Rend Lake is a 13-mile (20.9 km) long, 3-mile (4.8 km) wide reservoir located in Southern Illinois in Franklin and Jefferson Counties near the town of Benton. It contains 18,900 acres (76 km) of water, stores 185,000 acre-feet (228,000,000 m) of water, and supplies over 15 million gallons of water per day to 300,000 persons in over 60 communities. The reservoir is up to 35 feet (10.7 m) deep, but its average depth is closer to 9.7 feet (3.0 m). Its elevation is 405 feet (123.4 m) above sea level.

Rend Lake was created when the United States Army Corps of Engineers dammed the Big Muddy River. The dam and lake were authorized in 1962, but the lake was not completely filled until March 1973.[1] Archived 2006-07-26 at the Wayback Machine

The shoreline of Rend Lake extends 162 miles (261 km), part of which is preserved as Wayne Fitzgerrell State Recreation Area. Swimming beaches at North Marcum and South Sandusky are managed and maintained by the US Army Corps of Engineers. An adjacent Illinois Artisans Shop & Visitors Center is part of the Illinois State Museum system and is operated by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

In 2010, Rend Lake was designated as an Important Bird Area of Illinois.

Rend Lake is one of the largest lakes in Illinois and is home to some of the top ranked fishing. Recognized species in Rend Lake are the following :

Species Name	Avg. Weight	Avg. Length
Largemouth Bass	3-5 Lbs.	17–22 in
Crappie	0.5-1.5 Lbs.	6–12 in
Bluegill	0.5-1.0 Lbs.	6–10 in
Channel Catfish	10-20 Lbs.	25–35 in
Flathead Catfish	15-30 Lbs.	30–38 in
Blue catfish	15-35 Lbs.	30–40 in
Carp	9-19 Lbs.	20–35 in
White bass	2-4 Lbs.	15–20 in