Illinois spring trout season opens April 6 at 58 locations statewide, including Rock Falls

SPRINGFIELD – The 2024 Illinois spring trout fishing season will open Saturday, April 6, at 58 ponds, lakes and streams throughout the state, including Centennial Park Pond in Rock Falls.

An early opportunity at select trout sites, the spring catch-and-release fishing season, will open Saturday, March 23, at Pine Creek, White Pines Forest State Park, Mt. Morris. No trout may be kept during the catch-and-release period, but anglers can keep trout after the opening of the regular season beginning April 6. The daily harvest limit for each angler is five trout.

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

For the 2024 spring trout season, no trout may be taken from any stocked sites between March 15 and the season opening at 5 a.m. April 6. Anyone attempting to harvest trout before the legal harvest season opening will be issued citations.

For information about all site regulations, anglers should contact individual sites that will be stocked with catchable-size trout. Not all sites are open for trout catch-and-release season, and not all sites open at 5 a.m. opening day.

The spring trout season offers opportunities for families to get outdoors and enjoy fishing. All anglers, including those who intend to release fish caught before April 6, must have a fishing license and an inland trout stamp unless they are younger than 16, blind or disabled, or are an Illinois resident on leave from active duty in the Armed Forces.

Visit ifishillinois.org for information on trout seasons and other Illinois fishing opportunities.