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IDNR Report
Lafayette angler Isaac Switzer has received confirmation of his state record shortnose gar caught last summer. The record will be shown in the 2025 listing.
His shortnose gar weighed 2 pounds, 15.9 ounces, beating the previous record by more than 10 ounces.
Switzer caught the fish on June 17, 2024, while using a Carolina rig and cut baitfish. It’s the second time in less than four years the species’ record has been broken, both times by catches on the Wabash River.
“I was fishing with my older brother on the Wabash River at night as we had done a hundred times before, targeting gar and catfish,” Switzer said of his record catch.
He said he instantly knew the fish was a shortnose gar record, having researched the record and catching similar size fish of the species previously.
Switzer considers gar one of the best Hoosier fish and hopes that the recent broken records raise awareness about them.
Gar are common throughout Indiana in rivers, streams, creeks, inland lakes, reservoirs, sloughs, and marshes. Anglers who want to target the species or another Indiana sport fish can use DNR’s Fisheries Status & Trends dashboard to find lakes and reservoirs where they are most abundant.
The previous shortnose gar record was set by Kyle Hammond with a 2-pound, 5.6-ounce fish caught in Wabash County in 2021. Hammond also holds the spotted gar state record, which he caught in 2024.
Licenses valid April 1, 2025, through March 31, 2026, can be purchased through the new DNR Fish & Wildlife Activity Hub at GoOutdoorsIN.com, via the mail, or thorough in-person retailers listed at on.IN.gov/HuntFishLicenseRetailers.
Learn more about the Indiana Record Fish program at on.IN.gov/recordfish.
Learn about purchasing a fishing license at on.IN.gov/fishinglicense.
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By Louie Stout
The Indiana DNR recently announced the 2024 Fish of the Year winners and several of the top fish were taken from northern Indiana.
The program is based upon length of fish and all gamefish and other species are eligible. State records, on the other hand, are determined by weight.
Not all of the fish reported last year were of eye-popping size since entries tend to run relatively low, but several were noteworthy. Those who do enter and win receive a certificate and a colorful jacket patch.
There were state records, too. Rex Remington’s 23-inch smallmouth taken from Lake Monroe was not only a fish of the year, but also state record by weight at 8.36 pounds.
Other state records set last year include a 16.75-inch yellow perch from Lake Michigan by Blass Lara, which weighed 3 pounds, 2 ounces; a 37.25-inch burbot caught from Lake Michigan by Anthony Burke that weighed 14.36 pounds and a spotted gar by Kyle Hammond from River Lake in Noble County that weighed 9 pounds, 11 ounces. Oddly enough, Hammond’s gar did not win fish of the year because a longer one was caught from the same body of water (36 inches).
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IDNR Report
Indiana Conservation Officers are investigating a snowmobile accident that occurred at approximately 11:45 p.m. on Friday night on Blue Lake that resulted in the death of two people.
At approximately 12:20 a.m., the Whitley County Sheriff Department dispatched responders to the area on a report of a serious snowmobile accident with injuries.
An initial investigation reveals Robert Baker, 44, and a juvenile passenger were traveling on a snowmobile when they crashed into brush along the shoreline.
The collision caused both occupants to be thrown from the machine. Lifesaving efforts were rendered on scene, but both were pronounced dead. The investigation into the accident is still ongoing.
Assisting agencies include the Whitely County Sheriff’s Department, the Churubusco Police Department, Smith Township Fire Department, Indiana State Police, and the Whitley County Coroner’s Office.
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By Louie Stout
Indiana biologists weren’t overly concerned when they didn’t find many young-of-the-year walleye at Lake of the Woods last fall.
When walleye are stocked (1 to 2 inches) during the spring, fish managers go back to the lake in the fall to assess survival of those young fish.
Lake of the Woods is a 416-acre lake near Bremen, Indiana.
District Fisheries Biologist Courtney Weldon said her crew didn’t find many of the young walleye stocked in the spring, but wasn’t ready to say the stocking was a bust.
“There were some habitat changes – starry stonewart is now in the lake – and we saw a lot of predatory fish in there when we surveyed it last summer,” she said. “Also, we suspect there were a lot of young walleye in a foot of water where we couldn’t get to them with our electro-fishing boat.”
Starry Stonewart is a nasty exotic plant that grows so thick fish can’t hide in it.
On the brighter side, Weldon noted that last summer’s survey produced a lot of adult walleye from 11 to 22.9 inches.
“We hope to do more consistent surveys there, but the fish population overall seems very healthy,” Weldon added.
There also were numerous adult panfish, such as bluegill, redear and pumpkinseed as well as black crappie. Plenty of bass were prominent, too.
“We saw a good abundance of bluegill up to 9½ inches, pumpkinseed over 8 and redear in the 8-inch range,” she said. “We found black crappie up to 12 inches.”
The lake also has a plentiful white bass fishery and there has been an invasion of white perch that look similar to a white bass. While those species typically don’t get above 8 inches, Weldon found several larger ones in the lake.
“It’s a good place to fish for bluegills, redear and sunfish,” she insisted.
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IDNR Report
Indiana Conservation Officer Bryce Klimek, who serves Pulaski County, has been selected as 2024 District 10 Officer of the Year.
Klimek has served as a conservation officer for 22 years. He served in Porter County before transferring to Pulaski County.
In addition to his normal duties as a field officer, Klimek serves as a field training officer, sonar operator, background investigator, and passenger for hire inspector, all for the Department of Natural Resources Division of Law Enforcement.
District 10 includes LaPorte, Porter, Lake, Newton, Jasper, Starke, and Pulaski counties.
The district award puts Klimek in the running for the Pitzer Award, which is presented to the top overall conservation officer in the state and is selected from the 10 district winners.
The Pitzer Award is named after Conservation Officer James D. Pitzer, who was fatally shot while investigating illegal hunting activity on Jan. 2, 1961, in Jay County.