It is our sad duty to announce to everyone our father Raymond Thompson, Chairman of the IMA, passed away on January 22, 2020, after a short illness. Upon returning home from the hospital, he suffered a setback and past away Wednesday afternoon.

Our father was a Life time member of Muskies Inc since 1977. He helped the startup of the South Side Musky Hawks. Was one of the original founders of the Illini Muskies Alliance. A long time Chairman of the IMA, inducted into the Muskies Inc. Hall of Fame and the IMA Hall of Fame.

Dad dedicated his life to improving Musky fishing in Illinois. Dad and Uncle Warren spent many tireless hours sharing their knowledge, which contributed to the growth and expansion of musky fishing.

We will send out additional information as soon as we know more. Please feel free to pass this information along to anyone who may have inadvertently missed.

Best regards, Bernadette, Michael, Jacquelyn and Luke Thompson

Blake-Lamb Funeral Home
4727 W. 103rd St.
Oak Lawn, IL 60453

The wake will be on Monday January 27 from 3-8pm.
The funeral will be Tuesday, January 28 at 10am.
Obituary

IDNR biologists conducted an annual, spring trap net survey on Jim Edgar Panther Creek State Fish and Wildlife Area's Prairie Lake to assess the muskie population on 3/26 - 3/28. They collected a total of 47 muskie in 48 trap net nights measuring up to 47.0" and weighing up to 36.8 lbs. They collected 23 females and 24 males with 3 fish weighing over 30 lbs. All fish were in excellent body condition.

IDNR started conducting a population estimate and age and growth study on Prairie Lake muskie in 2016 using PIT tags (Passive Integrated Transponder), which are small electronic tags that have a unique ID number that allow them to identify individual fish. They are inserted near the dorsal fin of the fish and can only be located and read by a PIT tag reader. During the 2018 spring survey, we collected 34 new fish and 13 recaptures (1 fish was captured three years in a row).