Eric

It’s terrible. Many areas good for kayak fishing are stagnant and the surface full of foamy scum and cottonwood. The extended high heat is just going to make matters worse unless we get a deluge of rain to provide some breath to the river. Otherwise, I imagine fish kills are imminent. The water feels like bath water at the end of the day. Even with good fish handling techniques and quick unhooking, I suspect even C&R mortality rates will sharply increase. I’d expect a summer low to be in the 700-800 CFS range, not 400-500 for weeks on end! Hope it doesn’t persist through July and August. While true, we can still find productive areas on the Fox and have success, the overall situation is dire.

From the Kane County Forest Preserves: The Forest Preserve District plans to transition the Deer Valley Golf Course site (now closed) back into a restored natural area, as an addition to Big Rock Forest Preserve in Big Rock. The district’s Planning & Utilization Committee approved the restoration plan on March 25 and officials made the announcement on April 12 that the golf course will close. Natural Resource Management Director Ben Haberthur said closing the golf course will have various natural resources benefits. “Big Rock Creek is one of the most-pristine creeks in Kane County,” he said. “By removing the potential for chemical and nutrient runoff from the golf operation, we are helping to protect this important waterway and improve habitat for wildlife.” Spike mussel (CREDIT: IDNR) Haberthur said mussels are present in Big Rock Creek, including the state-threatened Spike Mussel. “Mussels act as water filters; they constantly work to filter-out bacteria, algae and pollutants, and thereby improve water quality,” Haberthur said, “The Mottled sculpin, a state-threatened fish, is also present in Big Rock Creek. Additionally, bald eagles nest at the site and have been seen fishing in Big Rock Creek.” Forest Preserve District of Kane County Executive Director Monica Meyers said flood protection will be incorporated during the restoration of the area. “Currently, there are a series of culverts that move water at the site,” she said. “We’re going to leave this culvert system in place, but use best-management practices to create improved drainage that will accept and filter water through the site, prior to reaching Big Rock Creek. This will improve water quality as well as reduce flooding in the area.” The transition of the 17.5-acre property to a more-natural setting will incorporate the following natural area restoration projects: A prairie restoration will encompass 12.5 acres. Four acres will be restored to an oak woodland. A one-acre wetland restoration will include the current pond and a treatment train to improve area flood control and water quality A three-quarter-mile trail will be installed amidst the newly restored area. The new trail will connect to the 10-mile trail system already in place at Big Rock Forest Preserve. Meyers said the decision to close the par three, nine-hole golf course included many factors. “The golf course is at least 21 years old. It existed prior to the district’s purchase of the property in 2000,” she said. “When the district made the investment in the property, the purpose was always to expand the adjacent Big Rock Forest Preserve and to protect the Oak woodland and Big Rock Creek. “The Forest Preserve District has continued to evaluate the condition and natural resources there. We planned to operate the golf course until such time that we could restore the property. Additionally, the course was at the point where it required a number of costly capital improvements,” she said.

Thank you, Mike!

In late fall of 2020, I noticed that many of the trees and shrubs along the banks of the Fox River in Batavia and Montgomery had been cut down. While it freed up a lot of shoreline access, the clear-cutting and removal was concerning due to loss of buffer zone, habitat, and bank stabilization. I reached out to both the City of Batavia and the Village of Montgomery in early February of 2021, explained my concerns, and received the responses below. I wanted to share these in case anyone else wondered as I did. For reference, the area in Batavia that I inquired about centered around Clark Island – from the Wilson Street bridge all the way down to the south end of Clark Island. The area in Montgomery that I inquired about was from the dam south to the VFW Post 7452. This includes the bank and culvert alongside the former BBQ place that is being remodeled (west side of river, just south of Mill Street). City of Batavia “Hi Eric. I am the Interim Director of Parks for the Batavia Park District. I was sent your email earlier today regarding the riverbank stabilization. First off, I want to thank you for your interest in the health of the Fox River and the buffer zones along the banks. It is nice to know that we have people looking out for the health of our waterways. The trees that have been cut down have all been dead, dying, or diseased trees along the bank. The only exception to that would be tree of heaven, buckthorn, or honeysuckle which we have a high number of all those species. As for a plan, we are in the beginning stages of creating a cooperative Batavia River Corridor Master Plan with the City of Batavia. We are excited to get this off the ground and had the first official meeting today (2/2/21) which included representatives from the Park District, City of Batavia, and a design engineering company. Once the plan is completed, we will be using this as a guide to enhance areas along the Fox River. This will take a while, but we are excited to get started on the journey and know that great improvements will be happening to benefit the Fox River soon. I hope this answers your questions. If at any time you have more questions, feel free to reach out to me.” (Interim Director of Parks, Batavia Park District) Village of Montgomery “The Village is working on a long-term plan with the Fox Valley Park District to enhance these areas and help with bank stabilization. The area on the south side of Mill Street is private property and is part of the redevelopment of that site. I do not have the specific information on that, but all changes on that property (related to the riverbank) must be permitted and approved by the Army Core of Engineers. I do not have anything at this point to share as far as the Village’s plans because we are still in the early phases of the project. Let me know if you have any other questions.” (Director of Public Works, Village of Montgomery) Response from Friends of the Fox River (FOFR) when I shared my findings with them… Friends of the Fox River “Thanks Eric. It does seem very encouraging. We have a good trend with river towns turning to face the river for economic benefit but also to revitalize the natural communities as well. I think I will be contacting the City of Batavia to learn more. I really liked how you were thanked for your interest in river health. FOFR was founded to empower citizens to protect their river. You are certainly doing that. Thank you.” (Gary Swick, Friends of the Fox River) Feel free to include this in the Bronzeback Bulletin if you'd like.

