Cast your line:  Plenty of places to wet a line in Central Illinois

By Scott Richardson
srichardson@pantagraph.com
BLOOMINGTON

Places like the nearby states of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Kentucky and Missouri rank high on most lists of favorite fishing destinations.

The more adventurous may name Canada or the American West as places to go.

But don't overlook the fishing -- some of it quite spectacular -- right in our own backyard. Fisheries biologists give a solid B-plus to fishing prospects in Central Illinois for 2004.

The midsection of the state goes to the head of the class with solid A-s for some species like muskie, catfish, walleye and the walleye/sauger hybrid, saugeye.

"We have good fishing, and the variety is very good." said Mike Garthaus, district fisheries biologist for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources for much of the area.

Here's a look at the status of fishing at some of Central Illinois' favorite fishing holes.

Evergreen Lake

Operated by McLean County and owned by the city of Bloomington, this 900-acre reservoir just north of the Twin Cities is a real jewel.

It's owned the state record saugeye of 9 pounds, 10{ ounces since 2001. Last year's survey revealed some saugeye that were even bigger

Another state record waiting to happen centers on Evergreen's muskies. The same survey turned up a toothy brute reaching 50 inches, Garthaus said. That's longer than the current state record.

Evergreen also offers excellent numbers of channel catfish, good crappie and fair largemouth bass.

Horsepower limit is 10. There is a launch fee.

Lake Bloomington

This 600-acre reservoir, also owned by the city of Bloomington and just east of Evergreen, boasts good walleye fishing thanks to a stocking program paid for by the city and the Bloomington Normal Bass Club.

Crappie are doing well, according to Garthaus. Average size reported by anglers in a creel survey last year weighed in at just under a half pound. An electro-shocking survey revealed 14 percent over 10 inches.

Channel catfish are excellent, flathead catfish are fair.

Horsepower limit is 40. There is a launch fee.

Clinton Lake

There's good news for Clinton Lake in Dewitt County, a 5,000-acre cooling reservoir serving the Clinton Power Plant.

Walleyes are at their highest concentration since 1997, and nearly half of those electro-shocked were over the legal limit of 14 inches, said DNR.

Officials stopped stocking the lake with largemouth bass in 1998 as part of a study to determine how well they spawn there. Two years ago, the bass answered that question by having "great" survival of young-of-the-year fish, Garthaus said.

Perhaps that result was due to the transplanting of aquatic plants carried out by DNR, he said. Weeds give young fish a place to hide from bigger fish that want to eat them.

More good news: Fishermen are beginning to catch smallmouth bass, which DNR began to substitute for largemouth.

Striped bass up to 30 inches are "coming on strong" at Clinton, too, and their smaller cousin, the white bass, had the highest catch rate ever in a survey.

Channel catfish are excellent. Flathead catfish are good.

Dawson Lake

Dawson Lake at Moraine View State Recreation Area near LeRoy has an excellent population of walleyes plus the added attraction of saugeye first stocked there last year.

Channel catfish abound there, to augmented stockings.

Though anglers were disappointed with the size of largemouth bass last year, a recent survey showed the lake is full of largemouth bass right now. More than half are more than 12 inches long and about 10 percent are over 15 inches. Big fish should soon be back.

Crappie numbers remain high. Fishermen can take 10 fish a day of any size in hopes the added harvest will reduce numbers and allow remaining crappies to grow larger. Worth a trip with the kids.

Weldon Springs

At just under 30 acres, Weldon Springs near Clinton also makes a good destination for family fun. It features lots of casting decks for shore fishing. Largemouth bass are rated good. Channel catfish are excellent. Bluegill are good and redear sunfish are fair.

Lake Shelbyville

The spillway of the 11,100-acre Lake Shelbyville south of Decatur holds the state record for muskies at 38 1/2 pounds. Mike Mounce, DNR district fisheries biologist who oversees the reservoir, is confident muskies larger than that have been caught and released on the main lake.

Crappie fishermen had their best year in a long time in 2003, Mounce said, and he expects this year to be good, too.

Bass are rated good to excellent. White bass and walleye are fair to good, he said.

A survey turned up one walleye over 8 pounds and anglers are reporting trophies up to 10 pounds.

Decatur Lake

Mounce said this city-owned lake may be the best around for white bass up to 3 pounds. Flathead catfishing is excellent, he added.

Powerton Lake

At 1,426 acres, this power plant cooling lake near Pekin offers good smallmouth bass fishing and very good fishing for channel, blue and flathead catfish.

Spring Lake

Located in Tazewell County near Pekin, the lake is really two lakes. The north lake has 578 acres that boast good muskies. At 610 acres, the south lake hosts good northern pike. Both have very good crappies and catfish.

Banner Marsh

District fisheries biologist Rob Hilsabeck said this series of former gravel pits near Canton is a sleeper. Wheel Lake has muskies up to 45 inches after just seven years of stocking. Crappie and largemouth bass are good.

LaSalle Lake

Another cooling plant lake, this one covering 2,035 acres north of Streator, has both good smallmouth bass and largemouth bass. Bluegills are very good. But district fisheries biologist Ken Clodfelter said the biggest draw is blue catfish that range from 12 to 25 pounds after only three years of stocking.

"I think there could be a 30-pounder out of there by the end of the year," he said.

Lake Shabbona

The only reservoir in Illinois built specifically for fishing, Shabbona's 318 acres in DeKalb County offer trophy muskie fishing and good prospects for walleye, catfish and largemouth bass.

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