Lake Springfield has a few more crappies - well, many more.

Fisheries biologists have drained a rearing pond, collecting more than 150,000 crappies to be stocked in the lake, to the presumable delight of fishermen.

The re-stocking happens every few years to replenish the lake's numbers.

Dan Stephenson of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources said the number of crappies produced was a record but that he would have liked to have seen bigger fish. The small crappies averaged 3.5 to four inches long.

In all, 1,960 pounds of fish were stocked into Lake Springfield on Friday - a job that took hours and a lot of patience from a crew using dip nets. Volunteers also helped from the Springfield Crappie Club.