Per ifishillinois.org: Do I need a fishing license to fish my private pond located entirely on my property?
Owners or tenants (if they reside on the land) may fish in waters on or flowing over their lands without a license. This exemption does not apply to club and organizational lakes or lake developments. Guests must have a fishing license to fish the lake unless they meet any of the requirements exempting persons from needing a license - such as being under age 16, Illinois residents who are disabled or blind, or Illinois residents on leave from active duty in the Armed Forces.
So if a friend comes over to fish your pond theoretically they must have a fishing license? Am I reading that correctly? Jeez I'm glad I'm on active duty in the GSA Royal Air Force (well that and I could probably qualify under a mental disability clause).
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Ewest makes an excellent post (of course), why correct a genetics problem down the road. You spend a lot of hard earned money creating and managing a pond and IMHO the difference in a few hundred dollars during stocking is not worth all of the downsides to stocking fish with unknown genetics. If I was starting with a clean slate pond I'd want to start with the best of the best. A well known & well respected private fish supplier is going to be actively monitoring genetics to ensure the best quality of end product - I highly doubt most government agencies will do this.
