Is it ok to wade in ponds and lakes in these counties in Illinois?

I can't speak about Cook county. Several years ago, As a representative of the Illinois Smallmouth Alliance, I had a meeting with then president of the DuPage County Forest Preserve District, Brent Manning about this very subject. At the time, wading in the DuPage county waters was not legal. The result of the meeting was that wading would be allowed in the DuPage River, (that has a good population of smallmouth) but not in the lakes. Wading in ponds and lakes is dangerous due to sudden drop offs into deep water and as far as I know is still prohibited in DuPage County.

I used to live in Cook County and now live in Lake County. I've spoken to DNR in Cook years ago and he said that there is no wading in rivers and lakes. I have heard the same about Lake County. For the same reason Scott F mentioned above. It is dangerous in rivers and lakes due to deep holes, moving water and garbage in the water that you cannot see.