Trout season opens on April 3 at 43 locations statewide where 6-inch or larger rainbow trout have been stocked by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

At most locations, trout season opens at 5 a.m. A total of 60,000 fish will be stocked this year according to DNR. Trout fishing at stocked sites is now closed until April 3.

Locally trout will be stocked at Bird Park Quarry in Kankakee; at Rock Creek near Deselm Road at the Kankakee River State Park; at Lake Milliken at the DesPlaines Conservation Area near Wilmington; and at Gebhard Woods State Park at Morris.

Youngsters will get the first crack at catching trout at Bird Park where Kids Fishing Day will be held from 8 a.m. to noon. The free event is sponsored by the Northern Illinois Anglers’ Association and the Kankakee Valley Park District. Baits and refreshments will be provided. Kids will have to bring their own fishing poles.
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The new Illinois fishing guide is causing some confusion for walleye fishermen along the Kankakee and Iroquois rivers.

Worse yet, the foul-up in Springfield may delay action on a slot limit designed to help protect the walleye fishery that has produced some dramatic results over the past eight years.

The 2010 Illinois Fishing Guide lists site specific regulations for a number of lakes and streams, including the Kankakee and Irouqois rivers. For the most part, the new regulations and site specific rules, go into effect on April 1.

But Conservation Police say that, for now, they will be enforcing the 2009 walleye rules for the two rivers and their tributaries.

Here’s the reason why.

Under the heading, “Iroquois - Kankakee Rivers and their tributaries,” on Page 18  of the 2010 booklet, the regulation is:
Walleye, sauger and hybird walleye ……….. 16″ minimum length limit
Walleye, sauger and hybrig walleye ……….. 3 fish daily creel limit.

That is the current 2009 regulation for the Kankakee River watershed.

But on the next page, under the listing, “Kankakee - Iroquois Rivers and their tributaries,” a revised walleye regulation appears. This one sets a new 14-inch minimum length limit and an 18-inch to 26-inch protected slot with only one fish allowed of 26 inches or larger. The regulation also set a three fish daily creel limit.

That regulation, expected to go into effect on April 1,  required a change in administrative rules from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

For some reason, DNR never got around to approving that particular administrative rule.

“I don’t expect that administrative rule to be passed until mid-April,” said Capt. Neal Sendar, commander of law enforcement for Region Two.

“What happened here is that our fisheries division proposed a rules change for walleye on the Kankakee and Iroquois rivers that included a protected slot limit. That rule hasn’t passed yet, but the 2010 Illinois Fishing Guide was printed with conflicting information.”

“It means that we cannot enforce a slot limit until the rule is approved,” Sendar said.  He said that conservation police officers will be advised to enforce only the 2009 regulation until the administrative rule is approved.

So for now the 16-inch minimum length and three fish daily creel remains valid for walleye, sauger or hybrid walleye on the Kankakee and Iroquois rivers and their tributaries.

“I am sure that the slot limit will be approved” said fisheries biologist Gary Lutterbie who oversees a walleye stocking program for the Kankakee River. “The slot limit will help keep large, breeding walleye in the river.”

DNR is considering posting signs along both rivers listing the correct walleye regulations.

The Daily Journal uncovered the mixed-up last week and conservation officials have promised to resolve it as quickly as possible.

Doubtlessly the 18-to-26-inch slot limit and 14-inch minimum length will become the new fishing rule for walleye fishermen along the Kankakee and Iroquois rivers.

But it will not be enforced by Conservation Police until the administrative rule is approved, Sendar said.

Keeping reading The Outdoor Journal blog and the Friday Outdoors section in The Daily Journal for the latest updates in the fishing regulations.

Don’t forget, current fishing licenses expire on March 31 and a 2010 license will be needed as of April 1.

Its not exactly the spring walleye run yet, but there are some big ‘eyes
and strange things happening now along the Kankakee River. 

Tom Kiger of Momence claimed a nice 9 pound, 6 ounce walleye on Sunday fishing a jig and tail combo near town.

He kept the fish just long enough to get it photographed and weighed at Frank’s Bait Shop, 621 N. Dixie Highway, Momence, before releasing it back to the river.

But the oddest catch of the week goes to Ron and Russ Van Tassel who creeled five keeper walleyes measuring between 16 1/4 to 16 1/2 inches last Saturday.

“All of the walleyes were males and were caught in pre-spawn staging areas,” Ron Van Tassel said. “We were not able to locate any big girls. Damn!”

Ron  routinely conducts his own “autopsy” on what he catches. The process, actually called a necropsy, is one of the best ways to learn about a local fishery. “Success comes from knowing your species inside and out,” Van Tassel said.

But even he was surprised to find a six-inch frog inside his third walleye.

“With all the walleye we’ve caught in the Kankakee and Iroquois rivers, that’s a first!” he said.

“I know that in some lakes, frogs are a regular part of a walleye’s forage. I’ve just never seen it before here in the Kankakee or Iroquois rivers.

“River walleye relate so much to current, and frogs prefer backwaters or no current areas. I guess the thing that really caught me off guard was the fact that a frog was even active and available in such cold water.

“Don’t you think that’s a bit odd?”

Well, readers, what do YOU think?

By the way, for more on walleye fishing on the Kankakee, see Friday’s Outdoor Section in the print edition of The Daily Journal.

