Jase Corley wasted little time. The 10-year-old from St. Jacob shot a gobbler – his first ever turkey – on the morning of March 30, opening day of the 2024 Illinois youth season.
More than 2,000 youngsters around the state soon followed Corley’s lead. DNR reported a harvest of 2,006 turkeys during the youth season, breaking the previous record of 1,733 set four years ago.
Heidecke Lake opened for the 2024 season on April 1 with a particular memory from 2023 occupying a certain corner of every angler’s brain.
An April 3, a DNR social media post may have stoked the flame of that memory more than a little bit.
“A state record qualifying muskie was collected in the annual spring trap netting survey last April, and fish over 48 inches have been collected in the past three surveys,” DNR noted in the post.
With proof of 48-inchers, Heidecke Lake in Illinois’ Grundy County a muskie target Read More »
We’ve reported on the possibility of big changes to the high school bass fishing state championship series, and things have become official. A regional round will be added in 2025, creating a new level of competitive angling for students.
Ralph Loos: Change coming to the Illinois high school bass fishing series Read More »
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.
Smallmouth bass again star in Lake Michigan harbor samples from Illinois Read More »
Fishermen and fish scientists have very different motivations and purposes when they arrive at a river or lake. But both are equally fascinated when something odd or interesting shows up – or swims by.
The 35-pound paddlefish captured at Mississippi River Lock and Dam 19 earlier this month is a perfect example, as was the impressive rainbow trout that easily could have topped the scale at more than 4 pounds.
DNR sharpshooters just completed another round of removing deer from Illinois counties where chronic wasting disease (CWD) threatens the state’s herd.
Noticeably, the once-hotly debated method of monitoring and managing the disease appears to be drawing fewer scowls from deer hunters. In fact, a study by the Illinois Natural History Survey confirms what many have noticed: hunters generally recognize DNR’s effort has been successful in controlling CWD, especially compared to methods used by neighboring states. It’s taken roughly two decades for the shift to fully register.
Study shows Illinois hunters more accepting of sharpshooting in CWD management efforts Read More »
The coveted but common 6-pound bass in Lake of Egypt had downsized in recent years, with anglers pulling in more 4- and 5-pound largemouths than those nearing the magical 7-pound mark on the scale.
But the fishing – and the catching – remains steady.
The 5-pound bass now a target at Lake of Egypt in Illinois Read More »
Folks who read this newspaper on a regular basis tend to be a step or two ahead of me, which isn’t all that difficult of a task, yet I appreciate it nonetheless.
Ralph Loos: Attacks on Illinois bobcat season again fail to stalk important facts Read More »
No pink salmon were reported during the 2023 charter boat season on Lake Michigan, ending a buzz that started when two state record “humpbacks” were caught during Illinois charter excursions in the summer of 2022.
But anglers did catch more than 30,000 salmon and trout on 2,140 charter boat trips last year, with cohos making up 64% of the take – the exact percentage that fish has averaged since 1979.
Lake Michigan cohos again dominate Illinois charter harvests Read More »
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