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Friday, November 6th, 2026

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Things have changed over a century of fishing in Illinois

This is a photo from 1903 that features five anglers posing with several successfully harvested flathead catfish. While the fish themselves have not changed in 100 years, regulations of fishing in the state have. (Photos courtesy of Illinois DNR)

In many regards, Illinois fishing regulations were just starting to emerge in 1925 when the Illinois Department of Conservation was formed.
Published as the Game and Fish Codes of Illinois 1925- 1926, the regulations fit into a book measuring 3.5 inches wide by 6 inches long, making it small enough for an angler to carry in their shirt pocket. For the past 100 years, the focus of IDOC’s (reorganized as the Illinois Department of Natural Resources in July 1995) fishing regulations has been to improve sport fishing for people who annually participate.

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