Illinois Fox River Canoe trip

[el_carpo]

Hi again,

I mentioned in another thread that my brothers went canoeing a couple of days ago with some friends and would see if they had any pics I could post for you guys. They sent me a few and here they are. The Fox River is a popular fishing and canoeing spot in Illinois. It is about 50 miles west of Chicago. I hope you enjoy them. I believe there are 10 in all. This first one is a pic of my brothers Chuck and Mike and Mike's friend Desi.

[el_carpo]

Here's one of Mike with some scenery in the background.

[el_carpo]

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[el_carpo]

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[el_carpo]

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[el_carpo]

My brother Chuck is a fishing addict. There's no way he can get this close to a river without fishing and he did. Here's a small flathead catfish he caught on a hard plastic crayfish imitating lure. Note the flat shape of the head (the fish not Chuck ) that is so they can root under boulders and catch small fish, bugs, leeches, and crayfish.

[el_carpo]

Here's Chuck again. This time it's a channel catfish. He caught it on an in-line spinner.

[el_carpo]

Here's a turtle they saw while paddling along. I think it's a painted turtle but I am not sure about that.

[el_carpo]

Mmmmmmmmmmooooooooooooooooooooove it ya bums! We're trying to eat here!


Cows grazing along the river.

[el_carpo]

....and finally! They must have looked pretty tired paddling in their canoe; seems that they've attracted the attention of a buzzard. (Carrion eating bird)

Looks like that bird has doubts about their chance of surviving the trip.

The good news is they survived and had a good time. I hope you all have enjoyed the view of a local river of ours.

EC

[bdowdy]

nice to see some photos of differrent places and fish, looks beautiful what other species in that river.cheers bdowdy

[bowds13]

im not 100% sure but that turtle almost looks like one of those slider turtles from america the ones that we are ment to trying to get rid of.

cheers bowds

[el_carpo]

Hi bdowdy,

There are many species of fish in the Fox. The favorite game fish are bluegill, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, crappie, perch, walleye, northern pike, muskellunge, carp, many sucker species and drum, bullhead catfish, white and yellow bass, gar, warmouth, rock bass, and various sunfish species. It has most of the species in Illinois.

My favorite places to fish are near the dams. The flowing water attracts them due to the increased oxygen levels. Big flathead catfish hang out near the dams.

I can't say it's a world class fishery or anything but it's not too bad either. It's good for a day out and you may hit a jackpot and catch something big every now and then.


bowds13,

Never heard of a slider turtle. I'm going to have to look that one up. Invasive species are a pain. We've got our hands full with them here as well. Gobies, big head carp, snakeheads, zebra mussels, tree beetles, plants aaaaarrrrgghhhh!!! One tree boring beetle recently infested the ash trees of Michigan and they had to cut down and burn thousands of trees. They're from China so the climate is similar and they adapted perfectly. Bad.

[bdowdy]

wow sounds like an awesome fishery, like to get over there one day. cheers bdowdy

[Canoedle]

Great stuff elcarpo , thanks for sharing.