Illinois Fish Catches- 2009

Brenden Baxter caught and released this 17 1/2-inch largemouth bass by using a chartreuse Booyah spinnerbait at a Farmington-area strip mine lake.

Jarid Dyal caught this 18-inch, Lake Shabbona largemouth bass on a bullfrog Topraider.

Wesley Sweet caught this 5-pound catfish while fishing for bass at Banner Marsh. He used an 8-inch, Berkley worm.

Brenden Baxter caught and released this 16-inch largemouth bass at a strip mine near Farmington by using an "Ike's" 10-inch, watermelon worm.

Les Miller caught this 18-inch largemouth on a white spinnerbait while fishing Pool 13 of the Mississippi River.

Courtney Halstead caught this white bass at Duck Island near Lewistown by using a gold shiner Blue Fox Vibrax.

Jim Crowley caught this 4.5-lb. Powerton Lake smallmouth bass on his first cast of the day with a Rapala Clackin Rap.

Robin Roberts caught this 11-pound, 6-ounce, 28-inch hybrid striper at Lake Bloomington while trolling a crankbait just before dark.

William Berkley caught this 6-pound, 3-ounce largemouth bass while using a Strike King spinnerbait at the Will County Detention Pond.

Tony Lynn of Morton caught this 20 1/2-inch largemouth bass at Spring Lake by using a black/blue fleck Yamamoto Senko.

Blake Hadfield (left) and Roger McCannon hold 5-lb., 5-ounce and 6-lb, 12-ounce hybrid stripers caught simultaneously while trolling crankbaits at Lake Bloomington

Dee Dee Kumpf caught these 19 and 20-inch walleyes at Lake Bloomington Aug. 2. She used a fluorescent red Road Runner with a white, curly-tailed grub and a piece of nightcrawer.

Andy Rathje of Bloomingdale caught this 45-inch muskie Aug. 1 while fishing Evergreen Lake with guide Thad Hinshaw. It was his largest muskie to date.

John Phillips took his grandson Landen Graham fishing at a neighbor's pond July 18 and Landen caught his first bass on a topwater lure.

This is one of a stringer of 22 to 25-inch Mississippi River walleyes (Pool 15) caught by Jim Klein July 15-16. He used a jig tipped with Berkley Gulp minnows.

Mike Rumler caught this stringer of slab crappies from a Fulton County farm pond while using a black/chartreuse Crappie Thunder.

This is one of 18 big bluegills caught by Rich Baird at the Will County Sportsman's Club while using a two-inch, white Mister Twister grub. Rich released all the fish back to the lake.

These two largemouth bass were caught at Banner Marsh East Point. Michael Kaufmann caught the fish on the left by using a Lucky Craft crankbait. The bass on the right was caught with a Texas-rigged plastic crawdad.

Jason Thomas of Lexington caught this 6-pound, 2-ounce largemouth bass July 3 from Evergreen Lake.

Dino Mouzourakis caught this 6.1-pound largemouth bass on a weighted hook and soft plastic swimbait (Strike King Shadalicious) at Banner Marsh.

Tim Beauchamp caught this 6.6-pound catfish on a Sweet Beaver while fishing for bass at North Spring Lake.

Steve Kachlic of Stickney caught this tiger muskie in the Des Plaines River at the Riverside dam. He was using a No. 6 Eagle Claw hook and a golden roach.

Matt Cicciarelli and C. J. Boncyk with some nice rainbow trout caught during late winter.

Dee Dee Kumpf caught this 16 1/2-inch walleye from Lake Bloomington using a jig and nightcrawler.

IDNR and Comlara Park staff conducted a muskie rescue below the Lake Evergreen spillway June 18. They captured 123 muskies, 6 saugeyes, 2 northern pike, 1 largemouth bass, 1 hybrid striper, and 1 flathead catfish (left) that weighed an estimated 40 pounds.

Doug Schermer caught his first muskie from a private lake near Williamsfield.

Steve Cicciarelli caught these back-to-back 16-inch smallmouth bass from a private lake in Williamsfield.

Janice Chaney used a white and gray spinnerbait to catch this 4 lb. 6 oz. bass from Banner Marsh.

Scott Cicciarelli, Bill Johnson, and a friend have a boat full of panfish to clean from Trophy Lake.

John McGuire of Lemont caught this 42-inch tiger muskie at the Will County Sportsman's Club while fishing for catfish with chicken livers.

Saul Rodriquez caught this 16 1/2-inch, 1.8-pound crappie fishing at Powderhorn Lake in Cook County, using a Storm wild eye lure.

Rich Baird took his daughter Madison (left) and son Jake (right) fishing at Lake Will. Using minnows on slip bobber rigs, both kids landed the largest bass they have caught to date.

Jim Ribordy of Campus caught this 5-pound, 15-ounce, 24 1/2-inch saugeye from Evergreen Lake.

These crappies came from Evergreen Lake. Rich Laleman of Bloomington caught the 1-pound, 4-ounce, 13-inch fish on the left and Carroll Herman of Washington landed the l-pound, 4-ounce, 13 1/2-inch crappie on the right.

This 14-inch crappie was caught May 5 by using a minnow and slip bobber rig at Lake Bloomington.

Claude Graeff of Normal caught these impressive catfish from Evergreen Lake. They weighed 10 pounds, 3 ounces and 7 pounds, 9 ounces.

Dino Mouzourakis caught the largemouth bass on the left from a Knox County farm pond by using a jerkbait. The bass on the right was caught at Emiquon Preserve near Dixon Mounds in Fulton County.

This 46-inch muskie was caught with a crankbait by F.R. Shultz at Red Cedar Lake.

Zachary Mott used a 1/2-ounce spinnerbait to catch this 8-pound bass from a Knox County farm pond.

A "catfish campout" resulted in this impressive stringer of Iroquois River catfish.

Steve Cicciarelli used a white Chatterbait to catch this 23-inch, 7.4-pound largemouth bass.

Matt Hodge used a shallow-running crankbait to catch this 33-inch, 13-pound northern pike from the Illinois River, between Lacon and Henry.

Eight-year-old Hunter Wahl caught his first 10-pound, Lake Michigan brown trout near Calumet Park by flat-lining a gold and orange Southport Slammer.

Richard Baird caught the nice largemouth on the left by using a tip-up and golden roach at a Will County retention pond. The 5 1/2-pound bass on the right was caught at Braidwood Lake with a 4-inch Berkley Gulp worm on a dropshot rig.

Bill Kunzeman with a 13.2-pound blue catfish and Julie Kunzeman with a 7.4-pound channel catfish. Both were caught on cut shad from the Illinois River near Meredosia.

Jim Womack caught this 1-pound, 6-ounce rock bass with a silver Rapala minnow at a fishing club near Coal City.