Eureka, Lake

Description

Lake Eureka is a 30-acre impoundment located on Walnut Creek which is a tributary to Panther Creek and the Mackinaw River. The lake was built in the early 1940s as part of a public works project (WPA), to provide a potable water source for the City of Eureka. Lake Eureka provided drinking water until 1982, when wells replaced the water needed by the city. Lake Eureka is quite shallow and very fertile. The average depth for Lake Eureka is approximately 6.5 feet with a maximum depth of 17 feet. The lake has a very large watershed that includes approximately 1,300 acres of row crops. It receives significant loads of sediment from the cultivated watershed and both total alkalinities and dissolved solids are quite high. Lake Eureka is surrounded by manicured, lawn-like shore. It is 100% accessible for shoreline access and is "kid friendly" for bank fishing.

Fishery History

Lake Eureka was built in the early 1940s as a WPA project to create a safe water source for the City of Eureka. In the early 1980s, the water intakes of the intake tower became obstructed. At that time, a proposal to use wells for water was designed and built. Because the lake was no longer a potable water supply, it was rehabilitated using rotenone to remove a very bad fish population. The lake was immediately restocked with Largemouth Bass, Bluegill and Channel Catfish. An excellent game fish population resulted from the rehabilitation work. NOTE: Lake Eureka continued to have an excellent fishery until 2013, when a severe winter caused a winter fish-kill to occur. During 2014 and 2015, an effort to restock the lake and remove Common Carp breeders, which were able to reproduce in 2014, was attempted. A fall survey of the fish population was completed and showed that the restocking effort for game fish after the 2013-2014 winter kill had been effective at creating large populations of bass, Bluegill and crappie. Many young-of-year bass and Bluegill were present in the electrofishing sample. All of these fish showed good to excellent growth rates. As part of our carp removal effort, the lake was drawn down in the fall and electroshocking equipment was used in several efforts to remove as many brooder carp as possible. We were able to remove 110 Common Carp in three electrofishing efforts. A spring and fall population sample in 2016, 2017 and 2018 showed a tremendous population of fast-growing Common Carp are present at Lake Eureka. Because of the large successful spawns of Common Carp over the past 3 years, it was necessary to totally remove all fish from the lake and restock fingerling bass, Bluegill, Redear Sunfish and Channel Catfish in 2019. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources worked with the City of Eureka on this complete fishery rehabilitation. The lake was drawn down to the limits of the valve drain and rotenone was applied by boat and backpack sprayer to remove all live fish in September of 2018. The lake was restocked from the months of October 2018 thru July 2019.

Site Regulations

There is a single lane concrete boat ramp all boat access is controlled by a permit from the City of Eureka. No gas powered motors are allowed and launching of larger boats is difficult.

Site-Specific Fishing Regulations:

• All Fish: 2 pole and line fishing only and each pole must not have more than 2 hooks or lures attached while fishing; no minnow fishing is allowed
• Bluegill or Redear Sunfish: 25 Fish Daily Harvest Limit
• Channel Catfish: 6 Fish Daily Harvest Limit
• Largemouth Bass: 18 inch Minimum Length Limit; 1 Fish Daily Harvest Limit
• White, Black or Hybrid Crappie: 25 Fish Daily Harvest Limit

Additional Information

Planning to eat your catch?  Fish Consumption Advisory information can be found here: Fish Consumption Advisory Page

Bath Map: Lake Eureka