get a good relative depth. I feel like a lot of the articles I read about winter fishing for rivers is on much deeper rivers than the ones around here, so it is hard for me to picture what "deep" watering holes mean when the whole river in the stretch I am fishing probably isn't deeper than 5-10ft at the deepest (and a lot of it is much shallower than that).

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Luckydawg13

· #36 · 5 mo ago

Give this spot a try it's been a few years since I fished it but has been good in the past

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Luckydawg13

· #37 · 5 mo ago

You will see a path there

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tonydim7

Discussion Starter · #38 · 5 mo ago

Luckydawg13 said:
You will see a path there

Thanks. I'll have to try that out. Looks like it's far enough south of the dam that the water will have slowed down a little and hopefully hold some fish in the winter. Hopefully there are some nice deep spots there too and some structure. Thanks again!

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tonydim7

Discussion Starter · #39 · 2 mo ago

Welp, since today is the first official day of spring, it is time to report that after many many trips up and down the Carpentersville pool all winter, I successfully found lots of spots where there are no smallmouth bass (at least that I could catch...) However, it was a fun winter learning more about the Fox River and trying some new spots. Looking forward to the weather warming up and actually catching some fish (I hope). And also looking forward to next winter to see if I can figure out where they are hiding. Thanks to everyone for taking the time to share your advice on this thread. I really appreciate it.

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