The Agriculture Department’s Forest Service plans to merge three programs next year to better protect forests against the effects of climate change.

Tim Tidwell, chief of the Forest Service, said the merger will enable Forest Service managers to consider all aspects of forest maintenance and care — timber harvesting, tree health, watershed health, wildlife and fisheries, and vegetation — within a single program.

Creating “a single budget line item … will encourage folks to look at the [total] landscape” of forest management, Tidwell said in an interview.

The program merger is included in the president’s $5.4 billion Forest Service budget proposed for 2011, which would represent a $61 million increase over this year’s budget.

Cecilia Clavet, a policy analyst at the Forest Service, said the move will enable agency managers to “start thinking holistically about restoration of the forest and leaning away from strict timber management.”

Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., who chairs the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said he is pleased with the budget because it includes “significant improvements” in funding to fight wildfires.”

The Illinois Department of Public Health has released its latest consumption advisories for sport fish caught in Illinois.

Locally the warning list includes channel catfish from the Mazon River in Grundy County. Public health officials advise limiting meals of catfish from the river to one per week due to elevated levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).
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A strange mix of seasons begins Monday with the opening of fishing and fossil-hunting at the Mazonia-Braidwood State Fish & Wildlife Area.

Braidwood is traditionally the first of the area’s cooling lakes (or former coolers, in the case of nearby Heidecke Lake) to open for fishing in March. Hours at Braidwood Lake are 6 a.m. to sunset seven days a week.

But fossil hunters will be heading back into the rugged hills looking for ancient signs of life embedded in the rocks along the Mazon Creek watershed.  The season continues through Sept. 30 at the state fish & wildlife area.

The area is well known by fossil hunters as a likely spot to find artifacts such as the “Tully Monster,” a squid-like creature whose fossilized remains were found in 1958 by Francis Tully along Mazon Creek.

The creature lived in a shallow sea that covered much of Illinois during the Pennsylvanian Period of 300 million years ago. Tully monster fossils have only been found in Illinois, primarily in the Mazon Creek watershed.

Fossil hunting requires a day permit and a fossil reporting form available at the park office. Click HERE for a link to on-line permits.

Indiana deer hunters had a record-breaking harvest in 2009 by culling 132,752 deer, a jump of 3,004 from the previous record of 129,748 set in 2008.

It is also the first time that the Indiana deer harvest has topped the 130,000 mark in the 59 years that deer records have been kept.

“It’s kind of predictable any more,” said Chad Stewart, DNR deer management biologist. “We’re going to have a record or near-record harvest every year unless things change.“For a couple of years now we’ve had increased license sales. We’ve also had high unemployment. Maybe people have more time to be out. I wish I could say.”
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State and federal fisheries biologists will begin sampling various locations of the Chicago Area Waterway System  this week looking for Asian carp in the commercial waterway above the electronic barriers north of Romeoville.

Biologists from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service  will start work on Wednesday using commercial fishing nets and electro fishing gear in an attempt to locate either silver or bighead Asian carp.

Sampling operations will also include the use of commercial fishermen over the next two-to-three weeks. Crews will concentrate efforts near warm water discharges created by industrial operations along the waterway system.  These areas of warm water serve as a place of congregation for fish during the winter when water temperatures drop significantly.

The sampling effort on the Chicago Area Waterway System is of the Asian Carp Control Strategy Framework, which includes both short and long term actions to stop the migration of Asian carp into the Great Lakes.

Click HERE for more information on the Asian Carp Control Strategy.

Anglers to compete for $10,000 at Braidwood Lake

For the ninth consecutive year, Braidwood Generating Station will host Exelon Nuclear’s “Fishing for a Cure.” Anglers are invited to cast a line for charity in the team bass tournament on Saturday, May 22 at Braidwood Lake in Braceville, Ill.

The station is putting up $10,000 in cash prizes for competing fishermen. The first place team will reel in an impressive $4,000, with second and third place netting $2,500 and $1,000, respectively. The fourth, fifth and sixth place finishers will win $500 and teams finishing seventh through tenth will win $250.

This year’s tournament proceeds will benefit Operation MOMS Cookies, Inc. The Wilmington-based not-for-profit organization strives to promote patriotism and community activism in programs aimed at uplifting the morale of deployed service members of the U.S. Armed Forces. They do so through a variety of programs including their “Box of Home” and “Buddy Box” care package mailings. The organization also coordinates welcomes and send offs and phone home programs for American Troops.
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Sportsmen have a chance to win $100,000 and, more importantly, help support recreational programs at area park and forest preserve districts as well as youth recreation and natural resource protection throughout Illinois.

The Illinois Conservation Foundation and the Friends of Illinois Parks, a support foundation of the Illinois Association of Park Districts, are teaming up to offer their first-ever “Illinois Sportsman’s and Parks Raffle” with a $100,000 cash as the  grand prize.

Tickets for the raffle are $100 each and are available from both organizations.  The grand prize – along with other cash prizes – will be drawn on May 14.  Additional “early bird” prizes will be awarded for tickets drawn on five dates in February, March and April.

Proceeds from the raffle will support programs in member districts as well as youth outdoor recreation and natural resources protection programs throughout Illinois.

Local IAPD members include park districts at Bourbonnais Township, Braidwood, Godley,  Kankakee, Momence and Watseka and the Kankakee River Valley and Will County forest preserve districts.

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