It has an 18-inch minimum length on black bass and one-fish creel limit. (Ramp, no boat rental, no camping and a 10-horsepower limit.)

East Fork Lake
Over the past five years, 935-acre East Fork in Richland County near Olney has produced one of the better bass populations in all of Illinois. This year will be no exception. The size structure of the East Fork population remains excellent with 42 percent larger than 15 inches. The study catch-effort of 121 bass per hour exceeded a projected goal for the lake. More than 11 percent of the larger bass in this population exceed 18 inches in length. Seven-pound bass are common for experienced anglers.

If growth rates and recruitment remain good as expected, the lake should continue to provide excellent bass fishing throughout this decade. East Fork posts a 15-inch length restriction and six-fish creel limit. Boat permits are required on the city-owned impoundment and may be purchased at Lakeside RV and Bait Shop, (618) 393-4352.

This lake pick is the only one that does not restrict motor size; however, you'll find East Fork anglers some of the most considerate anywhere.

For permit information, contact the Olney city clerk's office at (618) 395-7302. (Boat ramps, no boat rentals, camping and no outboard limits.)

In an interview with chief of fisheries Steve Pallo, it was noted that Illinois breeds and stocks two strains of black bass, southern and northern. The southern strain adapts better to downstate's warmer water temperatures and the northern strain do better in upstate's longer winters.

"Shelbyville is about the north-south stocking division for these two bass types," Pallo said. "This makes more work for our hatchery staff, but we do this with the expectation of getting better results for our anglers."

Any public lake or Corps impoundment may be restocked with bass if an annual survey shows a significant downturn in bass numbers.

"We call this supplemental stocking," Pallo said. "This helps bolster a population that has trouble keeping up to our expectations. We stocked 400,000 advanced fingerlings last year alone in state public waters. About 8.6 million have been stocked in the last 20 years."

The life expectancy of black bass is relatively short, five to seven years.

"It's rare when we stock largemouth and smallmouth bass in the same lake," Pallo said. "Each of these subspecies of bass requires slightly different habitat. Smallmouths, for example, do better in lakes with rocky riprap."

Two large cooling lakes, Clinton and Baldwin, have been targeted lately for smallmouth introduction. When Clinton Lake was first built, it supported several smallmouth populations that slowly dwindled. With any luck, Baldwin will soon be another Powerton Lake for incredible smallmouth fishing. Like Powerton, it is entirely lined with rock riprap.

Pick up a 2009 Illinois Fishing Information Digest at any bait shop or discount outlet that sells fishing licenses. This digest lists most public bass waters and their individual restrictions. Anglers can also go online to www.ifishillinois.org and obtain the phone numbers of all state fisheries biologists for specific questions on any of Illinois' public waters.

If your goal is a most relaxing and successful day of bass fishing, choose one of Illinois' smaller public lakes. Smaller can be better!

Find more about Illinois fishing and hunting at: IllinoisGameandFish.com