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Des Plaines River (Illinois) — a popular fishing spot. About 137 km long. Nearby towns: Waukegan, Joliet and Naperville. This page shows an hourly bite forecast for today and the week ahead; the algorithm factors in the weather, atmospheric pressure, and the moon phase.
Nearest towns and cities
Illinois: the months when each species peaks and when it goes quiet. The current month is outlined.
| Fish | January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steelhead | peak | peak | active | fair | active | peak | peak | peak | active | peak | peak | peak |
| White crappie | peak | peak | peak | active | active | fair | fair | active | active | active | active | active |
| Black crappie | peak | peak | peak | active | fair | fair | fair | active | active | active | active | active |
| Lake trout | peak | peak | active | active | fair | slow | fair | active | active | active | peak | peak |
| Muskellunge | slow | fair | active | peak | active | active | active | peak | peak | active | fair | slow |
| Walleye | slow | fair | active | peak | active | active | peak | peak | peak | active | fair | slow |
| White bass | slow | slow | active | active | active | active | peak | peak | peak | active | slow | slow |
| Yellow perch | slow | fair | active | peak | active | active | peak | peak | peak | active | fair | slow |
| Largemouth bass | fair | active | active | active | active | active | active | active | fair | fair | fair | fair |
| Pike | fair | fair | fair | fair | active | active | peak | peak | peak | active | active | fair |
| Smallmouth bass | slow | slow | fair | active | active | active | peak | peak | peak | active | slow | slow |
| Rainbow trout | slow | fair | active | peak | peak | active | active | active | fair | slow | slow | slow |
| Blue catfish | slow | slow | slow | active | peak | peak | peak | active | slow | slow | slow | slow |
| Bluegill | slow | slow | slow | active | peak | peak | peak | active | slow | slow | slow | slow |
| Carp | slow | slow | fair | active | peak | peak | peak | active | slow | slow | slow | slow |
| Channel catfish | slow | slow | slow | active | peak | peak | peak | active | slow | slow | slow | slow |
| Chinook salmon | slow | slow | slow | active | peak | peak | peak | active | fair | slow | slow | slow |
| Whitefish | fair | active | active | peak | active | fair | fair | active | fair | fair | slow | slow |
| Coho salmon | slow | slow | slow | slow | fair | active | peak | peak | peak | fair | slow | slow |
| Flathead catfish | slow | slow | slow | fair | peak | peak | peak | active | slow | slow | slow | slow |
Other nearby waters
The course is moderately sinuous: pools are scoured at the bends and riffles run between them.
Work the cover — snags, weed edges, hole entrances; retrieve the lure with pauses.
Des Plaines River — Tuesday, October 20
The bite is strong — fish are active. Pressure is dropping — this usually boosts the bite. Peak 07:00–09:00 and 18:00–20:00.
The computed water temperature is around 62 °F — inside the 57–75 °F comfort range for Black crappie, so baseline activity is high.
Black crappie works the twilight: the peaks are pinned to sunrise and sunset — their times are in the sun-and-moon card above.
Pressure is dropping 0.03 inHg over the day — fish are usually more active ahead of a weather change.
One more input — the moon's feeding windows: within their hours the score sits higher than across the rest of the day. The window times are in the “Solunar feeding periods” card below.
October is an active season for Black crappie here.
These are the same values the bite curve above was computed from. How the forecast works
Clear · feels like +66°
The day is 3 min shorter than yesterday.
Sunshine hours count direct sun only — cloud cover cuts it, so it is shorter than daylight.
Geomagnetic fieldG1 geomagnetic storm, Kp 4.7
Kp index — NOAA data. Not part of the bite score: catches show no link between geomagnetic storms and the bite.
The windows are set by the moon's transit and rise, and the forecast above already accounts for them: within these hours the bite score sits higher than across the rest of the day, while the day's overall level still comes from the catch-calibrated model.
What are solunar periods?Blue check: this species appears as a catch in reports for this waterbody.
Work the cover — snags, weed edges, hole entrances; retrieve the lure with pauses.
Des Plaines River — Tuesday, October 20
The bite is strong — fish are active. Pressure is dropping — this usually boosts the bite. Peak 07:00–09:00 and 18:00–20:00.
Biting
Fish in 1 of 1 report · Mostly Largemouth bass
Anglers have logged 1 fishing report here. Most commonly caught: Largemouth bass. Peak season: July.
Measured river conditions are available for Des Plaines River: current gauge height, streamflow, and water temperature when reported by the source.
USGS gauge DES PLAINES RIVER NEAR DES PLAINES, IL, 2 mi away · measured 2026-10-20 21:45 · data source · provisional data, subject to revision