Tim Lesmeister.

Illinois is blessed with year-round fishing opportunities for everything from small-water bluegills to Great Lakes salmon. Wherever you live there’s a great fishing hole nearby and if you’re willing to travel, you can take your pick of hotspots and get in on the state’s best angling. However, not all fishing holes are created equal. Many lakes and rivers are better than others and knowing where to go is the first step to a great time on the water. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources maintains an aggressive stocking program in many waters and the fishing is excellent.

Here’s a look at where to go to get in on the best fishing action this year.

JANUARY
Rend Lake Bluegills
Winter angling produces numerous big bluegills on Rend Lake. This is the state’s second-largest inland lake and offers outstanding bluegill fishing.

Bluegills will be in deeper water during the winter months. Anglers will find the smaller fish shallower than the bigger ones, so if you’re catching the little guys, start fishing deeper to connect with the hefty-sized fish.

Larval baits on light line are the key to success. Drop a line in the shallower areas near deep water and work various depths until you find the fish. The flooded timber in the upper arms of Big Muddy and Casey Fork and the trees at Nason Point can all be productive. Weed edges, fallen trees and dropoffs can all hold cold-water ‘gills.

Rend Lake is also an excellent crappie lake. Papermouths can be taken through the ice on a minnow under a float near standing timber or other submerged woody cover.

Though uncommon, largemouth bass can sometimes be caught in January as well. The lake is located off Interstate 57 in Franklin and Jefferson counties.

For additional information, contact the U.S. Corps of Engineers at (618) 242-3151.

FEBRUARY
Wolf Lake
Northern Pike
Wolf Lake is an excellent northern pike lake but difficult to fish in the winter. There isn’t much safe ice in this urban lake, so it’ll be cold fingers and hot coffee along the bank or in a small boat.

Northerns are stocked into the lake by the DNR and the pike fishery has taken off. Every year pike in the 30-inch range are caught with possibilities of fish up to 35 inches. Most of these scrappy predators will weigh in at about 3 pounds.

The lake lies within the confines of Chicago and receives high fishing pressure. Pike are overlooked in the cold weather simply because of the lack of ice, but they’re still catchable.

A big chub or sucker under a float can be the ticket to one of the big pike in the lake. Northerns are considered by biologists to border on being a cold-water fish. While many species slow down considerably when the mercury nose-dives, pike keep right on eating. They show a distinct preference for an easy-to-catch meal when the water’s cold, but they won’t pass up a slowly offered bait.

Wolf Lake covers 391 acres.

For more information, contact the Region 2 office at (847) 608-3100.

MARCH
Busse Lak
Largemouth Bass
Busse Lake is one of Cook County’s finest spring fishing holes for largemouth bass. These fish can run up to 5 pounds.

Good early-spring spots to try are the old creek channels in the Main Pool and near any of the fishing walls. Shoreline habitat and riprap warm up first and can be hotspots. There is plenty of good shoreline access and trails to follow that reach most of the areas around the lake, depending on how far you want to walk. There is also a handicapped accessible pier.

Many of the bluegills are just under the 8-inch mark and make for a great bite if the bass aren’t hitting. The South Pool also has a nice population of walleyes.

The fishing walls are developed areas where anglers can fish from the shoreline on some of the best areas of the lake.

Busse Lake is accessible from Higgins Road between Interstate 290 and Arlington Heights Road.

A map showing submerged fish attractors and fishing walls is available from the DNR Web site at www.ifishillinois.org.

The lake has a good bit of fishing pressure but continues to be good. Gas motors are prohibited. Call the boat concession at (847) 640-1987 for information on boat rentals on the Main Pool.