Illinois river question

[hoglaw]

Hi all. New to the board. Been paddling Northwest Arkansas for about ten years now, though I only float to fish for the most part.

I intend to fish from Chambers Springs to Fishers Ford or Highway 16 this weekend. It's been a while since I've done this stretch, and I wanted to see if anyone could enlighten me on the accesses and save me 40 miles worth of gas just to check it out beforehand. I know Fishers Ford is good. Last time I crossed the 16 bridge, it looked like there were some cars pulled off and people playing in the water. That seems promising. What I don't know about is the second 412 bridge/chambers springs bridge. The bridge is closed, but can I still get close? Can I drop down from beside the highway on 412? Any info would be greatly appreciated.

[painterbob]

at the second bridge near the fireworks stand (or trailer) on 412, there is a new take out. we have used it a few times but the fishing is poor! or was that way last time i floated it! ..... hope that helped!

[hoglaw]

Thanks for the reply. My experience with the Illinois above Fisher's Ford and below savoy is that the fishing is difficult. I rarely catch numbers of fish, but I do catch big fish.