2020 Trout Fishing Season is Just Around the Corner -Illinois’ Spring Trout Stocking

2020 Illinois Spring Trout Fishing Season Opens April 4

Early Spring Catch-and-Release Opportunity Opens March 21 at select sites

2020 Trout Fishing is approaching – get your tackle and bait ready!

SPRINGFIELD, IL —The 2020 Illinois Spring Trout Fishing Season will open Saturday, April 4 at 56 ponds, lakes and streams throughout the state. 

An early opportunity at select trout sites – the Spring Catch-and-Release Fishing Season – will open March 21.  No trout may be kept during the catch-and-release fishing period, but anglers can keep trout after the opening of the regular season beginning April 4. 

Two traditional spring 2020 trout fishing locations are closed this year. The Waddams Creek site at Lake Le-Aqua-Na State Recreational Area and Manners Park Pond in Taylorville will be temporarily removed from stocking for site maintenance purposes. 
  
The Illinois Catchable Trout Program is funded by those who use the program through the sale of Inland Trout Stamps. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) stocks more than 80,000 rainbow trout in bodies of water where trout fishing is permitted during the spring season. An additional 80,000 trout will be stocked for the Fall Trout Fishing Season, which begins in October.

For the 2020 spring trout fishing, no trout may be taken from any of the stocked sites from March 15 until the season opens at 5:00 a.m. April 4. Anyone attempting to harvest trout before the legal harvest season opening will be issued citations.  

All anglers – including those who intend to release fish caught before April 4 – must have a fishing license and an Inland Trout Stamp, unless they are under the age of 16, blind or disabled, or are an Illinois resident on leave from active duty in the Armed Forces. The daily catch limit for each angler is five trout. 

Illinois 2020 fishing licenses and Inland Trout Stamps are available now at DNR Direct license and permit locations, including many bait shops, sporting goods stores and other retail outlets. For a list of locations, check the IDNR website at this link:  https://dnr2.illinois.gov/dnrdirectmonitor/VendorListing.aspx

Fishing licenses and trout stamps also can be purchased by using a credit card through DNR Direct online via the IDNR website at https://www2.illinois.gov/dnr/LPR/Pages/default.aspx, or by calling DNR Direct toll-free at 1-888-6PERMIT (1-888-673-7648).

For more information about all site regulations, anglers should contact individual sites that will be stocked with catchable-size trout. Not all sites open at 5am on opening day. Anglers are reminded to check the opening time of their favorite sites prior to the opening date. The 58 locations that will be open for spring trout season are listed below. 

2020 Illinois Spring Trout Locations 

(** Denotes sites open for Catch-and-Release Early Spring Season fishing)

North

• Boone County: Mill Race Ponds, Belvidere 
• Bureau County: Hennepin Canal Parkway 
• Cook County: Axehead Lake, Cook County Forest Preserve District
• Cook County: Belleau, Cook County Forest Preserve District
• Cook County: Green Lake, Cook County Forest Preserve District
• Cook County: Horsetail Lake, Cook County Forest Preserve District
• Cook County: Wolf Lake, William W. Powers State Recreation Area, Chicago 
• DuPage County: Grove Lake, DuPage County Forest Preserve District 
• DuPage County: Pickerel Lake, DuPage County Forest Preserve District 
• DuPage County: Silver Lake, DuPage County Forest Preserve District 
• Jo Daviess County: Apple River, Apple River State Park **
• Kankakee County: Bird Park Quarry in Kankakee 
• Kankakee County: Rock Creek at Kankakee River State Park **
• Kendall County: Big Lake at Silver Springs State Fish and Wildlife Area
• Lake County: Banana Lake, Lake County Forest Preserve District 
• Lake County: Sand Lake at Illinois Beach State Park 
• LaSalle County: Illinois and Michigan Canal at LaSalle 
• LaSalle County: Lake Mendota, Village of Mendota 
• McHenry County: Lake Atwood, McHenry County Conservation District 
• McHenry County: Piscasaw Creek, McHenry County Conservation District 
• Ogle County: Pine Creek in White Pines Forest State Park **
• Rock Island County: Prospect Park, Moline 
• Stephenson County: Yellow Creek in Krape Park, Freeport 
• Whiteside County: Centennial Park Pond in Rock Falls
• Will County: Lake Milliken at Des Plaines Conservation Area
• Winnebago County: Baumann Lake, Cherry Valley 
• Winnebago County: Four Lakes, Winnebago County Forest Preserve District 

Central

• Adams County: Siloam Springs State Park Lake **
• Cass County: Gridley Lake at Jim Edgar Panther Creek SFWA **
• Champaign County: Lake of the Woods, CCFPD, Mahomet
• Champaign County: Kaufman Lake, Champaign Park District
• Clark County: Casey Park Pond, Casey 
• Coles County: Eastern Illinois University Campus Pond in Charleston
• DeWitt County: Weldon Springs Lake, Weldon Springs State Park 
• Hancock County: Horton Lake, Nauvoo State Park **
• Macon County: Sportsman’s Club Pond, Decatur Park District
• McLean County: Miller Park Lake, Bloomington Park District
• Morgan County: Morgan Lake at Nichols Park, Jacksonville **
• Moultrie County: Wyman Lake, Sullivan
• Pike County: King Park Pond, Pittsfield
• Sangamon County: IDOT Lake, Springfield **
• Sangamon County: Southwind Park Pond in Springfield 
• Sangamon County: Washington Park Pond in Springfield 
• Shelby County: Forest Park Lagoon in Shelbyville 
• Vermilion County: Clear Lake at Kickapoo State Recreation Area 

South

• Jefferson County: Mount Vernon Game Farm Pond 
• Johnson County: Ferne Clyffe State Park Lake
• Madison County: Belk Park Pond, Wood River 
• Marion County: Boston Pond at Stephen A. Forbes State Park 
• Massac County: Fairgrounds Pond in Fort Massac State Park, Metropolis 
• Randolph County: Derby Lake at World Shooting and Recreational Complex, Sparta 
• St. Clair County: Frank Holten State Park Main Lake 
• St. Clair County: Jones Park Lake, East St. Louis
• St. Clair County: Willow Lake at Peabody River King State Fish and Wildlife Area **
• Wabash County: Beall Woods Lake, Beall Woods State Park 
• Wayne County: Sam Dale State Fish and Wildlife Area Trout Pond