By Louie Stout

When Greg Miller shares a hot tip about an underrated fishin’ hole with other anglers, they look at him in disbelief.

“They don’t believe you can put a boat in at the Trail Creek Marina (Michigan City) and fish up to the Franklin Street Bridge and catch bass up to 6 pounds all year long,” says the Michigan City policeman.

“It’s the truth,” he insisted. “I’ve been doing it for three years.”

You can’t blame others for the skepticism. That one-mile urban stretch between the marina and Lake Michigan is better known for trout and salmon, not to mention heavy boat traffic from pleasure boaters and salmon anglers.

Miller says looks can be deceiving. He discovered it one day when he spotted an angler in a bass boat casting a plastic worm near the railroad bridge. He found it strange, but figured it was worth investigating.

“It is amazing,” he said. “Sure there are days when fishing can be tough, just like other places. But I’ve had 30 fish days out there, and really, catching a limit of keepers usually isn’t a problem.”

It’s been so good, in fact, that he rarely fishes the inland lakes of northern Indiana.

“Why should I?” asked the Bass Pro Shops pro staffer. “The fishing is that good here.”
Since he discovered the untapped bass fishery, he’s caught all three bass species – largemouth, smallmouth and the occasional spotted bass from the creek.

Water depths vary from a few feet to more than 20 feet, with deeper water found near the creek mouth around the Michigan City harbor.

The largemouth and smallmouth aren’t surprising, but the spotted bass? Northern Indiana is in the northern range for spotted bass that prefer moving water and rocky bottoms.

Spots look nearly identical to largemouth except their mouths are slightly smaller and they have a rough patch of gristle on their tongue, used to help them crush prey. They generally don’t grow as large as their bigger mouthed cousins, either.

“I sent pictures to the DNR and they confirmed they are spotted bass,” he said. “I’ve not caught any bigger than about 2 ½ pounds, but they’re there.”

Miller fishes a variety of baits, but says a Bass Pro Shops Square Bill crankbait (sexy shad color), a wacky-rigged Bass Pro stickworm (green pumpkin), and a drop-shot rig are his deadliest lures.

“I took my dad out there one day and he couldn’t keep the bass off his Senko (stickworm),” he said.

Miller mostly casts along the shoreline, keying on steel walls, riprap and any other irregular features. One of his best areas is an underwater hump that lies under the railroad trestle and another at the mouth of the Michigan City Harbor where it joins the creek.

“The bass will stack up right at that mouth and it’s a good place to drop-shot a wacky rig in about 22 feet of water,” he described.

He says the bite is on from early spring until ice up. Two years ago, he caught a 6 ½-pound smallmouth on Dec. 23 with a shallow crankbait.

However, anglers should be advised that the creek is closed to fishing from the Franklin Street Bridge upstream to U.S. 35 from April 1 through June 15. The stretch from the Franklin Bridge to the lighthouse is still productive during the closure, he added.

Furthermore, the rock walls that shoulder the Lake Michigan shoreline outside of the creek yield smallmouth as well.

“The cold water doesn’t matter – they still bite,” he said. “And you might catch any number of species, including walleye, catfish and muskie in the creek, too.”