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Published: 25 February 2026

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.

Details

Published: 19 February 2026

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.