Fitch Lake Fishing near Canton, Illinois

• Overview

  Fitch Lake falls in Fulton County, part of Illinois. The bank is 650 feet above sea level. Roughly 44 acres: a morning covers one end, an afternoon the other. About 1.3 miles of bank, so nothing stays unexplored for long. Few waters listed in Fulton County are bigger. Canton lies 1.4 miles from the water. The big place round here is Peoria, 25 miles distant. No border sits close enough to matter.

• Where to Fish on Fitch Lake

  Depth is unmeasured here, so let the shoreline guide you. Rip-rap along the wall holds fish that the open bank never does. Points where the flooded channel swings in are the reliable ones. Records held for Fulton County cover common carp, goldfish, white perch and bluegill. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. Read Fitch Lake before you fish it and the day goes better.

• Seasonal Patterns

  In an average year July sits at 75°F and January at 23°F. Hard water is a season in its own right here. Ice is part of the season here, ending near mid March. Climate figures give an open season running mid March to late December. Spring is short and heavy here; autumn is longer and steadier. On Fitch Lake the same rules apply, with local timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  We have no record of the rules that apply on this bank. A ramp is mapped within half a mile. A parking area is marked roughly half a mile out. Part of this sits inside or beside Lakeland Park, so read the notices. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. Where access is informal, keep it that way by behaving. Access can change hands, so last year's answer may not hold. Should this one be busy, Bond Lake is 0.3 miles off. Confirm before you fish Fitch Lake.