My DIY rack system for my Large consists of a couple bricks and a Smoky Joe grate. It’s great for ribs, wings and … Costco dogs, which I let run for an hour or so indirect at 275-300. About halfway through I swap the racks for even-ish cooking. These are perfect when pulled around 195-200 internal. Always a hit with the backyard crowd. Happy almost Fall 🔥 🍂
Fun Fox River adventure this morning despite the gloomy weather with stops in Aurora, Batavia and North Aurora (in that weird order). Fish and wildlife at every hole, including a dandy smallie who was hanging in riprap before attacking the Rebel Craw. Fish had some sort of abnormality which didn’t appear to be a growth, boil or even injury. Looked like some weird discoloration. Tight lines this weekend 🎣
Nabbed a couple tanks-in-waiting (+ a channel) this morning on the Fox in St. Charles, south of the dam. When the bigger ones hit the Rebel Craw, it’s usually just a tick after splashdown, a great rush. Both were lying alongside concrete in a few feet of water, which is up a bit after the rain. Oddly, though, there’s hardly any immediately above the dam in Batavia. (Stopped and didn’t even make a cast.) Got a few more nubbers in Aurora on the southern edge of downtown where the levels have perked back up. Tight lines, everyone 🎣
Put a goose egg on the scoreboard tonight and wanted to share a couple snaps of one of my stretches of Fox River in downtown Aurora. Check out the sea wall. The water mark is where it crested during late April when the muskies were out high-water hunting. Constant fluctuation is one of the things I love most about river fishing, but this is extreme.
Shoving off on the annual family vacation to the Rockies tomorrow, and it’s a good time for a reset. Here’s to some rain for our rivers and waterways & tight lines out there 🎣
I echo BC’s post/comment about the trickling Fox, but the Craw continues to tantalize. Had 4 smallies “about the same size” and a nice 16” before 6 a.m. in St. Charles with a couple hookups at stops in Batavia and Aurora on the way back down.
The Fox is absurdly low, yet I’m finding it still plenty productive early in the morn. Tight lines, everybody 🎣
An Independence Day tub on the Fox River was sitting in a pool near rip-rap and whapped the Rebel Craw just after sunrise this morning on a northern stretch in Aurora, IL. Guessing 3 feet of water 3-5 yards off the bank, tucked in a nook. Total ambush. Recent storms really jacked the river level, which gets the bigger ones out to play. Stay safe in and outta the water 🎣 🇺🇸
An Independence Day tub on the Fox was sitting in a pool near rip-rap and whapped the Rebel Craw just after sunrise this morning on a northern stretch in Aurora. Guessing 3 feet of water 3-5 yards off the bank, tucked in a nook. Total ambush. These storms really jacked the river level, which gets the bigger ones out to play. Stay safe in and outta the water 🎣 🇺🇸
Not everybody got the storms last night, but sections of Aurora did and it was enough to goose water levels in the Fox. Wasn’t the case at my start in Batavia above the dam where the water seemed a foot lower than Sunday. Pulled 3 from under a boat launch a bit south and finished at a new-ish spot in Aurora where a couple more smallies grabbed the Rebel Craw, including an acrobatic 18/2.95. The elevated water made for a slightly deeper shoreline which is loaded with coveted structure (fallen trees, boulders, rando slabs of concrete, etc.) — and every fish came off or out from under something.
There seems to be an uptick of Fox-related Qs around here. As a Fox lifer, my biggest piece of broken-record advice is to find all that concrete and debris, especially in lower areas, and get shallow-diving cranks into the middle of it all. It’s often a pleasant result. Tight lines 🎣 Happy Fourth 🇺🇸
Ever have one of those clunky outings when no rhythm gets established? Snags. Poor casts. Line twists ‘n tangles. Treble buried in the tackle pack. One thing after the next. That was me below the Batavia dam at two different spots this morning. Then I went above it. And found submerged trunks and giant rocks — an underwater playground screaming for the Rebel Craw. Found a handful of 16-18” LMB stacked around the sprawling structure as a near give-up turned into a couple hours of freakin’ fun. I’ve fished the Fox for ~ 45 years and doubled my largie total in a morning sesh. I rarely see them in my main stretch (North Aurora south to Montgomery), maybe 1 or 2 a season, all dinks. But up here? My goodness. This was a sweet find. Anyone else chase/catch largies on the Fox? Stay cool and tight lines! 🎣 🦊 🔥
The Rebel Craw was the only item on the before-work breakfast menu — and the smallies had an appetite, including this 17 as Aurora was just waking up on a jewel of a morning.
