I just come back from a 2 weeks vacation in France and have had the chance to have 5 minutes of good windsurfing, which has not happened in 5 years.
This reminded me how much I love it.

I now reside in Peoria Illinois. I youtubed Peoria windsurfing, and the last video was from 10 years ago. Which does not surprise me considering all the dead fishing floating at the surface of the river might be a clue to what would happen to me if I swallowed some of that water.

So my questions are:
- am I right to refuse to windsurf on the Illinois river around Peoria?
- what would be the closest decent alternative. Looking on the website, it seems like Evergreen lake would be ok, it is 1hr away. and next is clinton lake, 1hr 20 min away. Does anyone know of anything closer? Anyone windsurfing and living in Peoria?

I've got two launch spots for Peoria on the Launches page >> left menu. I'm not sure what the Asian carp fish situation is now. Silt is another thing you'll have to get used to on the Illinois River. It's like watered down pudding and you sink to your knees. I don't know of any closer lake. You'll have to try Evergreen and Clinton to see what works for you.

Hope to see you on the water.