That was quite the survey the Illinois Department of Natural Resources had on Evergreen Lake for saugeye and muskie earlier this month.
It included a saugeye of 10.63 pounds, which is nearly a pound heavier than the Illinois record. Dan Murphy caught the Illinois-record saugeye (9 pounds, 10.88 ounces) from Evergreen on Dec. 7, 2001.
Here is the recap of the surveys, forwarded by several people.
On April 5 and 6th,, with the help of the McLean County Parks and Recreation and volunteers, the IDNR conducted a netting survey for muskie and saugeye at Evergreen Lake. The survey resulted in a collection of 165 saugeye in 20 net nights of effort. Approximately 46% of the saugeye were over 18 inches and a saugeye was collected over the current state record. The large saugeye was 27.4″ long and weighed 10.63 pounds. The saugeye are regulated with an 18″ length limit and a 3 per day harvest limit. The muskie catch rate was a little below average with 71 muskie being collected with 20 net nights of effort – 3.55 per net night. The average catch rate since 2002 is 4 muskie per net night. The largest muskie collected was 47.4″ long and weighed 36 pounds.
