By Louie Stout
Anglers who aren’t deer hunting are finding some decent fishing opportunities throughout Michiana.
Diehard panfish anglers are catching a fair share of panfish out deep near bottom and some bass anglers report nice catches on bladed jigs, A-rigs and jerkbaits.
Many of the inland lakes are turning over which can scatter the fish. Turnover occurs when cooler bottom water mixes with surface water and water temperatures remain nearly the same from top to bottom.
Although the fall trout and salmon run into the tributaries is winding down, some winter-run steelhead are making their way into the St. Joseph River and other streams.
“There are definitely steelhead in the streams; a lot of guys are fishing for them in Indiana and Michigan,” said Darrin Schaap of Clear H2o Tackle in Edwardsburg.
In addition, Lake Michigan anglers are catching quite a few lakers from shore and by boat in harbor areas and near the shorelines of northwest Indiana. Most are being caught by jigging or trolling, according to Indiana Lake Michigan Biologist Ben Dickinson.
However, he says the Indiana trout and salmon fall run produced mixed results.
While Indiana tributaries fared fairly well, the numbers of steelhead and coho in Indiana waters of the St. Joe were disappointing, while Chinook (king) salmon numbers were the highest seen in a decade.
“We saw 212 kings go through the South Bend ladder as of Oct 26, and they were nice ones,” says Dickinson. “The last time we had more than 200 kings was in 2013.”
The Skamania steelhead run was slightly below average, as fish ladder cameras recorded 1,200 fish moving into Indiana. Dickinson said warm river temperatures are much to blame, as the cooler Trail Creek in Michigan City had a good run of steelhead.
Dickinson is most concerned with the coho return. It was way down for the third consecutive year.
“It’s possible the warm water temperatures are affecting that as well,” Dickinson says. “Other states are reporting better results. I think we need to take a hard look at that program.”