Trout season opens April 1 in Bureau, La Salle counties

Hennepin Canal Parkway, Canal Lock 14 and Lake Mendota among 58 sites open

The 2023 Illinois spring trout fishing season will open Saturday, April 1, at 58 ponds, lakes and streams throughout the state.

The Hennepin Canal Parkway in Bureau County, as well as the Illinois and Michigan Canal Lock 14 in La Salle and Lake Mendota in La Salle County are among the locations that will be open.

An early opportunity at selected 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 Department of Natural Resources stocks more than 80,000 rainbow trout each year 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.

The Illinois Catchable Trout Program receives funding support from those who use the program through the sale of inland trout stamps.

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 a.m. April 1. Anyone trying 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 younger than 16, blind or disabled, or an Illinois resident on leave from active duty in the Armed Forces. The daily harvest limit for each angler is five trout.

For information on trout seasons and other Illinois fishing opportunities, check the website at www.ifishillinois.org.

Illinois’ 2023 fishing licenses and inland trout stamps are available at IDNR license and permit locations, including many bait shops, sporting goods stores and other retail outlets. For a list of locations, visit https://www.exploremoreil.com/agentlocator.

Fishing licenses and trout stamps also can be bought online at www.exploremoreil.com.

For information about all site regulations, anglers should contact individual sites that will be stocked with catchable-size trout.