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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.
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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 DNRs underwater cameras at the South Bend Dam also observed 18 walleyes moving upstream since June.
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Can you believe it? Michiana Outdoors News just completed its first year as a regional outdoors website.
Time flies when youre having fun and weve 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.
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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 weekends event on Lake St. Clair. Hes 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. Hes having a great year, but wont crack the top 8 and lacks the national recognition that some pros enjoy.
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Kevin Claire of Edwardsburg, Mich. caught this 26.75-pound king salmon near St. Joe, Mich. while fishing with Dave Gizzi on his Fresh Catch boat this week. Kings are running unusually large this year. The fish was taken on a Scarpace Plug.The unseasonably cool weather keeps coming and so do the steelhead.
Kevin Claire of Edwardsburg, Mich. caught this 26.75-pound king salmon near St. Joe, Mich. while fishing with Dave Gizzi on his Fresh Catch boat this week. Kings are running unusually large this year. The fish was taken on a Scarpace Plug.
The summer-run Skamania continue to march up-stream, filling the river with fish from the Twin Branch Dam in Mishawaka to Lake Michigan.
For the time being, however, the fish appear to be more interested in moving than biting. Not that they arent being caught many are. But anglers have to work for them.
Water temperatures were in the low 70s this week. Dick Parker of Central Park Bait and Tackle says that when the temp drops into the mid-60s, they will really turn on.
Lake Michigan biologist Brian Breidert said fish counts of steelhead going through the South Bend ladder eclipsed the 4,500 mark this week, including 621 that moved through from Aug. 7-13.
Breidert said it is the best run at this stage of the season since 2005.