From ISA member Rich McElligott:

Wondered if anyone has tried it. Their lures are a bit on the "novelty" side, but I buy one on occasion. Their marketing suckers me in! https://chasebaitsusa.com/products/the-mudbug

I received a really nice baitcasting reel as a surprise birthday gift from a good friend. I fished it for nearly 3 months and it developed issues to where the infinite anti-reverse would fail at times. I called Tackle Warehouse and explained the problem, and they said the reel was replaceable under the manufacturer’s one-year warranty. They emailed me a pre-paid UPS form for the return. All I had to do was box it up and drop it off at UPS. The particular reel was listed as out of stock and they estimated that I wouldn’t receive a replacement for nearly a month. It arrived in less than two weeks! I am thankful for such a seamless process. Since the pandemic began, stock has been low and ship times have been long with a lot of vendors (including TW), but this was a really positive experience. I also had some excellent experiences recently with both Cabela’s and Dick’s Sporting Goods where I’ve ordered items online, paid for standard shipping, and the items arrived next day!

Books??? Real renaissance men! 😉 There’s this thing called YouTube...

Talk about the citizens of that town and the surrounding towns getting absolutely F'd over! Disgusting! 😡

Excellent! Thanks all.

Would need to be changed weekly around here. 😔

Could be a CSS issue, or an outdated version of PHP. Worth having tech support look into it....

Looks like the last version upgrade went awry, as quite a few of the graphics for buttons no longer load on mobile:

“Professional fish” 😄

July 3, the launch at 135th had every spot full and cars three rows deep into the grass. River was full of tubers. Eaton Preserve packed too with everyone heading to the river. Seeing a lot more tubing, rafting, leisure floating on the Fox too. I’m sure lots trying to beat the heat and spend time outdoors. Kind of a weird summer, to put it mildly! River water is basically pea soup now with the constant heat. Or pee soup, depending at how you look at it! 😉

I know it's not the ISA's, but the sign under ours about the water usage stamps -- those are now defunct, correct? Thanks for posting the yellow signs.

Thanks. Get a Ketch board. Heard they are gonna make an aluminum one now too. https://ketchproducts.com/collections/fresh-water

Scroll to bottom of pages for tournament results: Super Duper: Round 1: https://tourneyx.com/app/tourney/super-duper-round-1-west-branch-dupage-river Super Duper Round 2: https://tourneyx.com/app/tourney/super-duper-round-2-west-branch-dupage-river There’s a Fox River kayak fishing tourney this Saturday, June 20: https://tourneyx.com/app/tourney/fantastic-river-fox-fox-river-il

Oof! Ron K. rolling over in his grave. 😢 https://patch.com/illinois/plainfield/village-approves-river-tubing-electric-park Fished a Dupe bass tourney a couple weeks ago. Only six kayak anglers. Anyway, floated from Black Road down to Shepley Road. Lots of tubers from Cottage Street (59) on. Bad down towards Shepley. Drunk and raucous. Saving grace was some nice curvy and rocky runs down that way. Much different than the farm fields of southern Naperville and Plainfield. Worth exploring.

I look forward to plucking those lost DT-4s and 6s out of log jams while kayaking. 🤭 On a serious note, careful on those depths. Squarebills and wake baits will get it done, as will swim jigs and spinnerbaits. Wouldn’t even consider tossing a long bill in our local rivers.

Cool story bro. Nice to read about your adventures.

Nice overhead shots.

Sounds worse than it is. It’s literally only a handful of participants. Would be nice to have more interest in local, smallmouth-only tournaments. People are gonna be out fishing anyway!

My brother-in-law is an aquatic biologist with the State of Kentucky and found this beautiful valley flame crayfish in Russell Springs, KY while doing field work on March 16. Thought is was neat looking!

Shifting precipitation patterns, more frequent rainfall. You can read up on it here: https://www.americanrivers.org/threats-solutions/clean-water/impacts-rivers/