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Smallmouth bass again star in Lake Michigan harbor samples from Illinois

Stocking of smallmouths has not occurred since 1985, yet young smallies have been captured at multiple sites that were never stocked and where none were collected in the past. (Stock photo by Jason Haberstroh)

Largemouth and smallmouth bass in the harbors of Lake Michigan have forged a storyline that both anglers and biologists find impossible to resist.
Drama heightened in 2019, when an angler hooked a new Illinois state record smallmouth on the shoreline at Monroe Harbor. That 7-pound, 3-ounce smallie has been forgotten, mostly. But shorefront anglers still very much have bass on their mind, and there is good news to share on that front.

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