Name a fish in one of the Illinois river systems and Kevin Irons has studied it and – at least in the past two dozen or so years, shaken his head at it.
Invasive carp were a big part of his role. Irons, who joined DNR in 2010 as coordinator of aquatic invasive species and in recent years served as the agency’s assistant fisheries chief, was set to retire at the end of 2024.
The push to boost catfish and redear sunfish populations in the collection of lakes that make up the Mautino State Fish and Wildlife Area continued this year, with Illinois DNR stocking 450 channel cats and nearly 27,000 sunfish in Osprey Lake alone.
Stockings boost Mautino’s anglers in Bureau County, Illinois Read More »
This is certainly the least important thing we learned from a recent update on the Illinois Gray Fox Project, an ongoing effort by a Southern Illinois University research team to learn why the predator species is struggling in the state.
Illinois fishermen begin 2025 the same way they begin most years – confident this will be the year someone finally catches a largemouth bass that tops the most coveted state record.
Alas, 2024 began with similar confidence. And last year ended with typical results: nobody came close to breaking the largemouth bass record. So, come next February – Feb. 15, 2026, to be exact – it will be 50 years since the 13-pound, 1-ounce largemouth was hooked at Stone Quarry in Lake County.
State record saugeye earns ‘fish of the year’ from Illinois Read More »
Largemouth bass, muskies, and crappies continue to be on the edge of “breaking out” as spotlight fish at Canton Lake.
But the stage still belongs to catfish.
Canton Lake keeps its catfish culture in Fulton County, Ill. Read More »
Geese are in the news, but as has been the case the past two decades, it’s mostly not what you might call “positive” news.
I say “mostly” because there is an ounce or two of good news in our story on Canada geese in northern Illinois. Even that news comes with a dose of bad news, especially if you are an old school goose hunter who once spent weeks in the once-thriving goose blinds of deep southern Illinois.
The bigger goose news right now involves the dreaded bird flu.
Ralph Loos: Geese are back in the news, unfortunately for hunters (and geese) Read More »
Some in Illinois are longing for the days when the deer season deer kill eclipsed 100,000 and the total take reached more than twice that.
And it’s not just hunters wanting a return to the six-figure harvest. While gun hunters took advantage of favorable weather and an active deer herd to shoot 27,835 whitetails in the second weekend of the firearms season, boosting the total 2024 gun harvest to 82,496 – a nice bump from the 76,494 taken is 2023 – farmers whose operations are affected by deer are calling for more, more and more.
Farm Bureau’s new policy calls for extended Illinois deer season to boost harvest Read More »
Legislation aimed at prohibiting hunting contests in Illinois stalled during the spring General Assembly, but has added a handful of co-sponsors since.
House Bill 2900 would ban holding wildlife contests that “reward participants with cash, prizes or inducements for killing fur-bearing animals.”
Much of the effort and debate prior to the spring session focused on coyote hunting contests in the state.
Bill making hunting contests illegal in Illinois stays active Read More »
A small lake that had seen steady growth in its muskie and largemouth bass populations took a step back in August 2020.
Four years later, the lake appears to remain in “comeback” mode.
Lake Sule in Ogle County, Ill., continues comeback after 2020 fish kill Read More »
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