Are any of the smallmouth around Chicago native?

[Ryan S]

Just wondering to what extent any of the smallmouth in the Chicago area (or Illinois as whole) are native. I'm mainly thinking about places like the Fox, Dupage, Des Plaines and Lake Michigan. Thanks!

[Andy C]

 

 

They are native, but the river systems in the area  have been greatly altered!  Orange is native range, dark red is non-indigenous.

[John Schenck]

On 6/14/2021 at 8:28 AM, Andy C said:

 

 

They are native, but the river systems in the area  have been greatly altered!  Orange is native range, dark red is non-indigenous.

That’s cool thanks for sharing 

[Mark K]

They maybe native to Lake Michigan, but when I was a kid (in the 70's) nobody I knew caught them.  You also could not see the bottom because there were no zebra mussels to filter.  There were no gobies as a food source.