Northern pike are present in the system and are maintained through natural reproduction. muskie is valued at $ 1000, a 48” fish weighing thirty pounds or more would be valued at over $2400! Site Regulation: 1 fish daily limit, 48' minimum length. so have the right gear and practice good handling techniques. There are some really nice fish in the Chain!! The American Fisheries Society values muskie at $50/lb. are regularly collected with our largest fish ever weighing 36.2 lbs. Muskie are surveyed each year, in spring nets, to track tagged fish and growth. Male muskie occasionally grow beyond 40” long but females easily grow through that size and are the biggest muskie in a system. In the Chain, it takes at least 12 years for a muskie to reach 48” (legal length) and about 15 years to reach 51”+. Muskie are managed for high catch rates and the longevity of the stocking program has allowed females to grow LARGE! The average muskie is 36” long but fish up to 51” are reported by anglers almost annually.

The population appears to be well balanced and supports our goals to provide predation on panfish species and maximize bass angling opportunities.

50% of the bass collected were over 12” long and sexually mature, 24% exceeded 14 inches (legal size), 17% were over 15” long, 10% were over 16” long, and 1% were over 18”. Fish measured from 2.5” to 20” long and weighed up to 4.4 lbs. In 2021, bass were collected at a rate of 41.2 fish/hr., this is slightly above the long-term average of 21.8 fish/hr. Site Regulation: 3 fish daily limit one fish greater than 28' and 2 fish less than 28'. Crappie fishing remains popular in the Chain, especially in the spring: Fish beyond 16” are possible!įlathead catfish are present up and down the entire Fox River/Fox Chain O’ Lakes system but are more common the further you go below the McHenry Dam and all the way south to Dayton. 43% of black crappie and 61% of white crappie exceeded 9”, and 1.3% of black crappie and 21% of white crappie exceeded 11” long. In 2021, 72% of the channel catfish collected exceeded 18” in length, 39% were over 22” long and 16% were over 24” long.īoth black crappie (n=84) and white crappie (n=63) catches increased since 2015 but fish measured about the same, between 2” and 18” long and weighed up to 2.1 lbs. Channel catfish ranged in size from 10” to 28” long and weighed up to 9.5 lbs. Since the Chain is part of a river system these fish are a significant predator, relatively abundant and caught by a lot of fishermen. This species is maintained through natural reproduction and are common in river systems. Bluegills are a bread and butter species in the Chain - if anglers aren’t targeting the big predators they’re probably catching bluegills! 25% of the bluegill collected were over 7” long and 3.3% exceeded 8” long. Fish ranged from 1.2” to 8.7” and topped the scale at 0.47 lbs. In 2021, 55% of the bluegill collected (n = 966) were longer than 6”.

Fish tales fox lake wisconsin