In a state that is over 400 miles from north to south, there are a variety of angling opportunities during those periods of seasonal change in spring and fall. Figuring a week's difference for every 100 longitudinal miles traveled, the itinerant Illinois angler can be on the on the cutting edge of a bite fully 20 percent of the calendar year -- with the other 40 weeks spent enjoying fishing that's somewhere between good and outstanding.

A cell phone conversation with my nephew Darrin last March drove home the point regarding the Prairie State's piscatory potpourri. Darrin was sitting on a bucket up on Mississippi River's Pool 12 in northwest Illinois with a question about ice-fishing for crappies. The temperature was 21 degrees, and the sky was spitting snow. I was sitting in a boat under sunny skies watching angling legend Fred Washburn catch another bass on Little Grassy Lake in southern Illinois. The temperature was 70 degrees.

In August, when Fred is sweltering in southern Illinois, he has the option of grabbing a jacket and heading six hours north for chinook salmon on Lake Michigan. In December, you can catch bluegills through the ice near Savanna in northwest Illinois or catch bluegills with a long rod on Baldwin Lake downstate.

So many options, so little time. Here is our annual look at 36 of Illinois' best fishing options in the 12 months ahead.

JANUARY
Smithland Pool Stripers
Hey, you don't have to put the boat away for the winter during the coldest month of the year! Striped bass and hybrid stripers are active in this neck of the Ohio River bordered by three states. These brutal combatants are always on the move chasing baitfish.

A solid tactic is to locate a big school of baitfish with your electronics, and then tightlining cut shad over the side of the boat while jigging a blade bait or Hopkins Spoon on your other rod.

Contact the Golconda Marina at (618) 683-5875.

Devils Kitchen Rainbows
Anchor up along the dam. Thread a miniature marshmallow over the eye of a No. 6 short-shanked hook and add a nose-hooked night crawler with a split shot 18 inches up the line. Fish will often rocket three feet out of the water before you realize that they're hooked.

Farm-Pond Bluegills
The landscape north of Interstate 80 is dotted with frozen farm ponds and strip pits full of hungry fish. The county's SCS office and a plat book can help you hook up with virtually unpressured fisheries.

FEBRUARY
Illinois River Saugers
Our namesake river has a national reputation for giving up huge versions of this walleye kin. Fish are stacked in incredible numbers right now in wintering holes within sight of the Abraham Lincoln Bridge.

Blade baits and vertical jigging with live bait or bucktail jigs are very effective during February, thus providing one of the few open-water options for northern Illinois anglers.

Contact Cajun Sporting Goods at (815) 667-4222.

Sangchris Lake Stripers
The warmwater discharge near the powerhouse congregates both shad and stripers between now and mid-March. Watch for surface feeding activity and throw either a Rat-L-Trap or cut bait toward the boil. Stealth is a key. These big fish are naturally spooky.

Pool 12 Crappies
A January thaw will trigger crappies on Kehough Slough and other Mississippi River backwaters west of Galena, and at the foot of Chestnut Mountain Resort off of Blackjack Road. A purple Li'l Cecil or No. 2 Rembrandt willow spoon is hard to beat.

MARCH
Kinkaid Lake Muskies
Fifty-inch muskies are present in this southern Illinois fishery, offering a great open-water kickoff for anglers tired of sitting astride buckets up north.