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Cooler water temperatures, coupled with occasional rainstorms, are putting fish on the move.
A call to area bait and tackle shops this week indicates the fish are starting to transition from the dog days of summer to early fall with their movements.
Weather has certainly improved the summer/fall steelhead run except in South Bend waters of the St. Joseph River. Trail Creek, however, has experienced a spurt of fresh steelhead moving into the Michigan City tributary.
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Steelhead movement up the St. Joseph River remains slow, but Trail Creek in Michigan City is a different matter.
Indiana fish managers have captured 76 fresh fish at the Trail Creek weir and have passed several other trout and salmon there the past couple of days.
The adult fish are being taken to Bodine Fish Hatchery in Mishawaka where they will be matured and used to produce eggs and future stockings. The Trail Creek location had to be used in light of minimal fish movements in the St. Joe, due to low water conditions.
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Lake Michigan fisheries biologist Brian Breidert reported this week that some steelhead were beginning to move through Berrien Springs Monday.
Weve got more fish moving into Trail Creek where we will resume trapping brood stock Tuesday for future stockings, Breidert said. We hope begin seeing some fresh fish in South Bend later this week.
Fishery officials prefer to trap fish at South Bend, but the summer run has been non-existent.
The summer/fall steelhead run has been handcuffed by low water and hot conditions, but the recent cold spell, coupled with some rain, has given the DNR and anglers reason for optimism.
Steelhead need cooler river waters and a steady flow to be drawn from Lake Michigan into the tributaries, where they will winter until spawning next spring.
The fall steelhead fishery is dependent upon good runs. Michiana Outdoors News will keep you posted as the run progresses.
Keep your fingers crossed!
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Michiana sportsmen should be on the lookout for sickly or dying deer, potentially infected with epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD).
At least one case has been confirmed in Cass County, Mich. already with other reports trickling in from other southwest Michigan counties. Cass County has been hit hard with EHD the past two years.
And while the disease has been confirmed in southern Indiana counties, northern Indiana biologist Linda Byer says she has received no confirmations of inflicted deer in her district.
We did receive reports of dead deer in or near water in St. Joseph and Elkhart counties but the deer had been dead over 24 hours and could not be tested for EHD, she said. Neither case showed apparent signs of the disease.
Dave Brauer of Crane Pond Game Area in Jones, Mich. said one confirmed case has been confirmed in Marcellus Township of Cass County. Signs of the disease are appearing a month earlier than in the previous two years.
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A meeting hosted by the Elkhart St. Joseph River Association (SJRA) this Thursday, August 9, 2012, should be of interest to anglers who fish the upper river at the 6 Span public access.
The SJRA is appealing to river residents to pony up some additional cash to help treat aquatic vegetation that has been fueled by a mild winter, low water, and hot weather. Association members say the weeds are creating boating hazards.