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Last week’s rain and cool weather attracted more steelhead into the Indiana stretches of the St. Joseph River.

Another 584 steelhead, 10 coho and 3 kings moved through the South Bend ladder last week alone. That brings this fall’s total into Mishawaka waters 6,900 steelhead, 442 kings and 459 coho.


By Louie Stout

Recent rains may be what anglers need to rev up the fall fishing.

Fish are being caught, but not in the consistent or great numbers expected for this time of year.

The Indiana section of the St. Joseph River has needed the influx of fresh water to improve fishing conditions to spark the steelhead and salmon fishing.

The fish are there – more than 6,000 steelhead have moved above the South Bend dam since June 1 – but low, clear water has hampered angler success. In addition, 439 kings, 449 coho and 8 brown trout moved through South Bend this fall.


More fish moved into Indiana waters of the St. Joseph River the past week, pushing the fall run to 5,956 steelhead, 384 coho, 211 king salmon and 4 browns as of Oct. 9.

The DNR’s underwater cameras at the South Bend Dam also observed 18 walleyes moving upstream since June.


Can you believe it? Michiana Outdoors News just completed its first year as a regional outdoors website.

Time flies when you’re having fun and we’ve certainly had fun with this. We appreciate your patience as we continue to learn and improve our unique concept of a regional outdoors website.

We must be doing something right. Our numbers of visitors climb monthly and we had a record month in August with 10,000 page views. We had more than 90,000 page views the first year and 57,000 unique visits, which is quite exceptional for a first year and a local format.


When The Bassmasters take the Elite All-Stars to Muskegon Lake near Muskegon, Mich. Sept. 27-29, all eyes will be on a VanDam.

But with your help, those eyes could be on TWO VanDams.

The Toyota All-Stars is a national tournament with a festival atmosphere, including an outdoor show and live entertainment after the weigh-ins Friday through Sunday.

The Toyota Truck All-Stars is a special, end-of-the-season national bass tournament that pits the top eight 2013 Bassmaster Angler of Year point getters, the 2013 Bassmaster Classic Champion, 2013 Rookie of Year, and four others voted in by fans. The tournament will be televised on ESPN2 later this year.

The pros will fish Muskegon Friday and Saturday with top four advancing to the finals held on nearby White Lake on Sunday. Weigh-ins will be held at Heritage Landing in Muskegon at 4 p.m. daily and admission is free. Muskegon is about 2 ½ hours north of South Bend.

In addition to the All-Star event, eight collegiate anglers will compete for a Bassmaster Classic Berth on nearby Grand River and will weigh in along with the Elite pros.

Kevin VanDam (also known as KVD) of Kalamazoo is pretty much a lock on one of the top 8 spots. He was third in Angler of Year going into this weekend’s event on Lake St. Clair. He’s also one of the most popular pro anglers, having set records in wins, dollar winnings and championship titles.

But his nephew Jonathon (JVD), a third-year pro also from Kalamazoo, will need fan support to vote him in. He’s having a great year, but won’t crack the top 8 and lacks the national recognition that some pros enjoy.