Smallmouth Bass Stocking on West Branch of the Dupage River
and on the Des Plaines River at Riverside
Note the Floy Tag in the back muscle of the fish. This tag will be either green or white, depending on the season in which the bass was stocked. The phone number for reporting to the IDNR is printed on the tag.
Report tags to: 1-630-553-0164
The DuPage County Forest Preserve District, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) and the Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) have teamed up on a research and monitoring project of sport fish populations on the West Branch of the DuPage River. A large-scale Superfund clean-up and stream bed reconstruction on the West Branch of the DuPage River was recently completed. This area is where researchers will monitor, investigate and assess the recovery of sport fish populations in a restored urban stream, highlighting the potential for a quality urban stream fishery in the Chicago suburbs. As human populations urbanize, identifying and providing angling opportunities in densely populated urban areas has become an important component of fisheries management.
As the first step in this project, IDNR personnel from the Jake Wolf Fish Hatchery stocked approximately 100 adult smallmouth bass (approximately
4 – 5 lbs each) in two locations on the West Branch of the DuPage River on May 30, 2012. These fish are identifiable by researchers as well as anglers by the presence of an external "Floy Tag" that, when captured by researchers, managers or the angling public will provide important information about movement patterns, habitat use, and overall population size. Over the next several years, researchers at the INHS will use this data to investigate factors that affect the quality of sport fishing in urban streams and recommend management actions to enhance fishing opportunities in the area.
On October 9, 2012, IDNR personnel stocked 126 smallmouth bass, approximately 3.5 – 4 pounds in size, at two sites on The Des Plaines River at Riverside. These fish are identified by either a green or yellow tag. The West Branch of the DuPage flows into the Des Plaines River.
Attention Anglers!
Angler participation is crucial to the success of this project, which depends on reports from anglers of recaptured fish with tags to assess fish movements, habitat use, and population size.
Anglers who catch a tagged smallmouth bass are asked to report the following (the IDNR phone number is printed on the tag):
- tag number and color (green, white or yellow)
- date of capture
- the location where the fish was caught
- the length of the fish
Report tags to: 1-630-553-0164
Anglers are also encouraged to release tagged fish back into the rivers. Returning tagged fish improves the quality of the data the research team can collect by making as many multiple captures of tagged fish as possible. Additionally, returning these large adults to the stream gives them the chance to reproduce each spring, potentially leading to a larger, sustainable sport fishery. For more information about safely returning the tagged fish to the stream, please see our catch-and-release section.
