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By Louie Stout
The number of registered bass tournaments held in Michigan in 2019 jumped by my more than 500 events compared to 2018.
Tournament directors are required to register their tournaments each year and provide statistical information.
Last year’s (2020) stats are still being tabulated at the time of this writing and will be reported by Michiana Outdoors News when made available.
One thing is certain – the pre-pandemic season was notable in numbers and weight of the fish caught in 2019.
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By Louie Stout
It’s game on for ice fishermen!
Ice Conditions Improve; Anglers Are Doing Well
Several lakes have become safer for ice anglers and they’re taking advantage of it.
“There’s a heckuva lot of people ice fishing nowadays, so it’s been good,” said Jim Housman at the Tackle Box in North Webster, Ind.
Although some lakes still have some open areas, anglers are venturing offshore when possible and finding ice thickness from three to 7 inches. However, that’s not to say it’s safe everywhere so anglers should move cautiously.
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By Louie Stout
Walleye Numbers Impressive at Indiana’s Lake of the Woods
If you’re a walleye angler and haven’t fished Lake of the Woods near Bremen, Ind., you should.
The lake has a good population of keeper-size walleyes, according to Indiana District Fisheries Biologist Tom Bacula.
Bacula was there last fall doing a standard evaluation of the walleye population.
“It’s something we do every year to check the stocking success of that season,” he said. “We didn’t stock last year (because of covid) but we wanted to see how the lake was doing.”
And doing quite fine, he added.
“Oh, man, we found a lot of walleyes,” he said. “And a lot of legal ones, too.”
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By Louie Stout
If you’re looking for safe ice to fish this weekend, it’s out there.
But man, you gotta be careful.
Reports coming in from area bait and tackle shops indicate several anglers are getting out and catching fish, but not every frozen water you see is safe.
Ice thicknesses range from very little to about 5½ inches. Channels, ponds and protected bays seem to be the safer bets, but everyone is advised to proceed with caution.
“It’s all dependent on the lake,” says Steven Szymczak of Clear Water Tackle in Edwardsburg. “Here’s an example…guys were getting out on Eagle earlier this week but Juno (right next to Eagle) still had open water.”
Pat Hamilton of D&R Sports in Kalamazoo said some of the lakes around his area have 2 to 3 inches, but that’s mostly in the channels and on small, wind protected lakes or bays.
It’s about the same west of Elkhart.