By Louie Stout

The weather may be cold and damp but the fishing is red hot for trout and salmon anglers.

The steelhead run in Indiana waters is shaping up to be one of the best ever while inshore coho fishing on Lake Michigan has been on fire.

More than 5,000 steelhead swam through the South Bend ladder this month to join several thousand that swam upriver last fall.

“This is the best March we’ve had since we started keeping records in 2008,” said Lake Michigan Biologist Brian Breidert. “From March 1 through the 27th, we averaged 191 steelhead (passing through the South Bend ladder) a day.”

Fish are being caught, too, although not many anglers are taking advantage of it given the colder weather.

Mike McNulty of Midway Bait in Osceola said the best action seems to be at Twin Branch and in Central Park. Spawn and inline spinners are producing best.

Trail Creek in Michigan City is experiencing a similar spring run. Breidert said fish managers are have passed several steelhead over the sea lamprey barrier and hundreds have been seen jumping over the barrier to move up river.

“With cooler weather in the forecast, we should continue to see a push of steelhead upriver, delay the spawn and slow the fishes’ return to Lake Michigan,” said Breidert. “We expect good fishing to continue throughout April and possibly into May.”

Breidert also said that yearling steelhead have been stocked in the St. Joe and urges anglers to handle the little guys with care and release them quickly back into the river.

Not all of the steelhead are in Indiana waters. Darrin Schaap of Clear H2o Tackle in Edwardsburg says he’s getting reports of steelhead being caught in Michigan waters and tributaries to the St. Joseph River.

Steelhead aren’t the only fish producing good results in the river. McNulty said he’s getting excellent reports of walleyes being caught below the Elkhart and Central Park dams.

“Jigs tipped with minnows or curly tail grubs are accounting for most of the fish, and I’m hearing of quite a few keepers being caught, too,” said McNulty.

River walleyes must be 16 inches long to be legally kept.

Coho fishing on Lake Michigan has been outstanding from Gary, Ind. to St. Joseph, Mich. for boat anglers and those fishing off piers.

“Limits are being taken in just an hour or so of fishing,” said Breidert. “This is shaping up to be an outstanding coho season on the southern end of the lake.”

Breidert said he’s also heard of whitefish, brown trout and coho caught in the harbors and an occasional king salmon is being caught by lake trollers.

The inland lake scene is moving slower due to water temperatures 40 or below. However, excellent crappie action is being reported by Indiana anglers.

“Anglers are getting a lot of limits,” said Jim Housman of the Tackle Box in North Webster. “It really took off last weekend.”

Housman said most of the fish are being caught in channels or along seawalls on minnows. Lake Webster, Tippecanoe and the Barbee Chain are some of those he mentioned.

“Some people are catching nice redears mixed in with the crappies,” he added.

Bonnie Kelley of Kelley’s Bait in Lakeville said she’s getting similar reports, but like most of the bait shops, she noted that not many anglers are getting out.

“It seems the best success is in the channels or close to shore where the sun warms the water fastest,” she said. “Not all of the lakes are producing but most of my good reports are coming out of Potato Creek, Riddles Lake and Koontz Lake.”

Brandon Sutter of the Tackle Shack in Middlebury said he’s hearing of a few people catching crappies and bluegills.

“That’s a good sign of things to come,” Sutter said. “With the warmer nights and warm rains we’ve had this week, I think that’s going to take off.”

Schaap said the panfishing in southwest Michigan is running a little slower but anticipates it getting better in the coming days with warmer nights and days.

Some bass are being caught; it took 22 pounds (5 fish) to win a tournament on Lake Wawasee last weekend. However, finding the bass has been a problem. The best fishing seems to be off the flats in deeper water although a few are being caught around shallow weeds.

Anglers are reminded that last year’s 2017-18 fishing licenses expire Sunday in both Indiana and Michigan.