Location: North Spring Lake is a 578 acre body of water located 6 miles north and west of Manito, Illinois, adjacent to the Illinois River.

Description: North Spring Lake is an elongated backwater lateral marsh of the Illinois River. It was separated by a high levee from the Illinois River in 1916. The North Lake was separated from the South Lake in 1978 by a stop log structure and a spillway for discharge water. North Spring Lake receives 52 acre feet of recharge daily from springs and seeps. Spring Lake currently has a 25 horsepower limit for outboard motors. The main access is via the Spring Lake blacktop road. A single lane boat ramp is located along the causeway which crosses Spring Lake. An additional gravel ramp is located adjacent to the Sky Ranch blacktop road bridge crossing of North Spring Lake. North Spring Lake is a shallow, very fertile backwater. It has a 75% coverage of aquatic vegetation after April and until November of each year. The lake is closed to boat fishing one week prior to regular waterfowl season, and until the end of waterfowl season each year.

Always a shallow body of water, Spring Lake has an average depth of 2.9 feet. Of the 578 acres of water, at least 75% is covered with 17 different species of aquatic vegetation by late May of each year. The majority of this coverage now consists of Eurasian milfoil, lily and lotus. The tremendous spring recharge from the bed of the lake amounts to 52 acre feet a day, creating very cold water temperatures under the insulating layer of vegetation for the majority of the summer months. This is a unique situation and only occurs in Spring Lake within the State of Illinois.

History and Status of the Sport Fishery: North spring Lake was rehabilitated in the 1980s to remove an undesirable carp-gizzard shad fish population. As a result of the rehabilitation, an excellent fish population resulted. Water clarity improved and aquatic weeds flourished. Good fishing for largemouth bass, crappie, sunfish and catfish soon resulted. As part of an effort to develop a brood source for muskie, Spring Lake has been stocked with that species for 25 years. Muskie are trap netted at the lake and spawned at the Jake Wolf Fish Hatchery in March of each year. A total of over half a million eggs are produced for state-wide muskie needs each year. The muskie population is being continuously monitored using electronic tags. This marking program has been ongoing since 1999. Because of its shallow water and clarity, North Spring Lake has a tremendous coverage of aquatic vegetation. As part of an effort to reduce coverage of Eurasian milfoil (an exotic invasive plant), North Spring Lake is treated with DMA4-2, 4D each year.

Additional Lake Information: North Spring Lake has three useable boat ramps and is accessible by the Manito Blacktop, 12 miles south of Pekin. No fuel or services are available, however, camping and food is. There is a 25 horsepower limit at Spring Lake.

Tournaments: All bass tournaments must register online using the new Tournament Permit System at least 30 days before the event.

New Site Regulation Effective April 2018:
Largemouth bass: protected slot length from 12 to 18 inches, with the harvest of 3 fish either over or under this protected slot.

Crappie: harvest limit of 25 fish per day with only 10 fish over 10 inches allowed.

Contact Information:
Spring Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area
309-968-7135
IDNR Fisheries Biologist, Blake Bushman
309-435-1010

Tournaments held on both Spring Lake North and Spring Lake South will have N/S under the tournament ID in the following table.