By Louie Stout
If the stars align and Mother Nature cooperates, the spring steelhead run into the upper St. Joseph River could be a dandy.
We can say that because, well, frankly, the fall/winter run kinda sucked.
Last fall, the river was very low, clear and stayed warm until late November, then became too cold to trigger a major run.
Only 335 steelhead were counted moving through the South Bend Fish Ladder from October through December.
“Those numbers were the worst we’ve seen since 2008,” said Lake Michigan Biologist Ben Dickinson. “That means we should see a pretty good run this spring.”
The biologist said Indiana typically sees 10,000 fish through the ladder in the spring, although last year was slightly below average. It could be higher this year because of the poor fall run. Stocking numbers have been maintained and the big lake harvest wasn’t out of the ordinary.
Angler success in the spring is dependent upon weather and river conditions. If water temps stay in the mid-40s to 50 or so, the fish will hang around longer.
“But if we get a quick warmup and a lot of rain, the steelhead will push up, spawn and leave quickly,” Dickinson added.
Of course, high muddy water won’t make it easy to fish. You’ll have to put your bait right on their noses, he notes, as the fish won’t be able to find the bait or lures as well.