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Kankakee River Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Northeastern Illinois' Kankakee: smallmouth under a protected slot from Kankakee Dam to Wilmington, and 11 miles of state park.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Flow
1,450 cfs
Air / High
71 / 71 F
Wind
SSE 7 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 05520500, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Kankakee River is in transition: bait on the move and predators following. The river is running 1,450 cfs, dropping and clearing. Today brings clear skies, wind SSE around 7 mph, steady pressure near 1024 hPa and a high of 71. Water sits around 62 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:26 AM-11:26 AM and 9:55 PM-11:55 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Smallmouth bassGood

Spring pre-spawn and fall: Iowa DNR notes the larger bass come up to shallow structure, where a shallow-running minnow bait or a spinnerbait just under the surface works.

WalleyeGood

Spring: post-spawn fish scatter and can be slow for a couple of weeks. Fall: one of the best windows, with minnows on jigs and three-way rigs as the water cools toward ice-up.

Catfish (blue, channel)Good

In spring after ice-out, Iowa finds channel cats feeding on winter-killed shad on the shallow, warmer mudflats at the upper ends of reservoirs; cut bait on the bottom works there.

Northern pikeGood

The best band for pike: right after ice-out they move into flooded vegetated shallows to spawn, and they feed actively again as the water cools in fall.

Tomorrow: Similar at 71 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Before you go

Illinois requires a fishing licence, from $15.00 for residents. What a Illinois licence costs and where to buy it →

Chasing smallmouth bass here? Check the size and bag limits with IDNR before you keep anything. The season dates for Illinois, read off the agency, are on the Illinois seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings from Kankakee River at Momence.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 05520500.

1,7142,2052,6961,450 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Today’s flow against 112 years of October 23

At 1,450 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 05520500 (Kankakee River at Momence) is at the 73rd percentile for the date: normal. In half of the 112 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 950 cfs; the highest was 7,220 cfs and the lowest 418 cfs.

p10 598median 950p90 2,320

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 05520500; today’s reading is the latest instantaneous value. Classes follow the ones the USGS used on its WaterWatch maps (retired at the end of 2025): below 10th, much below normal; 10th–24th, below; 25th–75th, normal; 76th–90th, above; over 90th, much above.

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp71 F
High / Low71 / 41 F
WindSSE 7-7 mph
Pressure1023.9 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain1% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:11 / 17:57
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~62 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Kankakee River this week

The best day on Kankakee River this week looks like Monday Oct 26, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Monday, Oct 26 — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 — Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
9:26 AM-11:26 AM and 9:55 PM-11:55 PM
Minor period
3:48 AM-4:48 AM
Sun
07:11 to 17:57
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Showers, 9 mph
Rain chance
0%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Kankakee River: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Smallmouth bass illustration

Smallmouth bass

Best: spring and fall, when bigger fish come shallow

A bronze-brown black bass of clear, cool streams and rocky lakes, with dark vertical bars instead of a side stripe. Michigan DNR says its southeastern coast, from Port Huron to Lake Erie, is known nationally for both the size and the number of its smallmouth. Spring pre-spawn and fall: Iowa DNR notes the larger bass come up to shallow structure, where a shallow-running minnow bait or a spinnerbait just under the surface works.

Walleye illustration

Walleye

Best: spring and late fall, around dawn, dusk and night

A cool-water perch of large lakes, reservoirs and rivers whose reflective eyes are built for low light, so it feeds most at night and in murky water. The Missouri Department of Conservation ranks it among the continent's most important freshwater game fish. Spring: post-spawn fish scatter and can be slow for a couple of weeks. Fall: one of the best windows, with minnows on jigs and three-way rigs as the water cools toward ice-up.

Catfish (blue, channel) illustration

Catfish (blue, channel)

Year-round, best at dusk and after dark

Three big catfish share most of the country's rivers and reservoirs: the channel catfish, the most widespread; the blue catfish, the largest; and the flathead, which hunts live fish. All feed mostly on or near the bottom. In spring after ice-out, Iowa finds channel cats feeding on winter-killed shad on the shallow, warmer mudflats at the upper ends of reservoirs; cut bait on the bottom works there.

Northern pike illustration

Northern pike

Best: cool water, from ice-out through spring, in fall and under the ice

A long, duck-billed predator of weedy lakes, slow rivers and backwaters that ambushes fish from vegetation. Wisconsin DNR points out that, unlike most of the state's common game fish, pike do their best feeding in cool water. The best band for pike: right after ice-out they move into flooded vegetated shallows to spawn, and they feed actively again as the water cools in fall.

When to come: the Kankakee River calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Smallmouth bass
Walleye
Catfish (blue, channel)
Northern pike
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 62 F (estimated, not a reading).

4050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~62 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Kankakee River today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Smallmouth bass led the card at good. High of 73 F, wind to 6 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Smallmouth bass led the card at good. High of 73 F, wind to 5 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Smallmouth bass led the card at good. High of 71 F, wind to 7 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

Illinois requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Illinois fishing license. Smallmouth slot from the Kankakee Dam to the Wilmington Dam; walleye rules for the Kankakee and Iroquois system (2026 Illinois Fishing Information, effective April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027).

Access

Kankakee River State Park ramps at the Warner Bridge Day Use Area and Area 9; more than 200 campsites.

About this water

A northeastern Illinois river; Kankakee River State Park lines 11 miles of it northwest of Kankakee.

Fishing Kankakee River: the full guide

The state park reach

Kankakee River State Park covers about 4,000 acres on both sides of the river for 11 miles, 6 miles northwest of Kankakee. IDNR names smallmouth bass, channel catfish, walleye and northern pike as the park's fish and notes that the river is listed on the Federal Clean Streams Register. Boat ramps are at the Warner Bridge Day Use Area and the Area 9 parking lot on the south side.

Smallmouth rules

IDNR's 2026 regulations protect smallmouth bass from 12 to 18 inches between the Kankakee Dam and the Wilmington Dam, tributaries included. The daily limit there is 3, with no more than 1 over 18 inches and 2 under 12.

Walleye and flows

On the Kankakee and Iroquois rivers and their tributaries, walleye, sauger and hybrids have a 14-inch minimum and a 3-fish daily limit, with no more than 1 at 18 inches or longer. This page's USGS gauge is at Momence (05520500), upstream of the state park.

Common questions

Can I keep smallmouth bass?

Between the Kankakee and Wilmington dams, up to 3 a day, but every fish from 12 to 18 inches must go back.

What else lives in the park reach?

IDNR names channel catfish, walleye and northern pike along with smallmouth bass.

Where are the boat ramps?

In the state park, at the Warner Bridge Day Use Area and the Area 9 parking lot on the south side.

Is fishing good at Kankakee River right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

Lake Michigan (Chicago)53 miLake Freeman54 miTippecanoe River58 miWabash River63 miShabbona Lake76 miFox River79 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 05520500 — Kankakee River at Momence
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 18:45 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 41.1300, -87.6500 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 5, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 5, 2026; anything that could not be verified was taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.