With excellent access, most bluegills are taken by bank-anglers using slip-bobbers and chunks of night crawlers, redworms or wax worms. Power-plant operation influences fish location. When the plant is operating at full capacity, 'gills tend to hug the rocks. When the plant decreases operation, the fish tend to suspend offshore. Windy shorelines will also attract numbers of hungry slabs.

Boat ramps, superb shore access and good facilities exist on 1,426-acre Powerton Lake. For more information, call (309) 968-7135.

LINCOLN TRAIL LAKE
Located in Clark County, Lincoln Trail Lake -- 146 acres of clear but weedy water -- is an excellent place to find a mess of bluegills in a day.

"Lincoln Trail has a good population of large bluegills and huge redear sunfish," said biologist Mike Mounce. "Because of the abundant aquatic plants in the lake, the water can be very clear, and this will often require fishermen to fish deeper and with lighter line than they may be accustomed to using."

Look for most action to come from weed edges and around wood cover, such as fallen trees and stumps. The back ends of the two main-lake fingers are good places to begin. In summer, keep your eyes open for spawning panfish in the shallows. Redworms, crawler pieces or wax worms fished below a float will find plenty of fish.

According to Mounce, there are currently no harvest limits, but as with all other species, moderation in the harvest of larger fish is recommended.

Lincoln Trail State Park is two miles south of Marshall. Boat launching, excellent bank access, a lakeside restaurant and a bait shop are on site. Outboards are restricted to 10 horsepower. For more information, call (217) 826-2222.

WALNUT POINT LAKE
Biologist Mounce said another gem is Walnut Point Lake about 10 miles east of Arcola in Douglas County.

"Walnut Point Lake has responded very well to the experimental 8-inch minimum-length limit," he said. "There are good numbers of 8-inch bluegills; however, it appears that the bluegills are starting to crowd at the 7 1/2- to 7 3/4-inch size."

With numbers of fish accumulating on the cusp of the size limit, this will be a fishery to watch. Target these shallow bluegills with a long cane pole and a redworm or half a crawler on a 1/16-ounce jig, or try casting the rig to them with a small plastic spring bobber.

Boat launching, picnicking, camping and excellent bank access are on the premises. Harvest is limited to 10 fish per day. For more information, contact Walnut Lake SFWA at (217) 346-3336.

JIM EDGAR PANTHER CREEK SFWA
Biologist Dan Stephenson names the score of lakes and ponds in this prairie landscape park as an excellent area to find some nice bluegills and redears.

"At Gridley Lake we picked up quite a few redears over 8 inches, and the average fish was around 9 inches," he said. "We found a lot of nice bluegills up to about 7 inches there as well.

"Drake Lake is the newest lake, and is starting out 'textbook,' with bluegills and redears nearly 8 inches," Stephenson continued. "In 2000-2002, I rehabilitated 10 small ponds on site, and those should have some good panfish populations by now."