Fishing near Crystal Lake, Illinois

Crystal Lake lies within McHenry County, Illinois. Everything worth a rod sits outside the town line. Here is the order: North Lake on 1.5 miles away, Vulcan Lakes on 1.8 miles away to the south, Thunderbird Lake on 3.0 miles away then South Lake on 3.8 miles away to the south-west. In milder years the surface stays open. It is never dependable, so check before you step out. Standing water makes up nearly all of it. Structure beats open water on every one of them. Closest is North Lake at around 30 acres of water. North Lake is the one with a mapped slipway. The thaw usually comes near late March. County records name bluegill, largemouth bass and green sunfish among the fish present. Where a water sits on a boundary, both sets of rules can apply. Two counties share this ground, so check which set of rules applies. The run from Crystal Lake to North Lake is the shortest of them all....