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By Louie Stout

Hudson Lake bluegillHudson Lake bluegill

A biological survey of Indiana’s Hudson Lake turned up a healthy fish population – especially for panfish.

Hudson Lake is located in northeastern LaPorte County. The 435-acre lake has two basins and a DNR boat ramp was constructed there in the northern most backwaters basin in 2019. (Read more about the opening here.)

District Fisheries Biologist Tom Bacula’s crew was there a year ago in May for a quick look at the bass population and retuned in late June to survey the entire fish community.

“We were there to evaluate the lake since we’ve added the new boat ramp,” said Bacula. “We also wanted to evaluate the plant life and see how much the invasive starry stonewort (plant) has increased.”

By Louie Stout

Cindy Sue and the Lunker ClubCindy Sue and the Lunker Club

If you have a grandchild you hope to interest in bass fishing, here’s a relatively inexpensive Christmas gift that can help create excitement and curiosity about the sport.

Bassmaster Senior Writer Robert Montgomery has released, Cindy Sue and the Lunker Club, a 52-page book that targets all youngsters from ages 6 to 14. It’s one you may enjoy reading to them as well.

Although Cindy Sue doesn’t really want to go fishing with her grandfather, she decides to go anyway. The 12-year-old girl quickly learns it’s not nearly as boring as she feared and loves spending time on the water with Pap Pa.

By Louie Stout

So what’s the latest on the new boat ramp at Eagle Lake in Cass County, Mich.?

Not much, other than the Eagle Lake Improvement Association continues to pour money into legal fees and appeal court rulings while the DNR lets everything drag on.

It’s been 10 years since the Michigan DNR announced it wanted to build a boat ramp and parking area on the east side of Eagle Lake Road, north of the channel that connects Eagle with the Juno Chain. That land has remained idle ever since then.

“It is a shame that the general public (anglers, boaters, kayakers, etc.) has not been able to realize any benefit to a great project,” said Darrin Schaap, owner of Clear H2o Tackle located near the lake. “The state of Michigan and the DNR has allowed a very small part of the population (Eagle Lake Improvement Association) to fight and ultimately halt the project.  At what point will state government realize that enough is enough, and that the greater good for the many should take precedence over people trying to privatize a natural resource?”

The lake association has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees over the past 10 years and appears determined to spend more. It has lost cases in Cass County Circuit Court and in a DNR Administrative Judge hearing, yet the association filed another suit in the Michigan Court of Appeals last June.

Although the ramp project has passed all of the governmental environmental tests, the lake group claims that the parking area and ramp is impacting wetlands, will introduce more invasive species to the lake, and inhibits the public’s opportunity to utilize the beach area along the road.

By Louie Stout

Pine and Stone Lake should see quite a few keeper walleye within a couple of years.

Indiana DNR District Fisheries Biologist Tom Bacula did a survey of the two LaPorte County lakes last fall to evaluate the success of lake association and DNR stockings. Indiana had a surplus of walleye fingerlings in 2021 and 2022 and put them in the two lakes last year.

The fish stocked earlier in the year ranged from 5 to 8 inches in length – a good size for excellent survival.

Bacula said he and his crew saw enough of the Indiana fish for the stocking to be considered successful.