2,276 public fishing lakes and rivers in Illinois — Largemouth Bass, Bluegill, Channel Catfish, Smallmouth Bass, Flathead Catfish, Common Carp, Freshwater Drum and Rock Bass.
See every public fishing venue in Illinois on the map, with boat ramps, camping, parking and full rules for each one.
PiscaMaps covers 2,276 public fishing venues across Illinois in 5 regions — 914 lakes and reservoirs and 1,342 rivers. The largest is Lake Michigan, at 38,400 acres. Mississippi River is the longest mapped river, running 906 km. Southern Illinois has the most venues on file, with 708.
The most commonly recorded species across Illinois's public waters are Largemouth Bass, Bluegill, Channel Catfish, Smallmouth Bass, Flathead Catfish, Common Carp, Freshwater Drum and Rock Bass — the exact mix varies by water type and region. 414 venues have a real boat ramp on file, 256 have nearby camping, and 891 have mapped parking — sourced from OpenStreetMap and recreation.gov's federal facilities database (RIDB) where available.
Illinois's public fishing venues are spread across 5 regions on PiscaMaps:
The most frequently recorded species across Illinois's public venues on PiscaMaps:
Anyone 16-64 needs an Illinois Department of Natural Resources fishing licence — the resident annual is about $16 (a resident Sportsmen's Combination that adds hunting is more), the non-resident annual about $32, and non-resident 1-day/5-day licences are sold. Illinois has no trout stamp requirement for most water (a small number of put-and-take trout ponds may need a separate stamp — check locally); Illinois residents 65 and older, and anyone under 16, do not need a licence. A single licence covers the state's Corps and IDNR reservoirs. Buy from IDNR at dnr.illinois.gov. An Illinois fishing licence covers navigable rivers. The Mississippi is fished on an Illinois, Iowa or Missouri licence in the border reaches; the Ohio on an Illinois, Kentucky or Indiana licence; the Wabash on an Illinois or Indiana licence.
Join PiscaMaps to unlock boat ramps, camping, species and licence info for every venue in Illinois and across the USA.