You deserve a pat on the back. The healing has begun. You are still hungry for walleye information even after picking up this copy of Illinois Game & Fish and realizing you aren’t on the cover holding the new state walleye record.

This magazine wasn’t even being published when Frank Goselin horsed that 14-pounder out of the Kankakee River back in 1961. Maybe you weren’t even born when Goselin caught his whopper. But since reaching the age of reason, you’ve always entertained pipe dreams about catching the big one.

Don’t feel like the Lone Ranger. I’ve been chasing this dream since 1975 after losing a huge walleye in the Kaskaskia River tailwaters of the Lake Shelbyville dam.

The limited acreage below this sprawling central Illinois reservoir held the shortest odds for realizing “The Dream” back in the mid- to late 1970s when the spring spawning run reached its peak around April Fool’s Day.

Although DNR technicians electroshocked several walleyes that were heavier than Goselin’s fish, no sport angler ever brought one to shore back when Shelbyville’s tailwaters were almost a sure thing for yielding double-digit ‘eyes.

Consistent stocking since 1994 has resulted in a resurgence of walleye success on this 11,000-acre fishery straddling the Shelby-Moultrie county line. The return of the reservoir as a consistent trophy walleye lake is on the horizon with good numbers of fish over 25 inches showing up in recent surveys, according to the IDNR.

The key to success on Shelbyville is time spent on the water. Anglers who put in their time trolling crankbaits behind planer boards off main-lake points regularly fill limits of 14-to 18-inch walleyes, with early April through mid-June considered the most productive time.

A launch fee is charged at ramps maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Illinois’ three vast reservoirs. Launching at state-maintained or gravel ramps is free. You can contact the Lake Shelbyville management office at (217) 774-3951.

Rend Lake doesn’t have a walleye fishery, but Shelbyville is on the rebound with truly promising potential in years to come, and Carlyle Lake has seldom been mentioned in a positive light regarding any kind of game fish since the lake filled decades ago -- until now.

The IDNR white paper Status of the Walleye and Sauger Fishery, published last spring, reported the sauger population has become established in the lake. In a 2006 survey, there was a three-fold increase compared with the five-year average. Fifty-three percent of the fish surveyed were greater than 15 inches in length.”

The IDNR credits the abundance of available forage for the evolution of the sauger fishery in Carlyle, which is fed by the Kaskaskia River. As was the case with walleyes 30 years ago and muskies today, the Kaskaskia River tailwaters below Carlyle dam are the epicenter of sauger activity with spring and late fall the most productive times to chase these fish.

Maybe a dozen years ago, Clinton Lake held promise for producing a state record, regularly giving up 25-inch-plus fish. This central Illinois cooling lake is still a worthwhile walleye destination, but surveys indicate the “Fish of Dreams” is not swimming there.

According to last spring’s survey, the major problem on Clinton is lack of consistency. The 2004 data indicated one of the highest catch rates in more than a decade, but the numbers were off the chart in the other direction the next year, and 2006 showed even a greater decline.