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Sportsman Spotlight
Hometown: Angola, Ind.
Occupation: DH Mechanical and Facility Consulting (he owns it)
Favorite fish species and biggest: Smallmouth 6-15
Favorite Michiana lake: Clear Lake, Stueben County.
Favorite rod and reel: Shimano Vanford spinning reel and Dobyns Champion Extreme 742 rod.
Hobbies when not fishing: Spending time with wife
If you only had one lure and why: Mango Jig - I can swim it, hop it on the bottom and they bite it in cold water.
Best tip to give a new Michiana angler: I’m big on paying attention to the details. It’s always about the details. Pay attention to the little things around you, not what other anglers are doing.
By Louie Stout
Heath Wagner knows how to catch ‘em around the Great Lakes area.
The Angola, Ind. angler has won six Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournaments and won more than $77,000 over the course of 38 tournaments. But over the years, he’s been a serious threat during inland lake and river tournaments.
Due to business obligations, he sat out most of last year and primarily fished weeknighters, but his name still resonates with anglers throughout eastern Michiana.
He’s a frequent seminar speaker, recently became a licensed fishing guide and will dabble with that this season for both bass and walleye.
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By Louie Stout
Anyone who has fished the Mississinewa or Salamonie reservoirs for bass knows how tough those fisheries can be.
They are cool bodies of water except that the Army Corps of Engineers fluctuate the flood control water levels so much, especially in the spring, that it disrupts the spawn and hampers shallow water habitat development.
The fact that the lakes are loaded with shad doesn’t help matters.
The Indiana DNR manages those fisheries as best they can given the tough conditions they’re dealt. There have been some efforts made by the Army Corps to help, but not enough to allow the lakes to live up to their fishing potential.
Well, last year an opportunity to boost the bass population presented itself and the fisheries division took advantage of it.
The land around Mississinewa is managed by the DNR State Parks and there are some rearing ponds used for raising walleye. However, after minnows were stocked in those ponds to feed the walleye, the number of fry were reduced because of rising water levels.
As luck would have it, DNR hatcheries elsewhere had a surplus of 156,000 bass fry and they were put into that pond. Last October, the DNR drained the pond and salvaged 12,500 largemouth averaging around 5 inches and stocked them into Mississinewa at the Red Bridge Marina State Recreation Area.
DNR officials say they will resume using the pond for walleye but hope to use bass as a backup plan in the future.
Also, Salamonie also has a similar pond that may be used for raising and stocking bass that serve as the primary predator over the abundant shad population in both lakes.
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By Louie Stout
License Increase
You can bet your most expensive glide bait that Michigan fishing and hunting licenses will be going up next year. There’s a bill moving through the state legislature to boost fees although the specifics are up in the air.
But Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer – the same person who didn’t want you fishing during covid – has other plans. She wants to increase all fees, bumping resident fishing licenses from $25 to $30 and non-resident from $75 to $90.
Resident deer tags would go from $20 to $25.
We haven’t heard any specifics of increases to senior licenses, or boating registration fees, but you can bet those will be included too.
Natural Resources Commission Ban?
There’s also a bill in the Indiana Legislature that would abolish the Indiana Natural Resources Commission. The NRC sets hunting fishing seasons and oversees parks. Typically, the NRC is politically appointed but oftentimes includes conservation minded people. This bill sounds like a bad idea.
Wake Boat Legislation
I don’t know an angler who likes fishing around wake boats. Those tsunami wave makers are not only a nuisance, but their wakes are dangerous for small boats.
There’s a bill in the Indiana Legislature that prohibits wake surfing on lakes 300 acres or less after sunset.
They also destroy shorelines and cause problems for docked boats, which is why Kentucky is trying to pass a law to prevent them from operating within 200 feet of shore on some of its lakes.
No idea if either of these will pass into law, but at least it’s an attempt to control the out-of-control wake boarding on lakes. I’d like to see a law that restricts the distance that a wave maker can come to a fishing boat.
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By Louie Stout
Just when we thought we might be making headway in development of a new Eagle Lake Boat Launch, along comes another setback.
Earlier this year, the DNR’s proposed launch received the blessing of Michigan’s Environmental Great Lakes and Energy Division to move forward with the project.
Over the past several years, the Eagle Lake Improvement Association has forced the DNR into numerous legal proceedings to prevent the launch. Now it’s a lake resident who has filed a petition challenging the project once again.
Paul Siadecki, who lives on the north shore of the lake, has challenged the project claiming it will create a loss of wetlands and cause more environmental harm to the lake.
It’s another stall tactic, as we’ve been down this road before. Unfortunately, opponents of the new access are taking advantage of the DNR’s slow judicial process despite the legal costs they continue to incur.
DNR sources tell me that the permit must go through another contesting process with another administrative law judge who will rule on Siadecki’s claim. The DNR will be represented by a representative from the state’s attorney general office.