Had a high-water hunch this afternoon, as these last couple storm blasts have really perked up the Fox. So I chucked a jointed swimmer (bluegill) for 45 minutes and got two Flatties, including the above ornery, 22-pounder — a PB that joins a smallie, muskie and drum in that department as this wild season continues. Tight lines if you’re in pursuit of high-water heifers this weekend!
I was twitching and scratching the Rebel Craw through rocky current this morning and WHAP! without warning — an angry strike resembling that of a big smallie.
But no.
This thing stayed down until I saw the humpback mid-fight. At that point, we just wrestled because last thing I wanted was a break-off on 6# mono. Tale of the tape: Just over 7 pounds and nearly 25 inches. Thing had a belly, too, and just kept growing on the way in.
Second drum ever, both within a couple weeks. A real nice test on UL gear — and a stunning morning to be outside.
Had one of those rare, wide-open Saturday mornings, so I decided on a little adventure. Rolled into St. Charles at sunrise, before making my way downriver with stops in Batavia (3), North Aurora and Aurora. Caught fish at each stop, but whiffed in North Aurora. Nothing big, but a steady bite. And first Fox LMB I’ve caught on the Rebel Craw. Guy near me at a Batavia stop (Al, you here?) caught a toad of a smallie on a Plopper.
Refreshing, relaxing morning. Tight lines this weekend if you hit the water.
Bite’s been hot on the Fox River, which peaked during spring’s high waters but still steady. Here’s an 18.5/3.77 that whapped a multi-jointed swim bait in a seam between calm and chaos in Chicago’s western burbs.
Chucking a jointed swim bait upstream along a rocky drop-off, my mind went from smallie to muskie to … really? I went to great lengths to keep this fish hooked (or at least from breaking off), almost diving to get my line untwisted from a submerged branch, the drag still peeling, and tight-roping a bridge piling. But we got her. Tugged me 50 yards downstream when it was over, so not near my pack to weigh/measure. Long and pretty heavy, a good bout. Tight lines this weekend and be safe.
Man, you gotta go really far down to find the Drum flair. Thought for a good minute I enticed the coveted 5-lb. smallie from the Montgomery surf only to see the hump-back break the surface. First-ever drum weighed 5.5-lbs. and measured 24 inches. Is that good? I’m still big bait/big fish mentality and this one clobbered a 3 1/2-inch, multi-jointed bluegill. Apologies for the garbage vid. Pics are even worse; I’ll put one in the comments. Now thankful it wasn’t the smallie til I get the after-dark snaps figured out.
With absolutely zilch to support it, conditions “just felt right” to connect with a really big smallie tonight. No dice there but not without an adrenaline rush when two juvenile flatheads ambushed a jointed swim bait (blue gill) on back-to-back casts. Adrenalin burst because these things put the hammer down and you think “nice smallie!” before things start to get suspicious. Wouldn’t mind wrestling one of those 30/40-pounders someday. Anybody ever tussled with the kind that requires two hands in the mouth to hoist it up for a snap?
Got back last night from a whirlwind baseball trip through Nashville > Atlanta with the kid and have all sortsa graduation responsibilities with the girl this weekend. But after getting teased by the Cumberland and Chattahoochee rivers snaking below my hotel window for 3 days, I needed a quick fix this morning. Found a hungry 17-incher hanging in a couple feet of water alongside heavy current. Big shoulders but another one still working on that belly. Her heart was in the right place when I threw a 3 1/2” jointed swim bait on the other side of the rapids and was planning to flick it through but she gobbled just after splashdown. A 45-minute sesh was the perfect recharge. Tight lines this weekend — I gotta go help find the tassel 🎣 👩🎓
Who pulled the plug in the Fox? Was able to venture out at lunch and we’re back to dry rock bed where it was 4 feet deep (and deadly) three weeks ago. Twitched a jointed swim bait through the roils and whirlpools where an 18-incher was lurking. Insane markings and great length, but still working on that belly. Tight lines this week 🎣
A big muskie a couple weeks ago (and me posting about it) outed one of my favorite spots on the Fox, so I’ve returned sparingly the last several days, mainly at odd hours. Such was the case this morning at sunrise when a hungry 38” grabbed a multi-jointed swim bait (crappie pattern). Same story: 10-lb. mono tied directly to the bait. She ripped drag and fought powerfully throughout. The release was quick and stress-free. This is crazy. Not loudly, but I got accused of doctoring the last pic on another platform that starts with Tik. So here’s some vid from the shores of a noticeably receding Fox. Tight lines this weekend!