ILLINOIS CATCHABLE TROUT PROGRAM STARTS SATURDAY

  Catchable trout fishing takes place in some 50 lakes and ponds across Illinois beginning on October 18th. For a complete listing of the sites check the website for Illinois Department of Natural Resources at http://www.dnr.iillinois.gov. Except for a few exceptions, anglers must possess an Illinois Fishing License and an Inland Trout Stamp. Specific license information is also available at the above website. Illinois is not often described as a refuge for trout anglers. The extreme heat of prairie state summers usually causes a die off of stocked trout from various private and IDNR stocking programs.  The release of catchable trout generally occurs in the fall and spring for a short lived trout fishing season. A cold water species, rainbow trout cannot tolerate water temperatures exceeding 70-degrees. In Illinois summer water temperatures reach 70 to 90-degrees. In some deep lakes a process called stratification takes place. When this occurs, the top 20 feet or so contains layers of water with equal amounts of oxygen and with the same temperature. In summer that layer has enough oxygen for the fish but it is too warm. In about the next 20-feet the temperature drops rapidly to 39 degrees and the oxygen runs out.  In the bottom 20 feet or more the temperature is 39 degrees and there is no oxygen. There are instances where some trout survive in that middle layer with just enough oxygen and cool temperatures. They find food in the cool water layer or take short trips to the upper layers to feed before returning to the cooler water, a thermal refuge. For this reason the stocking of the catchable trout does not take place until a few days prior to the opening of the season. Anglers use light line on light rod and reel combinations.  They thread a piece of nightcrawler or worm on a small light hook and suspend it beneath an adjustable float.  The bait is usually suspended about 18-inches beneath the float.  But, by using an adjustable float one can experiment until he finds the depth at which the fish are feeding. Other popular baits include cheese, wax worms, minnows, red wigglers and just about anything else the mind can imagine.