Fishing Fun for Families in the Champaign-Urbana Area

As fishing season arrives in Central Illinois, here are some things you need to know

The best places to fish in Champaign-Urbana, where to buy fishing gear, family friendly fishing events and more

Grab your tackle box, slather on the sunscreen and introduce your kids to a favorite pastime this summer. We’re fortunate to be surrounded by great bodies of water in town or within a short drive from Champaign-Urbana. Mahomet to Homer, Penfield to Clinton and all throughout Illinois, you can get an Illinois fishing license and have tons of family fun all year long.

Whether fishing is something you have enjoyed your whole life or you are brand new to the activity and would like to give it a go, we have all kinds of info for you.

Typically, we see “learn to fish” events hosted by our forest preserves and park districts in Champaign County. We will include these at the bottom of this post once they are announced.

What are the most popular places to fish around Champaign-Urbana?

Here’s a good list of places you might like to fish in our area:

Colbert Park, Savoy, all catch and release
Kaufman Lake, Champaign
Crystal Lake Park, Urbana
Lake of the Woods, Mahomet
Riverbend Forest Preserve, Mahomet
Homer Lake, Homer
Forest Glen Preserve, Westville
Lake Vermilion County Park, Danville
Clinton Lake
Moraine View State Recreation Area
Kickapoo State Park, Oakwood
Lake Shelbyville (Get a boat and make a whole day of it!)
Lake Sara, Effingham (Get a boat and make a whole day of it!)
Weldon Springs State Park

Fishing Licenses

Anyone 16 years of age and older needs to have a current license to fish in Illinois. Children do not need a license. You can get a 24-hour fishing license for $5.50, but why not just get a full year of fishing fun in Illinois for $15? If you have grandparents who want to fish with you, licenses are $7.75 for adults 65 and older.

Buy them online on the DNR site. Some local stores also have options to buy them.

What You Need to Start Fishing

1. Fishing rod and some hooks — You can get some basic fishing equipment at many local stores such as Rural King, Walmart, Meijer or DICK’s House of Sport. You don’t need much; just one pole to share with your kids, or one for each person if you’d like them to have their own. You’ll see tons of accessories you can buy and while you may be tempted to spend a lot up front, it’s certainly not necessary. If you’re squeamish about the idea of touching the fish you catch, you may want to pick up a pair of inexpensive fishing gloves. They’ll protect your hands from being cut by the fish as you remove it from the hook.
2. Bait — When you are ready to head to the lake, you’ll want to pick up some live bait. You can get them at Walmart but we prefer to find a Casey’s near where we’re going to be fishing. In addition to Walmart and Casey’s, you’ll find live bait at Rural King, as well as many small town gas stations. Some places (but none we know of in C-U) even have “bait vending machines,” which will be amusing for your kids if you stumble upon one.

Want to borrow gear to give it a try?

The tackle loaner program through the state of Illinois works a lot like renting library books … with fishing equipment! According to the program’s website, there are locations to check out equipment in our area at:

Savoy Recreation Center
Rantoul Public Library and Rantoul Recreation Department
Weldon Springs
Kennekuk Cove County Park
Allerton Park 4-H Camp

Reach out to the appropriate contact at each location to ensure there is equipment available to borrow.

When You’re at the Lake

If you’ve been fishing before, you have a good idea on how to get set up when you arrive. Make sure your pole is casting properly, snag a worm and put it on the hook before dropping it into the water. Hopefully, before long, you or someone in your group will have the thrill of a catch! But be prepared for some waiting around. It’s good to set kids up with the expectation that maybe we will catch a fish, just in case you end up with nothing that day. Regardless, take in the sunshine and enjoy the day.

Check the policies based on where and when you’re fishing to see if you need to catch-and-release right away or if you’re free to take a certain number of fish home. Personally, we like catch-and-release because we mostly catch bluegill and other small fish around this area. There’s the occasional bass or catfish, though, and I suppose we could take those and eat them if we wanted to do that work. And if you happen to pull a trout out of the water, you need to make sure you have trout stamps if you’re going to be keeping it — there are designated seasons to fish for trout and Kaufman Lake and Lake of the Woods are the local options in Champaign-Urbana.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources has a great website for all things fishing that you can check out for more tips.

UPCOMING FISHING EVENTS AROUND CHAMPAIGN-URBANA

Are you new to fishing or want to test it out before you invest in your own gear? Each summer, there are many events happening through the Champaign-Urbana community for precisely this purpose. See a list below of upcoming events:

Take Me Fishing: Middle Fork held at Activity Center, Middle Fork River Forest Preserve – 05/24/2025, 9:00 am - 11:00 am

Kids Fishing Derby at Kaufman Lake held at Kaufman Lake – 06/07/2025, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm