Des Plaines River Winter Largemouth

[@tackleattacko8004]

Tomorrow I will be fishing desplaines the same day you made this video nov 21st

[@glenndaugherity6187]

Great show Tony glad I found your channel !! Great info too !

[@tonysspotonfishing]

Glen Daugherity Thanks so much, we truly appreciate you watching and thanks for taking the time to write to us. Another great season of Spot On Fishing will be starting soon.

[@mglass98]

Keep up the good work! I just packed away my salmon/steelhead rod for the season. Too cold for me!

[@tonysspotonfishing]

Michael Glass I don’t blame you! This weather is crazy lately. Thanks for watching and thanks for the comment!

[@angelalvarado3886]

Good video as always tony nice job !! Are you on the southern or northern part of desplaines ?

[@tonysspotonfishing]

Chicago Fishing Thanks for the compliment. We fish the southern part of the DesPlaines. We launch at Big Basin in Channahon and fish that area as far south as the Kankakee and as far north as the Joliet power plant.

[@johnballard6841]

Hey Tony thanks for taking one for the team. Way to get out and take on the elements. I'm curious what the avg depth is out that way. I wonder if there is a percentage of fish that travel south from the northern stretches and hold there since it's deeper? Of course they have to go thru the Brandon Lock and Dam but fish travel miles in no time. Thoughts?

[@tonysspotonfishing]

John Ballard Thanks! That was a rough day on the water for sure! The river channels that the barges run in is 20-25 feet deep and sometimes a little more in spots. The main areas we fish are 3-5 feet deep. Usually with some structure near the channel. There are a couple 6-8 foot flats I’ve caught them on as well. I have fished the ledges and channels, always shad there, never caught one in the deep stuff. I would say it’s possible that some fish are migrating south. But I don’t think that many are. I think in a flood stage situation is when more bass would travel south. The spring, summer and fall is unbelievable on the south end. I mean they’re all 13-14 inches with a bigger one here and there mixed in, but you’ll catch a ton of them. The numbers are crazy down there. There are fish that migrate though, a few years back, fishing in the Rookery, just off the river I had caught a few pike. Now they are mostly up north. Especially around the Lemont area. So if they find their way down I’m sure some bass do as well. I just don’t believe it’s a big migration. And probably the fish that do come down, I wouldn’t think would leave with so much shad down here. Once they find food they usually won’t venture far from it. So I would have to say, it’s probably just a few fish here and there that come down, but I don’t think it’s a full shift, ya know. One thing I’ve learned from fishing the Fox River quite a bit was looking at the deeper holes and not finding fish, or not finding active fish, and still finding them on the shallow flats, even in winter. I think if they can get out of current and be close to food, they won’t travel too far.

[@johnballard6841]

Thanks for the great insight and awesome info. I'm going go have to take the kayak out there this coming spring. I'll make sure to stay out of the main channel lol. I've always been interested in that huge algae filled area off to the right driving south heading over the bridge. It seems that every year I hear about a few tournaments down that way. I love the thought of fishing that stretch and laying into alot of bass. Sounds like a blast.

[@tonysspotonfishing]

John Ballard That weed flat you’re talking about is awesome in the summer. If the weeds are still down, and you can run a spinnerbait over the weed tops and you’ll catch them pretty good. 1/4oz or 3/8oz is the biggest. As the weeds get thicker, we have caught them on a frog, but the best bait for that stretch is a 4in yum dinger in the pearl white color, whacky rigged with an 1/8oz tungsten weight. Absolutely crazy how productive that presentation is!

[@dangzhichen5935]

Do you have any knowledge on Navy Pier perch yet? Just curious.

[@tonysspotonfishing]

Dangzhi Chen Absolutely! It is a blast! Some perch reports are coming in from the lakefront. Have to fish through a ton of little guys to find some keepers. Swedish pimples tipped with a Minnow head work well, traditional perch rigs will catch them too. My favorite method has always been running an ice jig like a demon jig and tipping it with a waxie. I’ve even brought the ice rod down with me in open water just to have some fun. But normally I’ll just fish the demon jig on my long noodle rod. No more then 4lb. P-line CX is awesome for perch. Fluorocarbon coated mono, very low vis and good feel, low stretch and decent abrasion resistance.