See every public fishing venue in Illinois on the map, with boat ramps, camping, parking and full rules for each one.
Fox River is a public river in Illinois, managed by State of Illinois (public / navigable water). You can fish it on an Illinois licence; bank access is at road crossings, parks, IDNR sites and other public land, and riparian owners control the bank on non-navigable reaches. Public access confirmed via marquee water.
The Fox River (the Illinois one, not the Wisconsin/Wolf one) — smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, walleye and northern pike through the northeastern suburbs and down to the Illinois River, with several low-head dams creating pooled and free-flowing stretches.
It runs roughly 10 miles through the Central Illinois region. Anglers here mostly fish for smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, walleye, northern pike; channel catfish, bluegill, rock bass are also on record. The nearest other mapped waters on PiscaMaps are Fox River and Shuhart Creek.
Species from IDNR fishery-management data.
Night fishing: No statewide night-fishing closure in Illinois. Some IDNR site lakes post hours or gate at dark, and a handful of urban lakes are day-use only. Trotlines, throwlines and set hooks are legal on most rivers and reservoirs (not on IDNR-managed quality lakes) with the gear tagged; bowfishing for carp, gar and buffalo is popular after dark on the big rivers.
Boats: Rend, Carlyle, Shelbyville, Clinton, the Mississippi, Illinois and Ohio rivers have no horsepower limit; idle / no-wake zones are marked near ramps, dams and marinas. Many IDNR site lakes are electric-motor-only or have a horsepower cap posted at the ramp, and several Chain O'Lakes waters have summer speed-zone rules. Illinois requires a boater-safety certificate for operators born after 1 Jan 1998.
Bank & bivvy camping: Camp at Illinois state parks and recreation areas on the big reservoirs (Rend Lake, Carlyle, Shelbyville, Clinton, Kinkaid, Crab Orchard), the Shawnee National Forest in the south, and IDNR site campgrounds on many of the managed lakes. The Mississippi, Illinois and Ohio rivers have Corps campgrounds and river-access parks.
Tackle: Statewide black-bass daily limit is 6 (14-inch minimum on most water, with special slot or catch-and-release rules on IDNR quality lakes); crappie 25 on most reservoirs; muskellunge 1 (36-inch minimum, higher on trophy waters); walleye/sauger limits vary; catfish generous. Check the current IDNR digest of fishing regulations for this water.
Anyone 16-64 needs an Illinois Department of Natural Resources fishing licence — the resident annual is about $16 (a resident Sportsmen's Combination that adds hunting is more), the non-resident annual about $32, and non-resident 1-day/5-day licences are sold. Illinois has no trout stamp requirement for most water (a small number of put-and-take trout ponds may need a separate stamp — check locally); Illinois residents 65 and older, and anyone under 16, do not need a licence. A single licence covers the state's Corps and IDNR reservoirs. Buy from IDNR at dnr.illinois.gov. An Illinois fishing licence covers navigable rivers. The Mississippi is fished on an Illinois, Iowa or Missouri licence in the border reaches; the Ohio on an Illinois, Kentucky or Indiana licence; the Wabash on an Illinois or Indiana licence.
Every water carries species, bank & boat access, current regulations and live water conditions — and members get Swim Mapper, Catch Logger and Trip Planner. It's the only US map with a dedicated carp-water layer.
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