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Home › Waters › Illinois › Fox River
River · Fox Valley · Illinois

Fox River Fishing Guides

Chicago suburban smallmouth water hiding in plain sight, running through Elgin, Aurora and Yorkville with rock, riffles and dam tailwaters the whole way down.

Warm light on a slow river running through heavy timber
Gauge location. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Guides on the Fox River

Claimed profiles take booking requests. Unclaimed profiles are built from public records so the river is never empty; the guide can claim or remove one any time.

About the Fox River

The Fox is the most fished river most people outside northern Illinois have never heard of. It runs down out of Wisconsin through the western suburbs of Chicago, past Algonquin, Elgin, St. Charles, Aurora, Yorkville and Ottawa to the Illinois River, and along the way it collects a chain of low-head dams, limestone riffles and rock gardens that make excellent smallmouth habitat. Millions of people live within twenty minutes of it.

Smallmouth are the reason to fish it. The stretches below the dams and the long rock runs between them hold good numbers and a real shot at a genuinely big river smallmouth, particularly in the reaches below Yorkville where the river opens up and drops through a series of ledges. Walleye have rebounded strongly and are targeted hard in the tailwaters in early spring and again in fall. Northern pike sit in the backwaters and slower margins, channel and flathead catfish work the deep holes, and white bass push up in schools in early summer.

The Montgomery gauge is the reference for the middle river. Low to moderate readings give clear water, defined riffles and comfortable wading below the dams; after a spring melt or a heavy Chicago-area thunderstorm the river browns out and rises fast, which is a good streamer and current-seam window for a couple of days and then becomes unfishable. It clears from the top down.

A safety point that matters here more than on most rivers: several of the low-head dams on the Fox are dangerous drowning machines and a number have been modified or removed for exactly that reason. Portage well around any of them and never fish from the face. Wade, kayak or run a small jet or jon boat; this is not big-boat water above Ottawa.

This water needs a real photo

The photo at the top of this page is not Fox River.

It is a regional stand-in, honestly captioned but generic — we will not put a name to a river we cannot prove. Send us a photograph you took here and it replaces the stand-in, with your credit on it.

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  • You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
  • Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Fished this water? Add a photo

Reviewed by hand before it appears. Pick the water, not the spot — we never publish exact locations.

Never published. We use it only if we need to ask about the photo.

Posting to Fox River.

JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 12 MB. We resize it and strip the location data out of the file.

The name shown under the photo. Leave blank to stay anonymous.

Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

  • You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
  • Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Flow alert

Tell me when the Fox River cfs

Now: 1,480 cfs, read 4:00 am CDT, Mon Oct 19, 2026 (USGS 05551540, FOX RIVER AT MONTGOMERY, IL).

We never use this address for anything else and never share it. See the privacy policy.

Access

Algonquin and Carpentersville: upper river dam pools and park access.
Elgin and South Elgin: riverwalk access and the Kimball Street area.
St. Charles, Geneva and Batavia: a chain of downtown parks and dam tailwaters.
Montgomery and Aurora: access at and around the gauge reach.
Yorkville: the Marge Cline Whitewater Course and the best-known smallmouth water.
Millbrook, Sheridan and Wedron: quieter lower-river ramps and canoe launches.
Ottawa: the confluence with the Illinois River.

Seasons

March and April: walleye in the tailwaters, high and cold water, then the first smallmouth movement.
May and June: prime smallmouth, white bass runs and comfortable flows.
July and August: low clear water, topwater at dawn, wade fishing at its easiest.
September and October: the best big-smallmouth month of the year, plus a second walleye push.

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Questions

What is the current flow on the Fox River?

As of Oct 19, 4:00 am, the USGS gauge FOX RIVER AT MONTGOMERY, IL reads 1,480 cfs, the 76th percentile for this date. Conditions update every 15 minutes.

What species can you catch on the Fox River?

Anglers target Channel Catfish, Flathead Catfish, Largemouth Bass, Northern Pike, Smallmouth Bass, Walleye, White Bass on the Fox River in Illinois.

Are there fishing guides on the Fox River?

GuidedFloats lists 1 guide and outfitters on the Fox River. Claimed profiles accept booking requests; unclaimed profiles are built from public records and link to the business.

Where can you access the Fox River?

Algonquin and Carpentersville: upper river dam pools and park access. Elgin and South Elgin: riverwalk access and the Kimball Street area. St. Charles, Geneva and Batavia: a chain of downtown parks and dam tailwaters. Montgomery and Aurora: access at and around the gauge reach. Yorkville: the Marge Cline Whitewater Course and the best-known smallmouth water. Millbrook, Sheridan and Wedron: quieter lower-river ramps and canoe launches. Ottawa: the confluence with the Illinois River.

When is the best time to fish the Fox River?

March and April: walleye in the tailwaters, high and cold water, then the first smallmouth movement. May and June: prime smallmouth, white bass runs and comfortable flows. July and August: low clear water, topwater at dawn, wade fishing at its easiest. September and October: the best big-smallmouth month of the year, plus a second walleye push.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Fox River?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Illinois agency site: https://www.ifishillinois.org/site-documents/FishingDigest.pdf