Look for Mount Vernon in the Jefferson County part of Illinois. The nearest water changes with the season more than the distance does. Short trips first: Louisville and Nashville Reservoir roughly 0.8 miles to the west, Hawthorne Hills Lake roughly 3.4 miles plus Peckerwood Lake roughly 4.0 miles to the north
| Issuing agency | Who needs a license | Resident annual | Non-resident annual | Non-resident short-term | Saltwater requirement | License-free days | Official source (last verified) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) | Ages 16 and older | $15.00 | $31.50 | 24-hour, 3-day | Not applicable — no coastline | Announced annually | Agency pageVerified 2026-08-13 |
*Prices are base annual freshwater licenses and exclude vendor fees, stamps and endorsements. Where a cell reads “Not verified”, the agency does not publish the figure in a format we can verify automatically.
Need to purchase a fishing license? Where to buy
