Kankakee River Asian Carp Alert - On 01/10/2009 my friend and fishing buddy, Bill Ramsey, caught a 28 lb, 40 inch long Asian Bighead Carp at the 4th Avenue hole. The DNR says this is the furthest upstream that they have recorded. Please if you catch an Asian carp do not let it go back into the river. These are non-native fish with voracious appetities. They will spoil the habitat for a our game fish. Call the DNR and let them know where you caught it. But do not release back into the river

 Since I am working full time now my fishing has been cut short this year.  The fishing area by the hydroelectri plant and dam provides us with benches, rod holders, overhead shelter, paved parking close enough to see your car, trash containers and light at night. Depending on the time of year, we will catch walleye, small mouth bass, largemouth bass, rock bass, crappie, northern pike, flathead catfish, channel catfish, and carp. You can also fish the area on the north side of the river directly across from the hydroelectric plant fishing area. For both sides it is advisable to bring a drop net with a long rope. This will work when fishing from the Washington Street Bridge also.

DAILY (almost) UPDATE:
07/05/2010 - Check the Fishing Derby website link from this site
for the latest updates. Not much more to report - will probably go for carp and/or cats this afternoon. A taggede fish worht a boat, motor, & trailer has been caught this year.

04/05/2009 - The walleye have been hitting on a pretty regular basis since Mid March below the dam. My friends have all caught between 3lb and 9 lb 4oz walleye (Eddie) The bank on the North side down from the R bar was a real producer after the flood waters and still produces some good size males. The steps down from the North side fishing area (across the street from the old Lanny's) has produced some 3 to 7 lb walleye. The hydroelectric side fishing area has produce some 16 inch to 4 1/2 lb walleye as has the boat ramp by the park just west of the hydroelectric plant.

 As for the opening day of Illinois trout season, Rock Creek was packed with fisherman but not that many were caught. The ones that were caught were nice size (see my photo album on the next page). So I think the trout fishing should be good on Rock Creek for the next couple of weeks. Bird Park Quarry produced some phenominal size trout - 2 1/2 to 3 lb range.

 Most of the guys who fish at the dam have been going out to Altorf by the state park to buy from Kankakee River Trading Post. Call any of the numbers below for hours and days open.  Apart from that, there is always Walmart or Caseys and Gas City and the Shell Station on Water & Station across from Bird Park Quarry amd the Shell Station by the dam for crawlers and beemoths.

Frank's Bait Shop
621 N. Dixie Highway
Momence, Il
815-472-6638

Kankakee River Trading Post
5045 N. 4370 W Road
Boubonnais, IL
815-933-9652


The Kankakee River Fishing Derby is a phenominal event that takes place sometime before the 4th of July. Dates are posted closer to the event; you can find them on the Kankakee website. You can enter your entire family for one very reasonable fee, usually twenty bucks. Prizes for tagged fish run the gamut from free pizzas to boats. There is also a hot daily leader board. Come see us in Kankakee, have a lot of fun fishing and enjoying our great city.

Kankakee River Fishing Tips:

1) Walleye - The best spots all year seem to be at the confluence of the Kankakee River and the Iroquois River and below the Kankakee Dam on the Hydroelectric plant side.
 Reportedly productive winter spots have been:

 The 4th Avenue Hole (North side of the river) You can park on 4th Avenue and walk down to the hole. Just do not block in anyones driveway.

 Fisherman's Park (on Kennedy Drive East side of the river, just north of Court Street). Good parking and easy access but do not drive north of the entrance drive. Last years floods have created deep sand for you to get stuck in.

  Hydes Hole behind the Perry Farm (Kennedy Drive in Bourbonnais) You can park in the Perry Farm and walk back to the River. This is about a 15 minute walk.

Spring and Fall with the water temperature below 50 degrees and closer to 45 degrees seem to be the most productive time for walleye. Best baits have been large minnows, creek chubs (I've personally seen a 12" walleye take an 8 " chub)  and 3/8 oz jig heads with 4" swirltails. Minimum size limit on the Kankakee River is 16".

2) Catfish - This past summer produced some large flatheads (10+ lbs) from beneath the tubes at the Hydroelectric plant on live bait - nightcrawlers and minnows. Some very large channels were also caught there on chicken liver and hamburger doughballs.

Midsummer produced quite a few catfish from both sides of the river and from the Washington Street and Station Street bridges. Most popular fishing method from the bridges seems to be floating chicken liver or doughball downstream with small balloons as a bobber.

3) Carp (Locally and respectfully referred to as Kankakee Coho)- I personally caught over 300 10lb or larger carp from the Hydroelectric side of the Kankakee dam this past season on my strawberry jello doughball (see below). 

 My favorite rig is a #6 treble hook at the end of 20# test line. About 18" to 24" up put a 3/4 oz barrel sinker and keep it in place with a pinched on split shot. My best day was during the dog days of August and I caught 20 10 lb plus carp in five hours - largest that day was 22 lbs.

4) Trout - Bird Park Quarry (located between Court Street and Station Street on the west side of the river) in Kankakee is stocked with Rainbows in the spring and fall. Rock Creek is stocked in the Spring.  Rock Creek is out by and in the State park off State Road 102.

 On Rock Creek, I have limited out by using an ultralight with 6 lb test, a #10 aberdeen snelled hook on the end of a swivel snap with a split shot just above the swivel snap. Load the hook up with corn right from the can and bounce along the bottom - no bobber.

 In Bird Park Quarry, what has worked for me is the same rigging but yellow or chartreuse Power Bait casted out and allowed to sink to the bottom. I have only caught one using a bobber although I have seen trout caught on everything from corn to redworms to nightcrawlers to bee moths in this quarry. I guess it is what ever you are comfortable with as long as it is a small hook.

 
5) Kankakee River Bass - Below the dam seems to be a loose collection of Smallmouth, Largemouth, and Rock Bass. With the exception of Rock Bass, most of what I have seen caught there were caught by someone fishing for something else. But crankbaits and live bait seem to do well on these species. The most productive live bait for bass has been minnows and nightcrawlers.

6) A good source of information is the Kankakee Daily Journal Outdoors section. This is available on line at http://www.daily-journal.com/ Just go to the sports section, click on the Outdoors tab and go into the archives or click on a current story. Any article by Bill Byrns is going to be informative and reliable.