Tournament News Powered By Lake Drive Marine
Friday, December 05, 2025
Friday, December 05, 2025
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By Louie Stout
The weather has played havoc with spring fishing for trout and salmon, but there is good news – the fish being caught are not only healthy but of good size.
The steelhead run on the St. Joseph River is ongoing thanks to rise and fall of water temperatures and rain. However, high, dirty water has plagued anglers.
After a big push in March, there has been 5,460 steelhead go up river through South Bend ladders, including 210 that moved up the first four days of April.
If that seems a bit low, keep in that there were no fish stocked by Michigan in 2020 due to the covid lockdown. Most of the fish moving up now are three-year-olds.
“I anticipate more coming with the current weather,” said Lake Michigan Biologist Ben Dickinson. We’ve got fish moving in, fish that are spawning, and fish that have already spawned and moved back to the lake. It’s been a weird spring.”
Meanwhile, coho fishing on Lake Michigan has been nothing short of spectacular – when the wind and weather is suitable for boaters. Unfortunately, shore anglers haven’t had a good year.
“The fish didn’t show up early and when they did come, harbor and near shore waters were warmer than they prefer,” said Dickison.
However, boat anglers were finding excellent coho fishing from Chicago to St. Joseph, Mich. Fish were being caught in 20 to 40 feet prior to the recent wind and weather.
“The coho were big this year, averaging 19 to 20 inches and 2 ½ to 3 ½ pounds, with a few 4 pounders,” the biologist added. “A few kings have showed up and appear nice and healthy.”
Another bright spot has been the brown trout fishing, which Dickinson says has been the best he’s seen in the 11 years of working for the Indiana DNR.
“Anglers are doing very well on browns when fishing around East Chicago, Hammond and Portage,” he noted.
Some anglers around Gary continue to catch perch when they can get out, but nothing like they were during winter. Perch will be spawning soon and the summer fishery will be dependent upon whether the lake gets an abundance of south winds.
“It can’t be worse than it was last summer when it was really bad,” he said.
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GLSI Report
Hear about the latest information and research for our Lake Michigan salmon and trout fishery at the Great Lakes Salmon Imitative (GLSI) Fisheries Meeting Feb.17.
The program is free and open to the public. There will also be an open forum question and answer sessions with all presenters.
Here is the agenda:
Results from the Lake Michigan diet study on what salmon and trout are eating by Dr. Brian Roth, Associate Professor, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University.
Dr. Roth will present results of his multi-year study of the aquatic food web in Lake Michigan and what our salmon and trout are feeding on.
How the states surrounding Lake Michigan cooperate to manage our fishery via the Lake Michigan Committee along with a historical overview and current status of the forage base in Lake Michigan by Jay Wesley, Lake Michigan Basin Coordinator, Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Jay Wesley will explain how the Lake Michigan Committee works together to coordinate fisheries management of Lake Michigan and will also speak on changes and the current status of the forage base and how that affects stocking decisions and overall management of our fishery.
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Chinook (King) Salmon
A project to improve chinook (king) salmon stockings at the East Chicago Marina by the Lake County Fish and Game Protection Association (LCFGPA) has received approval from the Indiana DNR and other local officials.
When it’s time to stock salmon fingerlings, 37,500 of them will be released into a large, floating cage, called a net pen which will be located inside the East Chicago Marina. Volunteers from Lake County Fish and Game Protection Association will feed the pen fish three times per day and monitor the water quality and health of the fish through the period.
Net Pen for Salmon Fingelings
The net pen is currently under construction and will be positioned in the marina by April 1. The exact date of the stocking will be determined at a later date by the Mixsawbah State Fish Hatchery manager, depending on biological factors. The date the pen will be opened so the smolts can begin their life in the wild will depend on their final development in the pens. That’s expected to be about three weeks.
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MDNR Report
The Michigan Natural Resources Commission recently adopted regulation changes to establish a daily possession limit of one (1) rainbow trout 20 inches or greater year-round on select rivers, effective April 1, 2024.
The amendment will be a new component of the current daily possession limit regulation covering Type 3 and Type 4 waters where five (5) fish, but no more than three (3) trout 15 inches or greater with only one (1) rainbow trout 20 inches or greater are allowed.
The selected rivers are listed below by type regulation category. Where a confluence is mentioned, that simply means the point where two flowing bodies of water join together.
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Subhead: Good Inland Bluegill Fishing Found Offshore
By Louie Stout
The cooler weather has drawn more trout and salmon into the St. Joseph River between Mishawaka and Lake Michigan, but we still need rain to raise water levels.
“The St. Joe is extremely low and guys are catching fish,” said Darrin Schaap of Clear H2o Tackle in Edwardsburg. “We need a good rain to raise the water level.”
The trout and salmon run into Mishawaka has picked up since Oct. 1. Lake Michigan Fisheries Biologist Ben Dickinson said an additional 183 steelhead, 90 kings and about 300 coho have passed through the South Bend ladder the past 12 days. Those join fish that ran into Indiana in September.