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By Louie Stout
Patience Pays Off with Big 12-Pointer
Grant Ellabarger had seen the big buck numerous times.
“I saw him twice last year but couldn’t get a shot off,” the Plymouth, Ind. resident recalled. “I saw him again opening day of gun season this year but still didn’t have a shot.”
That gave Ellabarger hope that he still had a chance at the biggest Indiana buck he’s seen during many years of hunting.
He climbed into his tree stand on a private Marshall County woodlot early morning of Nov. 21, realizing he needed some venison for the freezer and the seasonal clock was ticking. If he didn’t see the buck, he’d take a doe or two.
“About 8:15 that morning, 20 or so does ran right beneath my stand,” he said. “I couldn’t believe it, but I guess the wind was right and they hadn’t picked up my scent.”
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By Louie Stout
Big Walleyes Lurk in Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is known for its big lake trout, steelhead and salmon.
But lurking out there in the dark abyss are a few other prized fish that go unnoticed by most anglers except for a few who are trying to keep it a secret.
Monster walleyes.
The photo related to this story is living proof. That’s Lake Michigan Assistant Fisheries Biologist Ben Dickinson showing off a mega fish his crew trapped in a 35-foot deep gillnet near the Michigan City breakwall during a recent DNR lake trout survey.
How big? Dickinson is kicking himself for not having the certified scales on the research boat at the time, but it was 31 inches long and had the biggest girth he’s ever seen on a walleye.
And yes, it was released safely back into Lake Michigan.
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By Louie Stout
Best Year Ever for River Steelhead?
This year’s St. Joseph River trout and salmon fishery is more like what fish managers envisioned when the ladders between Mishawaka and Lake Michigan were opened in 1993.
“It’s been one of the best fall runs, if not the very best for steelhead, going back to the 1990s,” said Lake Michigan biologist Brian Breidert.
The numbers bear that out. Through October, we’ve had 5,400 steelhead, 6,000 coho and a few kings and brown trout move above the South Bend dam. That’s more than 11,000 fish with a month to go in the fall/winter run.
During that same period in 2016, a total of 6,090 trout/salmon were in the upper St. Joe – about half as many as what we’re seeing this year.
And the fish are still coming. More than 1,000 fish ran through the South Bend ladder the last week of October alone.
Remember, says Breidert, November could be phenomenal.
“We average around 1,000 steelhead in November, so we should see that number climb even higher,” added Breidert. “We’re on track to have about 18,000 fish pass through South Bend before this fall/winter run ends.”
They’re being caught, too.
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By Louie Stout
Are You Making These Bow Hunting Mistakes?
Are you a bow hunter who continues to have problems finding and connecting with deer this fall?
Byron Ferguson, longtime bow hunting expert and book author, says he could probably pinpoint why.
In his book, “Become the Arrow,” (available from www.targetcommbooks.com) he outlines the 10 major bow hunting mistakes hunters make.
And with gun season only a couple of weeks away, many of these tips apply to all types of deer hunting.