With effort and new approach, the best anglers find success
There are plenty of alternatives if one invests a little time to look around for a decent fishing spot.
Oh, you say you have yet to sample the great bluegill and bass fishing in area ponds? Too bad.
The emails I have received paint a picture of doom and gloom following the closure of the Fox River and Chain.
And I happen to notice some of those missives come from the same people every year who complain about the so-called dog days of summer and how difficult it is to locate and catch fish.
One of my close colleagues noted that the complainers are often the same people are unwilling to try something different other than fishing the shallows and casting right off the shoreline.
Regular reader and sometimes critic George J. says he encountered some good fishing recently on Shabbona Lake.
I confess to only being on Shabbona Lake three times this season simply because it's more convenient to launch my boat on Bangs Lake or the Fox Chain.
But, like George, Danny, Carl and a host of other more willing anglers, all of us have found late July and August prime time for exciting fishing and catching.
Lindy Rigs and leeches, along with Little Action Mac worms, worked exceptionally well for suspended crappie and bass there, but it's the drop-shot technique that scored big-time.
But if you're not into a small, limited horsepower-motor lake, there are always hot spots such as Pewaukee Lake, Windigo Lake in Racine County (Wis.), and Green Lake a tad farther north.
The bass and muskies are cruising in deeper water and seem to be suspended on Pewaukee. Green Lake continues to provide decent walleye action, and Windigo has very good bluegill and bass action.
Bangs Lake in Wauconda can almost be classified as a pay lake, what with high launch fees and user sticker fees. The user fees are reportedly used to stock the lake as well as pay for the weed cutting.
On the bright side, however, Bangs is still one of the better largemouth hot spots in the immediate area. The only problem is I've been "stretched over a barrel" by others for promoting the good bassing there. Locals apparently are not overly fond of us visitors catching big bass and telling friends about those exploits.
From what I am told, it could be quite some time before the Fox Chain returns to normal water levels and conditions. The same holds true for the Fox River.
I have several pictures of big channel and Flathead catfish caught from the river a number of weeks before the heavy rainfall and flooding. And if push comes to shove, I'd pick the Fox River as a second, potential hot spot for big catfish and smallmouth bass right behind the actual Chain, once everything settles down.
• Contact Mike Jackson at angler88@comcast.net, catch his radio show 7-9 a.m. Sundays on WGCO 1590-AM (live-streamed at www.1590WCGO.com) and get more content at www.mikejacksonoutdoors.com.