By Louie Stout

Wolf Lake Walleyes

If you’ve driven to Chicago on I-90, you’ve crossed over Wolf Lake in Northwest Indiana near the state line.

If your windows were down, you may recall the sulfuric smell of the Gary mills and decided the lake didn’t look too appealing.

Well, don’t sell it too short. Northern Indiana biologist Tom Bacula was there last year to sample the fishery and came away with some surprising results.

Wolf is a 385-acre, shallow, sandy lake in Lake County with maximum depth of about 16 feet. It does have some weedy drop-off edges.

The DNR and a local group called Perch America have been stocking the lake with walleye and Bacula turned up some dandies.

Stocking Wolf Lake

“We shocked up 40 walleye up to 27 inches and had 11 over 20, which is very good for a fall survey,” he said.

And that’s not all. He said his crew shocked up a “ridiculous amount” of yellow perch.

“I was surprised,” he added. “If that continues, the lake will be an awesome perch fishery in about three years.”

The lake also contains decent pike fishing.

Although not large, bluegills were the most abundant species with white perch – an undesirable species that competes with gamefish – as the second most abundant.

“White perch are super aggressive and eat young-of-the-year fish they encounter,” explained Bacula. “They’re similar to a white bass but stay small.”

Stocking Wolf Lake Walleyes

The lake is perfect for trolling or kayaking as power boating activities are limited to a 10 mph speed limit.

It has a nice boat launch area run by the city of Hammond with a huge parking area.

“It’s actually a cool, little lake,” said Bacula.

Photos provided by Perch America.