Hi boy's, my son just started NIU in DeKalb & I didn't realize that the Kishwaukee ran through DeKalb very close to the school. Anybody know how the fishing is out there? He likes to fish & it would give me a chance to fish the Kishwaukee. Many Thanks, billyk
In DeKalb, I have caught small mouth, rock bass, and suckers out of the Kish- I never put much time or effort into the DeKalb stretch of the river.
If your willing to drive there is some nice stretches of the Kish 15 minutes north of DeKalb. I spent most of my time on the Kish in the Kirkland/Kingston area. You can run into some great small river fishing if you put in the effort.
Also, I have a couple of places for some decent large mouth fishing if you're interested and a great catfish and carp location- all within 15 minutes of DeKalb. If you have anymore questions just ask. Jason
Young, college enrolled, pseudo-intellectual without much practical life-experience, and aspiring ACLU spokesman.
dont waste ur time the dekalb stretch is garbage i have lived in dekalb my whole life and i know hte kish it hasmostly carp in dekalb stretch you if you really want to catch on the kish you have to go farther like in cherryvalley or near rockford where it enters the rock river trust me the kish in dekalb is garbage
I agree, the DeKalb stretch is pretty shallow. Not much in their other than Carp. Once you get up by Kirkland, it's a different river. I have caught Walleyes up to 6 lbs, Smallies up to 22", 2 Crappie over 16"on consecutive casts, Give it a try.
I go to NIU, and I just got back from fishing after class in the Kish. The river that runs through campus is incredibly shallow, yet I pulled out three northern on an ultral light between 20-25 inches, all in three consecutive casts and in the same exact spot. Caught two small largemouth in the same place. Tell your son to fish in the east lagoon on campus, and use small twister tails or red and silver meps. Medium sized bass only but its better than studying, plus there are tons of big carp that I always snag on accident.
I am also a student of NIU. The previous posts are unfortunately accurate/ the kish in in dekalb is very shallow. However, I have a theory. The river system from the Lincoln highway bridge all the way to the bethany rd. bridge is channelized and leveed for flood control. My theory is, that, if you can find any type of hole, with any kind of depth, the fish that migrate through this area will be there. I wish i could explore further north of campus, but I did find a little hole with some nice debris on the bend to the southeast of the music building. Have caught some good northern and smallmouth on black and white rapalas and other slash baits. Other than that, look at satellite maps on yahoo or google earth and find some farm ponds. they are always on private property, but if you ask the farmers they will usually let u fish them. I have caught several 5 pond plus lmb on some of the bigger ponds in the area. I wish i could give u some hints but I can't let these spots out for fear of losing the privilege of fishing them myself. GOOD LUCK!!!
I go to NIU as well. I always go about 10-11 miles north on glidden, then over some tracks, there is a large bridge over the kish. I fished there last weekend, caught 4-5 smallmouth of good size. Also saw some monster carp. I have fished the lagoon at night and only caught small bullhead. Ive gone south of campus but the river was pretty shallow, even when It had just rained a /censor load the night before.
If anyone sees this that goes to NIU, two friends and I are looking for some people to go to Shabbona with and split a boat rental. Probably $22 a person for the whole day on a boat with a motor.
good advise dude...been fishin the Kish for yrs....west of Genoa, you start getting into great smallie water. Lots of smaller ones but occasionally some big ones. I got a 19" on topwater a few weeks ago and have had several 50+ fish mornings on the water. Haven't made it to the new park yet but have heard the walleye fishing is decent. Just remember, much of this stretch is private property.....
If you're just looking to catch some fish, try the campground in Sycamore. It's private, fee is reasonable ($5?) and has great bass, crappie and some nice pike. Kish runs along edge of property. Lots of fun in the spring when the crappie come shallow. I think it's on the right heading N on 23, not far past the rt 64 intersection. Been a few yrs since I've been there but always produced some decent fish and pretty quiet back there.
where 64 runs east of glidden is a good spot. caught two nice sized bass and a small snake of a pike there today.
i have heard posotive things pertaining to the lagoon, but i dont want to sit there tossing baits out only to find out the hard way that there are only carp and bull head in there
This is all fantastic info from the people who journey & all the students as well. I was wondering if there was anywhere you could drop a small flat bottom boat in? Trolling motor, oars to push thru the shallows, get out and walk the boat thru some areas, ect. Is it possible?, I'd like to be able to cover more water in a day. Thanks in advance.
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