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By Louie Stout

Best Year Ever for River Steelhead?Best Year Ever for River Steelhead?

This year’s St. Joseph River trout and salmon fishery is more like what fish managers envisioned when the ladders between Mishawaka and Lake Michigan were opened in 1993.

“It’s been one of the best fall runs, if not the very best for steelhead, going back to the 1990s,” said Lake Michigan biologist Brian Breidert.

The numbers bear that out. Through October, we’ve had 5,400 steelhead, 6,000 coho and a few kings and brown trout move above the South Bend dam. That’s more than 11,000 fish with a month to go in the fall/winter run.

During that same period in 2016, a total of 6,090 trout/salmon were in the upper St. Joe – about half as many as what we’re seeing this year.

And the fish are still coming. More than 1,000 fish ran through the South Bend ladder the last week of October alone.

Remember, says Breidert, November could be phenomenal.

“We average around 1,000 steelhead in November, so we should see that number climb even higher,” added Breidert. “We’re on track to have about 18,000 fish pass through South Bend before this fall/winter run ends.”

They’re being caught, too.

“From a business sense, this has to be the best fall run I’ve seen since I began here 15 years ago,” said Mike McNulty of Midway Bait in Osceola. “The fact I keep seeing repeat and happy customers shows the fishing is pretty good. I had a customer tell me he was down at Zappia Park the other day and everyone was catching fish.”

The outstanding coho run has played a big role in boosting numbers this fall.

Only one year (1998) was better for coho and that was precipitated by a heavy Michigan stocking that lured additional fish into Indiana waters.

Indiana has since begun its own coho stocking program and Breidert says we’re beginning to reap the benefits.

“It’s a positive sign that what we’re doing with our fish management program is working, and we owe that to the Michiana Steelheaders who, a few years ago, encouraged us to take a hard look at coho as a bonus fish and add them to the fall steelhead program,” said Breidert.

The downside to coho is those fish die after spawning. The upside is the excellent steelhead will keep river fishing vibrant throughout the winter.

Steelhead fish will remain in the river and provide die-hard anglers excellent opportunities providing the river doesn’t freeze up. The steelhead will spawn in March and April before returning to Lake Michigan.

Other factors have attributed to this year’s quality run.

Mother Nature has played a huge role; we didn’t have prolonged drought periods in late summer, increased rainfall and lower water temperatures, coupled with a steady current flow, have drawn the fish out of the lake and up river into our part of the St. Joseph.

Without that, the steelhead wouldn’t move much past the Berrien Springs Dam ladders which is the first barrier they encounter during the fall migration.

Breidert also believes new fish management tactics for the lake and river have helped. With a lake-wide plan to reduce salmon stockings in play the past few years, the dwindling forage base has gotten a reprieve and somewhat stabilized, he says.

“We’re seeing some positive things in the lake; the quality of steelhead and coho that are coming back to the rivers is better than recent years,” he said. “The fish are bigger and healthier because they have more to eat while living in the lake. We’re hoping this continues.”

All states’ have reduced king salmon stockings out of fear that alewives – the primary food source for trout and salmon – might crash. Kings grow large and are voracious feeders; biologists say there is strong evidence that they are reproducing naturally and could offset the stocking cuts.

This year’s forage assessment hasn’t been completed, but Breidert said he doesn’t foresee any additional stocking cuts in the future.

That bodes well with Indiana St. Joe River fishermen, who are reaping the benefits now and will into the spring.

“We can still expect between 3,000 and 8,000 more steelhead coming into the river next spring,” Breidert added. “As long as we don’t flood out in March and April, the fishery should be even more fabulous.”