Bluegill wins

Question: Before 1986, when did Illinois school children last vote on a state symbol?

Was it merely a fishy election or did school children, like their adult counterparts, vote for a well-known name? At any rate, almost 800,000 students voted to select a state fish, and the bluegill reeled in the most votes. It was a six-fish race; no run-off election was scheduled even though the bluegill received only 28 percent of the vote.

The campaign is over. The votes have been tallied. No challenges have been filed. But an act of the General Assembly is still needed to "swear in" the bluegill as Illinois' favored fish. Rep. Richard Mautino (D-74, Spring Valley), sponsor of the measure that established the vote and attendant civics lesson, said he will introduce the bill needed to make their choice official. Then Illinois will be the only state with the bluegill as its official fish.

Gary Thomas, spokesman for the Illinois Department of Conservation, suggested that the bluegill netted victory because "it's the first fish that 90 percent of people catch." Known throughout the state, the bluegill's name also "might appeal to kids more," Thomas speculated.

The bluegill "couldn't have been a more appropriate choice," according to Rodney Horner, fish pathologist with the Illinois Department of Conservation. Children and adults can catch the bluegill with simple equipment — hook, line and bait. But sometimes the fish takes a measure of revenge, according to Horner. More than one person has dangled a pale leg in the water and had a bluegill attack a black mole.

State fish vote tally
Bluegill                        219,784 (28%)
Largemouth bass         180,596 (23%)
Channel catfish           177,844 (23%)
Coho salmon                72,770 ( 9%)
Carp                            67,700 (9%)
White crappie               45,352 ( 6%)
Write-in                       15,668 (2%)

Answer: In 1981 Illinois school children elected the white-tailed deer as the official state animal.

February 1987/Illinois Issues/40