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By Louie Stout
River Conditions Hamper Fall Run; Panfish Biting
If you’ve found trout and salmon fishing tougher around South Bend and Mishawaka this year, you’re not alone.
The anticipated numbers of fish just aren’t here.
Yet.
The Indiana DNR fish ladder cameras track fish passing through the South Bend ladder. Through Oct. 15, the count was 1,018. That’s about half of what we had during Oct. 15 of last year. The counts are running behind because of a change in computer programming, but officials hope to catch up sometime this winter.
Cooler river temperatures since the last fish count may have boosted those numbers since the last count, but it’s unlikely they have risen to where they could have been.
Last season produced also a good run of coho, but environmental factors have put the hammer on all river salmonid fall prospects this year. Thru October 15, the DNR had counted 1,215 coho, nearly 780 fewer than the same period last year.
A warm September, coupled with a low, clear river and a warm Lake Michigan has held the fish back.
“It’s been brutal for trout and salmon guys fishing the streams and rivers,” said Lake Michigan Biologist Ben Dickinson. “The rain we got earlier in the week should help, but a more could make it better.”
Rain and cooler temperatures trigger the fish to move upriver. And while fishing in lower stretches at Niles, Buchanan and Berrien Springs has been better than Indiana waters, it’s still not what anglers typically expect this time of year.
Because we’re getting late in the season, the coho run in Hoosier waters is pretty much on the downside. Historically, the bulk of the coho run occurs in September, but water and weather conditions kept the majority of them from coming up this far.
The steelhead run remains promising and could improve dramatically in the coming weeks, especially when the Michigan winter-run variety begin finding their way to South Bend.
Some fish are being caught. Mike Jones, an avid steelheader who is on the river several times a week, has caught some dandies but said fishing has been very tough and the bites few and far between.
“The water has been low and clear which isn’t good for steelhead fishing,” he said last week. “I usually start seeing good numbers of steelhead around Nov. 10 but I think it will be later if we don’t get more rain.”
It’s not been much better for Trail Creek or Salt Creek anglers to the west and winds have stirred up Lake Michigan. However, Dickinson said some lake trout are being caught by shore anglers around the harbor.
Elsewhere, inland lake fishing has been pretty good for diehard anglers who aren’t deer hunting.
Muskie fishermen in Kosciusko County have been doing quite well in shallow water.
“The bite has been phenomenal,” said Joe Denton of the Tackle Box in North Webster, Ind. “They are catching lot of fish and some big ones. One guide told me he had five guide trips and averaged three fish a day.”
Bucktails, Depth Raiders and Angry Dragons have been the top lures.
Panfishing has been pretty good, too. Bonnie Kelley of Kelley’s Bait in Lakeville said crappie fishing has been good.
“The fish have been around 9 feet deep and moving toward shallower water at Riddles and Potato Creek,” she said. “Anglers are drifting with minnows.”
Kelly said bluegill fishing has also been pretty good with wax worms. Darrin Schaap of Clear H20 Tackle near Edwardsburg agreed. He said anglers are picking up ‘gills over deep water and that yellow perch are starting to prowl the flats. Crickets are accounting for most of the bluegill caught in his area.
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By Louie Stout
2019 Deer Season Improved – Will This Year Deliver the Same?
If this year’s deer season compares to last year, Michiana hunters should be pleased.
Deer harvest was up last year throughout Indiana counties surrounding St. Joseph and in the southwest corner of Michigan.
Biologists anticipate a similar season if not a little better. Michigan biologists say last year’s mild winter was easy on deer and note that hunters should expect a good season.
The 2019 Indiana harvest increase wasn’t substantial, and likely due to better weather hunting conditions than the previous two years. Weather often dictates how many hunters get out and stay in the field long enough to see and shoot a deer.
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By Louie Stout
If anecdotal observations are a true indication, waterfowl hunters should see a good number of ducks and geese this fall.
We say anecdotal because the annual waterfowl surveys conducted nationally since 1955 were cancelled this year due to the corona virus. States conduct some of their own surveys, but the ones done in northern regions offer the best account for ducks moving southward in the fall.
Indiana waterfowl biologist Adam Phelps believes waterfowl habitat was pretty good last spring up north for birds that filter through Michiana.
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By Louie Stout
If you’ve been to a tackle retailer and found it difficult to find what you need, you’re not alone.
Fishing tackle shortages are commonplace, whether it’s at your national discount store or the smaller local retailer.
It’s another aftereffect of the coronavirus. While tackle factory employees were quarantined at home, the public – furloughed from their jobs – took to fishing.
“When the quarantine went into place and you could go fishing, there were hundreds of people in our community – people who hadn’t fished before – took up fishing and liked it,” said Brendon Sutter of the Tackle Shack in Middlebury. “Meanwhile, the factories and supply chains were shut down.”