DeShane Pond Fishing near Glen Ellyn, Illinois

• Overview

  The DuPage County end of Illinois holds DeShane Pond. The surroundings are pine and birch. Surface area runs to about 4 acres — small enough to read in one session. On size it sits at the modest end of our DuPage County list. Supplies mean a trip to Glen Ellyn, 2.4 miles off. The nearest city of size is Naperville, 5.6 miles away. It lies deep inside the county rather than near an edge.

• Where to Fish on DeShane Pond

  No chart reached our records; the first cast is your sounding. Inflow corners move water, and moving water gathers fish. Look for where the old bank line still shows under the surface. Across DuPage County, recorded fish include bluegill, green sunfish and common carp. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. On DeShane Pond that means starting tight and working out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages move between 22°F in January and 74°F in July. Hard water is a season in its own right here. Break-up comes around mid March, and the run that follows is short and strong. Climate figures give an open season running mid March to mid December. Look to early summer and the first cool weeks of autumn. Time your trip to DeShane Pond by conditions rather than dates.

• Tackle & Baits

  The rules here are undocumented as far as public sources go. College 1A offers parking about 170 yards from the water. Fishing from a pier is possible half a mile away. The water borders Willowbrook Forest Preserve, so reserve rules are likely to apply. Read any posted signs at the access point rather than assuming. Access can change hands, so last year's answer may not hold. Reda Pond sits 0.6 miles off and takes the overflow. What applies at DeShane Pond may have changed since it was mapped.