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Fox Chain O'Lakes, IL

Lake spanning Lake/McHenry counties, Illinois. Illinois' largest concentration of natural lakes, a connected chain of glacial lakes (Pistakee, Fox, Grass, Nippersink and more) on the Fox River near the Wisconsin line. Known for largemouth bass, walleye, muskellunge, northern pike, white bass, and excellent panfishing for bluegill and crappie. Heavy boat traffic in summer; fish early and on weekdays.

56

Overall bite score

Scored 28 min ago · recomputed every 30 minutes

Water tempModeled70
Pressure trendNOAAsteady60
SolunarComputedmoon 57% lit45
Recent stockingState data50
Time of dayComputed50
WindNOAA60
Cloud coverNOAA35
PrecipitationNOAA50

Each instrument reads 0 to 100. The score is their weighted blend, tuned for lakes and reservoirs. No black box: every reading names its source.

What swims here

10 tracked species in Fox Chain O'Lakes, with the months each fishes best.

Bluegillabundant
Largemouth Bassabundant
Black Crappiecommon
Channel Catfishcommon
Common Carpcommon
Muskellungecommon
Northern Pikecommon
Walleyecommon
White Basscommon
Yellow Perchcommon

Water facts

TypeLake
CountyLake/McHenry
StateIllinois
WaterFreshwater

Connected natural-lake chain; no in-lake USGS water-temp gauge (Nippersink Creek gauge 05548280 is a live inflow but not representative of lake temp), so bite score uses the seasonal baseline. Statewide bass/walleye limits apply unless posted. Ramps: Chain O'Lakes State Park, Fox Lake, Petite Lake, Grass Lake.

See the full forecast for Fox Chain O'Lakes in the app: best windows, 7-day outlook, what to bring, and offline regulations. The score and essentials are free.

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