Illinois Spring Trout Fishing Season Opens April 1
Early Spring Catch-and-Release Season Opens March 18 at select sites
The 2023 Illinois Spring Trout Fishing Season will open Saturday, April 1 at 58 ponds, lakes and streams throughout the state.
An early opportunity at select trout sites — the Spring Catch-and-Release Fishing Season — will open March 18. 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 1.
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 2023 spring trout season, no trout may be taken from any of the stocked sites from March 13 until the season opens at 5:00 a.m. April 1. 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 1, 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 2023 fishing licenses and Inland Trout Stamps are available now at IDNR 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 www.dnr.illinois.gov. Fishing licenses and trout stamps also can be purchased online.
For information about all site regulations, anglers should contact individual sites that will be stocked with catchable-size trout. Not all sites open at 5:00 a.m. on opening day. Anglers are reminded to check the opening time of their favorite sites prior to the open date.
The 58 locations that will be open for spring trout season are listed below.
2023 Illinois Spring Trout Locations
(** Denotes sites open for Catch-and-Release Early Spring Season fishing)
Northern Illinois
- 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: Sag Quarry East, 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: Sand Lake at Illinois Beach State Park
- LaSalle County: Illinois and Michigan Canal Lock 14, 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: Waddams Creek, Lake Le-Aqua-Na State Park
- Stephenson County: Yellow Creek in Krape Park, Freeport
- Whiteside County: Centennial Park Pond, Rock Falls
- Will County: Lake Milliken, Des Plaines State Fish and Wildlife Area
- Winnebago County: Baumann Lake, Cherry Valley
- Winnebago County: Four Lakes, Winnebago County Forest Preserve District
Central Illinois
- Adams County: Siloam Springs State Park Lake **
- Cass County: Gridley Lake, Jim Edgar Panther Creek State Fish and Wildlife Area **
- Champaign County: Kaufman Lake, Champaign Park District
- Champaign County: Lake of the Woods, Champaign Co. Forest Preserve Dist., Mahomet
- Christian County: Manners Park Pond, Taylorville Park District
- Clark County: Casey Park Pond, Casey
- Coles County: Eastern Illinois University Campus Pond, Charleston
- DeWitt County: Weldon Springs Lake, Weldon Springs State Park
- Hancock County: Horton Lake, Nauvoo State Park **
- Macon County: Sportsman's Club Pond, Macon County Conservation 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: Illinois Departement of Transportation (IDOT) Lake, Springfield **
- Sangamon County: Southwind Park Pond, Springfield
- Sangamon County: Washington Park Pond, Springfield
- Shelby County: Forest Park Lagoon, Shelbyville
- Vermilion County: Clear Lake, Kickapoo State Recreation Area
Southern Illinois
- 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, Stephen A. Forbes State Recreation Area
- Massac County: Fairgrounds Pond, Fort Massac State Park, Metropolis
- Randolph County: Derby Lake, 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 Conservation Area Trout Pond
