Punch Rig (Mat Fishing) Fishing on Fox Chain O' Lakes
Fox Chain O' Lakes · Illinois · Midwest
The Fox Chain O' Lakes is a glacial lake system strung together by the Fox River and natural channels in Lake County, Illinois, just south of the Wisconsin border. Water clarity tends toward stained to moderately clear depending on the individual lake and season, with abundant aquatic vegetation — milfoil, coontail, and lily pad beds — defining the primary bass habitat. The system holds largemouth, smallmouth, and northern pike, with largemouth dominating the shallow weedy bays and smallmouth concentrating in cleaner-bottomed areas with firmer substrate near current transitions.
A heavy tungsten weight (1–2+ oz) pegged above a 4/0–5/0 straight shank hook with a compact, heavy-wire-hook-rigged creature bait or craw. The streamlined profile punches through thick surface mats that frogs and standard Texas rigs can't penetrate. The fish under mats are the biggest, most undisturbed bass in any grass lake.
Punch Rig (Mat Fishing) Setup for Fox Chain O' Lakes
| Rod | 7'6"–8' heavy to extra-heavy casting rod, fast action |
| Reel | 8.1:1 baitcaster (fast pickup critical for setting through mat) |
| Line | 65–80 lb braid |
| Weight | 1–1.5 oz tungsten pegged tight; 2 oz in thick mats |
| Hook | 5/0 heavy-wire straight shank (Gamakatsu G-Lock, Owner Beast) |
Seasonal Tactics on Fox Chain O' Lakes
Lake: Largemouth push into lily pad flats and emergent reed edges as water temperatures climb through the low 60s, typically late April into May. Spawning fish use 2–5 ft of water over sand and gravel near vegetation transitions — swimbaits and jerkbaits draw strikes during the pre-spawn; Texas-rigged soft plastics excel once fish are on beds.
Punch Rig (Mat Fishing): Not prime season — mats haven't formed yet. Switch to frog and standard Texas rig.
Lake: Thick milfoil and coontail mats form by mid-July and concentrate largemouth beneath and along the edges in 4–8 ft; frogging and punch-rigging become the most productive approaches. Smallmouth migrate toward rocky riprap stretches along the Fox River channel and the harder-bottomed flats of Bluff Lake and Pistakee Bay, where drop shots and tube baits outproduce anything else.
Punch Rig (Mat Fishing): Prime season. Mats are thick, bass are under them all day escaping heat. Most productive midday.
Lake: Shad and perch schools become the primary driver of bass movement in September and October; largemouth chase bait along the outside edges of dying vegetation in 6–10 ft. Swimbaits and lipless crankbaits like the Strike King Red Eye Shad in natural shad colors cover water quickly and locate active fish before the weed lines collapse.
Punch Rig (Mat Fishing): Fish as mats die back — work the pockets and edges as vegetation thins.
Lake: Bass fishing slows dramatically after water temps drop below 45°F, but fish don't disappear — they stack in the deepest available holes and channel bends, mostly 15–20 ft in this relatively shallow system. A finesse approach with a drop shot rigged with a Zoom Finesse Worm on 6 lb fluorocarbon can produce on warmwater discharge areas near the Fox River connection.
Punch Rig (Mat Fishing): Not applicable — mats are gone and fish have left shallow vegetation.
Best Conditions
Thick hydrilla and milfoil mats, lily pad fields, surface vegetation in summer, shallow and stained water, midday heat
Drop straight down through the hole, let it hit bottom, then give it one or two shakes. If nothing in 10 seconds, pull out and punch the next hole. Speed is the game.
More Techniques for Fox Chain O' Lakes
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