Illinois Mixed Bag: Spring trout season opens April 5 at 58 sites – Outdoor News
Springfield — The 2025 Illinois spring trout fishing season will open April 5 at 58 ponds, lakes, and streams throughout the state.
The daily harvest limit for each angler is five trout.
The Illinois Catchable Trout Program receives funding support by those who use the program through the sale of inland trout stamps. DNR 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 season, which begins in October.
There are a few changes for the 2025 spring season:
• In McHenry County, spring trout will be stocked into Rush Creek Pond in Harvard due to ongoing construction that will prohibit stocking at Lake Atwood in McHenry County.
• In Macon County, spring and fall trout will continue to be stocked in Cattail Pond at Rock Springs Nature Center for the foreseeable future and not at Sportsman’s Club Pond.
• In Wayne County, spring trout will be stocked at Turkey Run Shelter Pond at Sam Dale Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area because the trout pond continues to undergo rehabilitation. Signs directing anglers to the temporary site will be posted.
MORE COVERAGE FROM ILLINOIS OUTDOOR NEWS:
Hunters Feeding Illinois provided 97,000 venison meals during 2024-25 season
Monarch Public Comment Period Expanded
Springfield — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is reopening the public comment period for a proposed rule to list the monarch butterfly as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.
The proposed rule includes species-specific protections and flexibilities to encourage conservation of the butterfly under section 4(d) of the ESA. The comment period will be reopened for 60 days, until May 19, to give all interested parties an additional opportunity to comment on the proposed rule, which was published on Dec. 12, 2024.
Comments that were previously submitted do not need to be resubmitted as they are already incorporated into the public record and will be fully considered in the final listing determination. Information about how to submit comments can be found on regulations.gov by searching for docket number FWS-R3-ES-2024-0137.
Iowa DNR Cancels its ‘Prairie Chicken Day’
Springfield — For more than a decade, Iowans have gathered at the Kellerton Grasslands Bird Conservation Area at sunrise to watch the unique courtship dance of the prairie chicken, whose population in Iowa has been closely monitored for decades.
The Iowa DNR announced March 25 that Prairie Chicken Day, typically held the first week in April, was canceled due to the bird’s decline in population that has resulted in only sporadic sightings at the typically popular site.
As was also the case in Illinois, the greater prairie chicken was once Iowa’s most prominent game bird, and according to DNR might be the first game in the state to have a bag limit. Hunting of the bird officially ended in 1915 due to concerns of its declining population. According to the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, less than 0.01% of Iowa’s landscape that was historically prairie remains.
In the 1950s, Iowa recorded the last nesting prairie chickens in the state and it wasn’t until the 1980s and 1990s that attempts were made to reintroduce the bird.
DNR Looking for Summer Fishing Instructors
Springfield — DNR is accepting applications for instructors for 2025 summer fishing clinics at locations throughout Illinois for the department’s Urban Fishing Program. Fishing instructors are the department’s boots on the ground at free clinics hosted in communities throughout Illinois. These are temporary positions not to exceed six months, making them perfect for teachers, retirees, students, and others who are eager to help people learn about fishing skills and ecology.
Available spots are based in Boone, Champaign, Jackson, Jefferson, Macon, Madison, McLean, Peoria, Rock Island, Sangamon, and St. Clair counties. Numerous spots also are available for Cook County and the northeastern part of Illinois. To learn more about the positions, qualifications and how to apply, visit https://bit.ly/IDNRjobs.
More Than $99,600 Awarded for Field Trips
Springfield — More than 7,000 students will visit Illinois state parks, natural areas, museums and other natural resources sites this year to learn about nature and conservation thanks to grant funding through the Illinois Biodiversity Field Trip Grant Program.
DNR announced more than $99,600 funding was awarded for 113 student field trip grants. Grant recipients represent 32 counties in the state. The grants are made possible by private donations from the Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Foundation of Skokie and the D.F. and M.T. Grohne Family Foundation of Wilmington. The donations and funding for the grants are coordinated by the Illinois Conservation Foundation.
Indiana DNR Must Report Permitting Data
Indianapolis, Ind. — Indiana Gov. Mike Braun signed an executive order directing the Indiana DNR to publicly report permitting data to “make the process more transparent, efficient, and to support growth,” Braun’s office said. A few other agencies in the state were also included in the order.
Under the order, DNR and other agencies will be required to post monthly permitting data to their official websites. This includes the number of permit applications received, average processing times, the percentage of permits issued within statutory timelines, and updates on pending applications. The executive order also mandates that agency leadership regularly review their permitting processes to ensure compliance with timelines, identify opportunities for improvement, and maintain high-quality standards for issued permits.
