By Louie Stout

There’s More Than Trout and Salmon in Lake Michigan

Lake Michigan may be best known for its trout, salmon and yellow perch, but other gamefish species seem to add to the lake’s intrigue as well.

Including muskie. That’s right muskie.

In early September, Indiana DNR employee Ryan Henry was fishing for salmon off the lighthouse pier in Michigan City.

He was casting a Storm Mag Wart in ugly colors when a giant muskie hit. The fish, which was released after photos, measured close to 42 inches.

He also caught a coho and a nice king on the lure. Lake Michigan Biologist Brian Breidert, who had loaned him the lure, said it was one of the ugliest lure’s he’s ever seen.

“I bought it in 1999 from a Walmart during a clearance sale,” said Breidert with a chuckle. “It was a mix of pink, orange, chartreuse and light blue colors. That was probably the first time it had been used since I bought it.”

While that adds to the interesting side of the story, the real question is how did that muskie get in Lake Michigan and are there others?

Breidert says he hears of the occasional muskie catch, but most have occurred in Northwest Indiana waters.

“We heard of one caught on a charter boat out of Burns Ditch in September,” said Breidert. “There have been several caught the last couple of years by Port of Indiana workers fishing inside the breakwall there.”

Muskies aren’t stocked in Indiana waters of Lake Michigan, but Breidert says those being caught on occasion could be wanderers from a stocking done around Green Bay or in some of the drowned river mouth lakes in northern Michigan. Drowned river mouth lakes are inland lakes that have channel access to the big lake.

“We also hear of a few showing up in the St. Joseph River, but those are probably fish that made their way through tributaries on the downstream side of the Kosciusko County lakes where muskies are stocked stockings,” he added.

It’s interesting that most of the muskies caught show up in the early fall, but Assistant Lake Michigan Biologist Ben Dickinson says it actually makes sense.

“Our water temperatures are right and the food source is good along Indiana’s shore,” he said. “That also coincides to angler pressure and lure techniques that appeal to them.”

Of course, bass anglers will tell you the lake has a nice population of smallmouth bass – and some big ones – especially over towards Burns Harbor, Ind. and St. Joseph, Mich.

Also, if you will recall, we’ve reported some giant walleyes weighing up to 13 pounds being trapped around Michigan City during DNR surveys.

And like Henry’s muskie, they were released and are still out there.

Lake Michigan is a big and somewhat complex body of water, and while trout and salmon made the fishery famous, you never know what you might hook out there.