Fox River

Here is a thread talking about it

Here is a link if you want to research it

This will absolutely be impactful for the water level above the waterford dam in the Tichigan impoundment.  It will be less impactful I believe after the Waterford damn.

Fished Rochester a few days back.  On my
Way back to the car, I met a fisherman that mentioned that as of September 1st, water was being diverted from Waukesha so that the water level below Rochester and above the Waterford Dam would be lowered as a result.  Just checking if anyone knows what he was referring to.  
Thanks!

Nice pile of fish CM!

For me, that is why the Fox is just so much fun, you never have any clue what you're gonna catch!

Just got back from a long trip up north, I'm gonna head out tomorrow!

Whether you launch in Burlington, Rochester, or Waterford - there is a pile of quality fish to catch!

Edit:
You will notice the yellow bass are awesome, just an awesome eating fish! The white bass tend to be fishy, I don't even keep them anymore...

SV- hope you get out there and ​can enjoy for a bit!

Helluva nice mess there JJ. I was thinking about maybe doing the same thing myself. Been workin wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too much for any of that kind of fun. Sux gettin old. I might get a chance next week if I can squeeze in something between work and honey do's. Thanks for the report.

Jimmy

Fished Saturday afternoon in Burlington and I learned from my last outing that I can catch white/yellow bass and crappie so I left the turtle fishing rods at home and got two dozen small fatheads and went for a day of pan fishing.
Paddled my way up to the golf course area and started fishing, the first fish I caught was a 5" LMB and I thought this could end up being a weird day on the river.
Ended up with 25+ white/yellow bass, 2-catfish, 2-black crappie, 1-white crappie, 1-LMB, 1-perch, overall 6-7 species and enough panfish for a fish fry.
The backside of the biggest snags is where I caught most of the fish but I had to move around and once I found a target zone I'd catch 4 or 5 and the spot would die down and I'd have to move.
Both catfish were nice eaters but I only had a small fish basket and small cooler and was after pan fish, didn't catch a crappie until 7pm and then got three in a row.
While I was fishing I had a golfers 250 yard drive splash 5' from the kayak, scared the heck out of me.

Was lucky to get out on the Fox this morning for a few hours.  Fished from the Waterford Dam to the Main Street Bridge.  Caught over a dozen smallmouth, all 10-12 inches long, along with a few largemouth, a catfish, a dogfish, a bullhead, and lots of pesky small yellow bass.  Highlight was a 15 inch largemouth early in the morning.  Mostly used a Mepps Aglia 3 or working a worm along the current.  Water has dropped significantly since the last week's rains.  Lots of wildlife and serenity to be found on the river in the early hours.  

Brent.   Years ago my wife and I did very well on Browns from the MARSH RD parking lot upstream through the TICHIGAN SPRINGS area.   The DNR was managing it at this time ( early 90s ) and built some log coverings overhanging the creek but ran out of funds after 4-5 years and most of their work was washed away.  I tried it a few years back but all I caught were chubs.   The spot where it empties into CONSERVANCY BAY was a hot spot for huge pike in August because of the cold water but that area is all weeded in nowadays but it might be worth giving it a shot though the ice.

You can tell Fall is coming as the Perch are starting to move in.  No clue where they go in summer, we rarely catch any, but in Fall you catch quite a few.

Also, the Gills are bigger - caught quite a few 8-10 inchers. Threw the bigger bulls back and kept (9) 7.5 to 9 inchers.  My wife, son, and I typically eat 3 a piece. The Perch and the Rockie swallowed the hook, so ended up keeping them for dinner.

Also caught Warmouth, Rockies, and a truck load of small Yellow Bass - they were actually a nuisance!

Did a bit of Carolina Rig dead sticking, and crawlers under a float. No goats, kitties, smallies, or eyes today. It was panfish day I guess!

As much as I love summer, looking forward to Fall fishing on the Fox. In late September the bowfin start biting, along with the crappies.

Fall on the Fox is one of my favorite times of year!

Nice CM!

The Fox is always fun.  If it swims in Wisconsin (except for Salmon or Trout), you can likely find it in the system.  The DNR has stated that there are Trout in the little stream in the NW corner of conservancy bay on Tichigan, but in 20 years I've never caught one or know of anyone who has.

Many years ago (below Rochester) I caught what I believe was a fresh water eel, (snagged it on a twister tail) creepy looking thing whatever it was.

I did the fox river multi species challenge today out for Burlington, I gave myself a four hour time limit, 4 to 8.
The strategy was cast a little spinner around the shallows in riverside park and get a smb right way and move to spot #2.
I had one hit right next to the boat but couldn't hook it, casted franticly for the next 10 minutes but didn't catch one, on to spot #2.
Trying to catch something i can cut up for catfish bait, and was able to get a couple little yellow bass i think and was one the board with one species.
Ate my subway dinner and up to spot #3,got set up with two catfish rods and a little rod with a little pink jig and a float.
First fish a keeper whitebass and then a surprise crappie, didn't get a pic of the whitebass because the big cut bait rod doubled over but it ended up being a big turtle. put the little rod away and got another one out with crawler on the bottom because i needed carp, drum and catfish, couple minutes later i get a drum and it's half time and i have i think four species, i'm not real good at telling yellow from white bass apart but things are looking up.
I needed to catch a catfish and carp and the Cat Man couldn't catch a damn catfish, 7:15 back to spot #2 but only another turtle that tangled in another rod and time just ran out.
It was so much fun doing it as a four hour multi species challenge even if i only got three or four species.

And Bow fin Brent, they’ve hovered around my baskets like snappers, I admire you for still trying to get that basket, great catch ??

Almost forgot, snagged my fishing basket that I lost a few trips ago lol!

Nothing but a few bones in the basket, must've been Cray fish and or snappers.

Met a fellow linker out on the water - was nice to meet you my friend! He was catching a few kitties. 

Spent the first two hours fishing and not catching. My first two spots were a complete bust. 3rd spot was ok, caught a few.

4th spot was pretty solid, caught a little bit of everything. 8 inch Gills, Yellow Bass, Rock Bass, Smallies, Drum, and Kitties. Stayed there for 2+ hours, and had quite a few doubles. 

Kept 10 pannies for dinner tonight and let the rest go.

Crawler halves still working well under a float or Carolina Rig. 

You just never know where they're going to be on the river, the way it started, I thought it was gonna be a very slow day. 

If you don't find active fish within 15 minutes, keep on moving. Typically when they are there, they're  biting, it's fairly seldom you locate fish and they don't bite. They have a lot of river to roam - so keep on trying different places.

The breeze felt awesome!

CM,

I fish the Fox both above and below the Rochester and Waterford Dams. I have not fished the Fox in Burlington since I moved in 2000. I used to fish it quite a bit back in the day tho - definitely some good areas to fish. Riverside park, Bushnell, Veteran's Park, Charcoal Grill...

The same fish are present in each section of the Fox, although I would say there are more Yellow Bass above both the Rochester and Waterford Dams, and considerably more White Bass below the Rochester Dam.

There is lots of opportunity and public access areas from Waukesha all the way down river to Big Bend, Waterford, Rochester, and Burlington.

We've put in at Village Hall park for in Waterford a number of times and fished the Fox all the way down river to Burlington - that's a fun day trip, but you have to keep the bus moving.