Illinois is home to a wide variety of fish species. At present, 34 families of fishes are represented in the state's waters.

Illinois’ official state fish is the bluegill. Illinois school children selected the bluegill as the state fish in 1986. The bluegill is a very common fish throughout Illinois. It is the most common member of the sunfish family and is recognized by its stripy olive to yellow colors and its distinctive black spot behind the gills. It grows to about nine inches in length. Bluegill are most abundant in clear lakes with large amounts of aquatic vegetation, but they also occur in a variety of habitats, such as pools, overflow ponds, oxbows, swamps and man-made impoundments. In the summer bluegills build nests in water less than about two feet deep.

The bowfin, sometimes called dogfish, grinnel or even mudfish, is one of the most ancient species swimming in North America’s waters. While often overlooked by anglers in pursuit of bass or catfish, the bowfin is a vital predator and a fascinating study in evolutionary history. Now, the bowfin is gaining respect among Illinois’ conservation community. Bowfin belong to a lineage dating back more than 150 million years, making them what biologists often call living fossils. They are the last surviving member of the family Amiidae, once widespread across the globe. Today, their range is confined to the eastern half of North America, with Illinois squarely in the heart of prime bowfin country. Bowfin favor quiet, weedy environments. You’ll find them in the floodplain lakes of the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, in oxbows along the Kaskaskia River, in cypress-tupelo sloughs of the Cache River basin and in countless smaller backwaters across the state. They are equally at home in the shallow margins of large reservoirs and in smaller lakes with healthy aquatic vegetation.

Fishing remains a great pastime throughout Illinois. For more information on fishes and fishing, visit the Illinois Department of Natural resources website.