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Home › Waters › Illinois › Macoupin Creek
Creek · Greene and Macoupin Counties, the lower Macoupin Creek near Kane above its junction with the Illinois River, north of Alton · Illinois

Macoupin Creek Fishing Guides

One of west-central Illinois' better smallmouth creeks, running over limestone and gravel through bluff country to the Illinois River near Kane.

Mist over a green river between wooded banks
Gauge location. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Guides on the Macoupin Creek

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About the Macoupin Creek

Macoupin Creek drains a large piece of west-central Illinois farm country and reaches the Illinois River in the bluff country north of Alton, and in its lower reaches it is a genuinely good smallmouth stream. The upper watershed is row crop and the creek there carries the silt that implies, but as it approaches the Illinois it cuts down into limestone and the character changes completely. Bedrock ledges, gravel riffles and rock-walled pools replace mud banks, the water clears between rains, and the fish community shifts toward species that need hard bottom and current.

Smallmouth bass are the reason to come. They hold on the ledges and in the fast water at the heads of pools, and in a creek this size a good fish is a genuinely strong fight in current. Channel and flathead catfish use the deep pools and the log jams, blue catfish and freshwater drum move up out of the Illinois River, and a spring run of white bass comes surprisingly far upstream. Northern pike and walleye are present in modest numbers near the river junction. Longear sunfish colour up brilliantly in summer and are one of the pleasures of a slow afternoon here.

The gauge near Kane reports discharge and stage, and flow is what should decide whether to make the trip. This is a flashy agricultural watershed: a heavy rain anywhere in the upper basin turns the creek high and chocolate within a day, and it needs several days to clear. At moderate and low flow the riffles are wadeable, the water clears to a couple of feet of visibility, and the smallmouth fishing is as good as anything in the region. Access is through bridge crossings, county roads and the state fish and wildlife areas near the Illinois River confluence.

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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.

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4. Withdrawing the license

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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.

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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 Macoupin Creek cfs

Now: 14.9 cfs, read 4:30 pm CDT, Sun Oct 18, 2026 (USGS 05587000, MACOUPIN CREEK NEAR KANE, IL).

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Access

Kane - the Greene County village at the gauge, the reference point for the lower creek. / Carlinville - the Macoupin County seat upstream, a base for the middle and upper watershed. / Jerseyville - the town to the south, the practical base for supplies and lodging near the confluence. / Alton - the larger city on the Mississippi, with tackle shops and full services. / Illinois River confluence - the downstream end, with state fish and wildlife area access and boat launches. / IL 267 and IL 108 bridges - highway crossings giving public bank and wade access. / County road crossings - the section-line bridges that provide most of the practical wade access to the lower creek.

Seasons

Spring: high and often muddy from snowmelt and rain, but the white bass run and the pre-spawn smallmouth bite are worth timing around a clear window. / Summer: the prime season, with low clear water, wadeable riffles and smallmouth feeding hard through the warm months. / Fall: excellent, as cooling water puts the biggest smallmouth of the year on the ledges with very little angling pressure. / Winter: cold, low and clear; fish hold deep in the rock pools and the fishing is slow, though catfish still take bait.

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Questions

What is the current flow on the Macoupin Creek?

As of Oct 18, 4:30 pm, the USGS gauge MACOUPIN CREEK NEAR KANE, IL reads 15 cfs. Conditions update every 15 minutes.

What species can you catch on the Macoupin Creek?

Anglers target Blue Catfish, Bluegill, Channel Catfish, Common Carp, Flathead Catfish, Freshwater Drum, Largemouth Bass, Longear Sunfish, Longnose Gar, Northern Pike, Rock Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Walleye, White Bass on the Macoupin Creek in Illinois.

Where can you access the Macoupin Creek?

Kane - the Greene County village at the gauge, the reference point for the lower creek. / Carlinville - the Macoupin County seat upstream, a base for the middle and upper watershed. / Jerseyville - the town to the south, the practical base for supplies and lodging near the confluence. / Alton - the larger city on the Mississippi, with tackle shops and full services. / Illinois River confluence - the downstream end, with state fish and wildlife area access and boat launches. / IL 267 and IL 108 bridges - highway crossings giving public bank and wade access. / County road crossings - the section...

When is the best time to fish the Macoupin Creek?

Spring: high and often muddy from snowmelt and rain, but the white bass run and the pre-spawn smallmouth bite are worth timing around a clear window. / Summer: the prime season, with low clear water, wadeable riffles and smallmouth feeding hard through the warm months. / Fall: excellent, as cooling water puts the biggest smallmouth of the year on the ledges with very little angling pressure. / Winter: cold, low and clear; fish hold deep in the rock pools and the fishing is slow, though catfish still take bait.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Macoupin Creek?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Illinois agency site: https://dnr.illinois.gov/fishing/regulations.html