By Louie Stout

Indiana’s St. Joe Steelhead Run Continues to ImpressBrian Breidert is a happy biologist.

And if you’re an Indiana steelhead angler, you should be, too.

Briedert was gushing lastweek as he discussed the spring steelhead run, one that has delivered a steady stream of bulldogging fish into Indiana waters all the way to the Twin Branch Dam.

And it ain’t over.

Nearly 7,000 steelhead have poured through the South Bend ladder since January. They joined another 6,000 that came in last summer and fall.

It’s not a record, but certainly above average. The best spring record was in 2,000, when 11,000 steelhead came up. In 2,014, we had 10,000.

Breidert believes we could see another 1,000-1,200 before it’s all over.

“We were seeing about 190 fish a day last week but I expect it to slow down this month,” he said. “Some fish are starting to spawn, so if I were an angler, I’d start targeting any gravel bottoms he can find.”

What really pleases Breidert is how the run has spread out. Although Skamanias are a summer-run strain, we hadn’t seen that good of a summer run in recent years like what was experienced last year. Some 700 fish moved up last July and a decent number of fish moved in subsequent months.

Also, March typically delivers the bulk of the run but this year more than 2,700 showed up in February with another 3,700 in March.

Of course, Mother Nature gets a lot of the credit. The weather simply was more conducive to a steady flow of fish into Indiana waters.

Indiana’s St. Joe Steelhead Run Continues to ImpressOn the other hand, some tweaks in the hatchery may have helped some, especially since the fish are running a little larger now.

Breidert believes that’s because they’re able to stock a little larger fish each spring that makes them less vulnerable to other river predators before the swim down to Lake Michigan. It also enhances their overall survival.

In addition, a good bunch of the fish returning this year is the winter-run Michigan steelhead strain (about 40 percent) that Indiana plants. That may explain why some of the fish came in later last fall.

“We’re pretty pleased with how this run went,” Breidert said. “The fish are running 9 to 10 pounds but we’ve heard of some 20 pounders that were probably 6 year olds that returned.”

Let’s hope that’s a sign of things to come.