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Ralph Loos

Will Illinois join movement to restrict fishing technology?

Featured, Fishing, Home Page News, Illinois, National Fishing, National News, News /

Moves by national organizations to address the use of technology in competitive fishing have yet to impact Illinois anglers, but DNR and the Illinois High School Association continue to monitor use of forward-facing sonar (FFS).
That’s a long way of saying, “There are no regulations – yet.”
Illinois has no statewide ban on FFS for recreational anglers, and the technology has been under review by DNR.

Will Illinois join movement to restrict fishing technology? Read More »

Illinois archers anticipating another good deer season; is a harvest record within reach?

Featured, Home Page News, Hunting, Illinois, National Hunting, National News, News /

Bow season opens on a Wednesday, making it fairly easy to predict a Day 1 harvest of 650 to 750 deer – give or take a hundred or so.
It’s a simple forecast to make based on hunter activity in past seasons. When Oct. 1 falls midweek, as it did in 2024 (a Tuesday), the harvest tends to be well below 1,000, while openers that hit on a weekend usually have hunters taking well over the 1,000 mark. Last season’s total archery harvest of 73,605 is expected to be in range for hunters, as the deer population remains steady. The record harvest of 75,106 set in 2020 is possible.

Illinois archers anticipating another good deer season; is a harvest record within reach? Read More »

Paddlefish sampled in Pool 20 of the Mississippi River navigated 380 miles, 6 lock and dams

Featured, Fishing, Home Page News, Illinois, National Fishing, National News, Nature Page & Night Sky, News /

A 33-pound paddlefish sampled by the Illinois River Biological Station crew on Pool 20 of the Mississippi River Aug. 18 came with a bonus.
It had a tag in its jaw. Specifically, the tag “DRFS 10856” had been placed on March 7, 2018 by the Missouri Department of Conservation.

Paddlefish sampled in Pool 20 of the Mississippi River navigated 380 miles, 6 lock and dams Read More »

Growing crappies, 50-inch muskie boosts Kinkaid Lake’s popularity in southern Illinois

Illinois, Lake Profile, Lake Profile /

Crappies and muskies continue to boom at one of the state’s most scenic and productive lakes.
A 50-inch muskie hooked by an angler last May at Kinkaid Lake topped the list of fish on the 2024 Muskie Creel Survey results provided by DNR. Kinkaid dominated the list of muskies caught and reported last year, with a 48½-incher and 47½-incher also being caught at the southern Illinois lake.

Growing crappies, 50-inch muskie boosts Kinkaid Lake’s popularity in southern Illinois Read More »

Ralph Loos: No mystery anymore about where Illinois hunters, sharpshooters are killing deer

Featured, Home Page News, Hunting, Illinois, National Hunting, Opinion /

Keri Butt, who for many years wrote a deer hunting column for these pages – that is, until she went out and got herself a real job – liked to kick up debates with me by suggesting Illinois DNR’s sharpshooting program was nothing more than “hired hands picking off deer like they’re barnyard rats.”

Or something like that.
Keri had a lot of folks in her corner, too, some who liked to call me up right after deer season and lecture me themselves about, “all these DNR guys sitting in the woods shooting our deer out of season.”

Ralph Loos: No mystery anymore about where Illinois hunters, sharpshooters are killing deer Read More »

A day of sampling fish on the Mississippi River is an eye-opening experience

Featured, Fishing, Home Page News, Illinois, National Fishing, National News, Nature Page & Night Sky, News /

Fish smells gone wild and the baking August sun suddenly vanished when the unmistakable bill of a paddlefish surprisingly and seductively began bobbing up and down along the surface of Mississippi River Pool 20.
The fish’s body was unseen, but one thing was clear to fans of fish: the star of the show had taken the stage. By pure instinct, and with efficient zeal that had apparently rubbed off from the small team of professionals working at my side, I flung a dip net in the general direction, aware I had two seconds – maybe three – to capture the paddlefish before it swam off.

A day of sampling fish on the Mississippi River is an eye-opening experience Read More »

New report shows CWD spikes again in Illinois

Featured, Home Page News, Hunting, Illinois, National Hunting, National News, News /

Deer hunters in Illinois expecting a new high mark for confirmed CWD cases got what they expected from the DNR’s 2024-25 Surveillance and Management Report.
The report, released Aug. 22 and based on findings between July 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025, reveals that 539 CWD-positive deer were identified from 12,444 deer samples collected statewide. Significant increases have been the norm the past few years, after several years of cases staying steady in double-digits.

New report shows CWD spikes again in Illinois Read More »

Catfish, bass stockings keep Braidwood Lake hot in Will County, Ill.

Illinois, Lake Profile, Lake Profile /

Balancing and “beefing” – that’s DNR’s challenge when managing the Braidwood Lake fishery.
Catfish are still king, for the most part. And DNR continued its efforts last year, choosing to stock 23,000 blue catfish – 5,000 more blue cats than it stocked in 2023. But the agency also stocked more than 60,000 largemouth bass in 2024.

Catfish, bass stockings keep Braidwood Lake hot in Will County, Ill. Read More »

Ralph Loos: Making deer hunting ‘easier’ strategy is missing a vital piece in Illinois

Featured, Hunting, Illinois, National Hunting, Opinion /

If you think it’s a bit early for us to spend our ink on the Illinois deer season, you should wipe that dust off your calendar, or at least drive by your local gridiron.
My indication that bowhunters among us should be stretching and strategizing has always been the site of football players stretching and strategizing. Today, my internal calendar has a flashing message. We are less than six weeks out from archery hunting.

Ralph Loos: Making deer hunting ‘easier’ strategy is missing a vital piece in Illinois Read More »

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