Hi Illinois Longhorn.
Your near Peoria right?
I'd guess your son will be coming down 51 or 127 then, if Rt 127 he will pass right by my old place in Murphysboro (Rt 127 and old Rt 13) that I'm about to write more about.

I just thought I'd talk a little about my favorite pond I've 'had' so far. It was at the farmhouse in Murphysboro, the smaller front pond. Both ponds were about the same distance from the house around 100 yards downhill, close enough to go fishing for even just 10 minutes before dark if you got home late. I guess it was my favorite because it was lonely. The back pond got fished by the landlord some, the front pond barely got fished at all. It had been ~12 years since it was killed and restocked (LMB, CC, BG, HBG) and hadn't been fished in years. Some of the little fishing pressure it got was catch and release even though the landlord told them to take the fish and put them in his outdoor 'beer' fridge and he'd clean them or to just toss all the BG on the bank.
So you can guess the condition of the pond. Tons of small BG and LMB. I never caught many CC there, maybe because I never fished for them in the front pond. I fished the back pond with set lines my catfish dinners. I did catch some from less than 1 pound up to several pounds, so there was CC recruitment in the front pond.
The first summer I was there I spent mostly BG fishing, before and/or after work. I'd get up in the morning and go down to the pond with my coffee and after work I'd go down to the pond with my beer until sunset. I kept everything I caught, although the real little ones were used for bait, not eating. Never really caught anything over 6"-7", so it took a lot for a good meal. There were times I'd catch 50-100 fish per day. The Landlord and his father BG fished the pond some this summer also. So on a good day we might take 150-200 BG out. If I hadn't like eating them so much I would have given up on cleaning them. The only saving grace was my 'beer fridge' sitting out on the back porch. I got enough grief for bowls full of fillets in the home fridge, 5 gallon buckets of fish wouldn't have flown (nor would I have wanted them in my 'food fridge'). the 'beer fridge' was set below 32 and would freeze the top of the water in a 5 gallon bucket. I could fit 3 buckets in the fridge (if I put my beer in the drawers), 1 1/2 days catch. So I didn't have to clean them as soon as I got them. I also kept frozen ice bottles in the freezer just for throwing in the buckets while fishing to keep my catch fresh. I kept track of my catch and cleaned the oldest first. Some days I would have to sit down for 2-3 hours and clean everything in the fridge. So I have to recomend a second fridge just for beer, fish, bait, deer and other things the SO just won't let you keep in the house.
My favorite night cleaning was setting up the 500w work light and cleaning table out by the fire so I could hang out with Becky. This was one of those 3 hours cleaning sessions, all 3 buckets. After becky went to sleep I finished up cleaning and decided to try a new recipe. I took salt, pepper, fresh garlic and green onions, a little bacon grease and a bunch of BG fillets, double wrapped them in Aluminum foil and then went back out to the fire. Pulled out a bed of coals, buried the foil packet in there and laid down to watch the fire (I was sleeping out by the fire that night). After a little while I took them out and had one of the best BG dinners ever. I wasn't even that hungry, but I ate every last bit, it was soo good. Made all the effort worth while.
While BG fishing I was noticing schools of LMB 8-20 fish either in the 6"-9" or 10"-12" range (different year classes). I'd catch a few of these LMB but I normally released them unless I really needed the fillets. Yes I was one of those 'catch and release' fisherman. I even felt bad when I'd keep them, even if I knew they wouldn't survive the release. I was about to learn though.

Matt