Banner Marsh

Wheel Lake, Shovel Lake, Johnson Lake

State Park and Muskie Status Report Info

The following is an excerpt from the IL State Parks website:

Banner Marsh State Fish & Wildlife Area is located approximately 25 miles southwest of Peoria on U.S. Route 24 and is protected from the Illinois River by a major levee.
Teeming with fish and wildlife, Banner Marsh provides various outdoor activities, including hunting, fishing, boating, dog training, picnicking, wildlife observation and photography.
There are three public access areas leading into Banner Marsh, all of which have parking lots, boat ramps, restrooms and picnic areas.

Whether you prefer bank fishing or boat fishing, walleye, muskie or channel cat fishing, you won’t run out of fishable water at Banner Marsh. With more than 200 clear water bodies holding numerous species of fish, including largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, northern pike, walleye, crappie, bluegill, redear, green sunfish and channel cat, fishing is a common interest among many who visit the area.
The site’s three fish brooding ponds, extensive stocking efforts and site-specific size and creel limits, posted at all three public access areas, will ensure a well-balanced fishery for today’s anglers and future generations.
Boat fishing is prohibited during waterfowl season, but bank fishing is allowed after 1 p.m. daily. Fishing is otherwise permitted 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The following is an excerpt from the IL DNR's

"STATUS OF MUSKIE FISHERY IN ILLINOIS 2004"

At normal pool the 350 acre lake is composed of a deep final cut section and a large series of strip mine wheel cut lakes. The wheel cut portion (280 acres) contains a maze of points, islands, flooded brush and diverse aquatic vegetation, while the final cut portion (70 acres) has a maximum depth of 60 feet and rocky structure.

The Spring 2003 trapnet survey and a fall electrofishing survey collected 71 fish with the largest fish at 44 inches.
The lake's major fish species are largemouth bass, bluegill, white and black crappie, and gizzard shad. Other fish species present are smallmouth bass, walleye, channel catfish, yellow bullhead, carp, green sunfish, and yellow perch.

There is a 25 horse power limit at Banner Marsh.

SHOVEL LAKE, BANNER MARSH - Shovel Lake was added to the muskie stocking priority list in 1999. In 1999, this lake received 200, 11 inch muskie from Jake Wolf Hatchery in September and 250, 11 inch fish from the Banner Marsh Rearing Ponds in October. From 2000 - 2003, Shovel Lake received 200 - 10.0" muskie from Jake Wolf Hatchery in August. On April 1, 2000, the new minimum length limit was raised to 42 inches with a 1 fish per day limit.

In 2003, 13 fish were sampled up to 38 inches long.

Shovel Lake was enlarged to over 200 acres by the end of 2000. It is a "T" shaped final cut strip mine lake (74 acres) with a maximum depth of 65 feet that was attached to approximately 100 acres of littoral zone surrounding deep water pockets (25 acres of strip mine ponds).

The lake’s major fish species are largemouth bass, bluegill, white and black crappie, walleye, channel catfish, carp, and gizzard shad. There is a 25 hp limit at Banner Marsh.

JOHNSON LAKE, BANNER MARSH - Johnson Lake was added to the muskie stocking priority list in 2001. In 2001, this lake received 2,174 - 11 inch muskie from Jake Wolf Hatchery in October, and 725 - 10 inch muskie in 2002. In 2003, a stocking of 1,333 - 10 inch muskie from Jake Wolf Hatchery occurred in September.

Johnson Lake is approximately 600 acres and is composed of a maze of deep strip mine water connected to shallow flats of flooded trees.

The lake’s major fish species are largemouth bass, bluegill, white and black crappie, walleye,
channel catfish, northern pike, carp, and gizzard shad. There is a 25 hp limit at Banner Marsh.
 

Banner Marsh Fishing Report

Word of a couple Muskie on stickbaits at Johnson Lake. March 29th.