- The State of Indiana's Volunteer Angler Surveys
Here is your chance to directly help in fisheries management. The information you provide is essential in understanding this valuable species and helps the Department of Natural Resources monitor harvest and catch data.
Division of Fish & Wildlife staff collect reports as time permits. Only those water bodies with a current report are included.
| Waterbody | Report | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Hudson Lake | Some pike and bass are being caught on spinnerbaits, swimbaits, jerkbaits, and crankbaits along weed edges and drop offs. Anglers should be aware that dredging the channel at the access site will be occurring this fall and may interrupt access at times | 11/20/2024 |
| JC Murphey (Willow Slough) | Fish were stocked into the lake in the fall of 2023 with more stocking occurring in 2024. Fish salvaged from the lake before draining have been stocked back into the lake, with some catchable size bluegill, crappie, and largemouth bass. There will be limited angling opportunities for harvestable sized fish in 2024 except for the larger spawning sized fish from the salvage units. Please release these larger fish as they are the spawners for future. More information can be found in the link below. | 8/28/2024 |
| Lake Michigan (boat) | Lake trout are in. Target structures such as the breakwalls in Hammond, East Chicago, Port of Indiana, and Michigan City. Use jigging spoons, blade baits, and white flukes/tubes on jigheads near the bottom. Skein or spawn near the bottom works well too. The water temps are slowly creeping downward and are in the low 50s. Once the water is under 50 in a few weeks, the perch should start grouping up in schools out deep in 50-70 feet, and/or in the slips and Calumet River/Cal Harbor. The buoys are retreived for the season, so real-time wave and water data will not be available. Be aware that dredging is occuring in Burns Harbor by the Army Corps. | 11/20/2024 |
| Lake Michigan (shore) | Lake trout fishing has been a bit slow, but some fish are being caught. A couple whitefish and a burbot or two have been caught by those bottom fishing. Rougher colder conditions are best for whitefish, but keep safety in mind please! Try spoons, spinners, tube jigs, and blade baits for lakers, and skein or single eggs on the bottom for whitefish. A few bass and several pike were caught along the Portage Riverwalk and off the high wall in Michigan City marina. The shore fishing site at the Port of Indiana is back open after construction. | 11/20/2024 |
| Lake Michigan Tributaries (Trail Creek, Little Calumet River, Salt Creek) | A few fresh steelhead are coming in with the rain and cooler weather. A few lake trout are in the very lowest portions of Little Cal and Trail Creek. Covering water is the name of the game when there are few fresh fish coming in - try a variety of different spots and don't spend too long in one hole. Downsize your baits in clear water, the fish get very spooked and pressured. Please respect fellow anglers, private property, and please do not litter! For links to stream flow, see the links below the report tables. | 11/20/2024 |
| St. Joseph River (below Twin Branch Dam) | The salmon run is done, and winter-run steelhead are trickling in with the rain and cooler weather. Since September, almost 1400 steelhead and 2000 coho have gone through South Bend. With this rain, more steelhead should start moving - anglers down in Michigan have been catching some fresh fish, so they should start heading up into Indiana waters soon. Some anglers have started having success plugging with mag lips, hot n' tots, hot shots, and kwik fish. Spawn and beads are also working. Bass fishing has been a bit slow with the transition to wintering holes. A few walleye have been caught on live bait and stick baits. Monitor the flow at the closest USGS gauge in Niles, MI using the links below the report table. Note that the funding partner has discontinued temperature at the end of the year - if you feel strongly about the value of temperature on the St. Joe River, use the link on the USGS site to contact them and request reinstatement | 11/20/2024 |
| Lake of the Woods | Biologists performed an electrofishing survey on Lake of the Woods in Marshall County on October 21. They observed many big Largemouth Bass up shallow in less than 3 ft of water. They also saw walleye anywhere between 10-25 inches up in less than 4 ft of water. Other species observed that people may be interested in fishing for were Bluegill, Yellow Perch, and Black Crappie. The water temperature, while we were out sampling, was 61.5 degrees. When targeting Walleye and Largemouth Bass try fishing weed edges with hard stick baits like jerk baits or Rapalas, or soft swim baits that will stay above the tops of the weeds. | 10/31/2024 |
| Patoka Lake | Largemouth bass are being targeted in shallow standing timber and laydowns flipping a jig or slow rolling a spinnerbait, making contact with the cover. Hybrid Striped bass are being caught on main lake points with a spook style topwater bait or erratically working jerkbaits and flukes. Crappies are in deep standing timber up river. | 11/18/2024 |
| Laporte Area Lakes | A few panfish have been caught, near green weeds or out in wintering holding areas in deep water. Several anglers have reported catching a nice pike or two from Stone/Pine as well. For bass, using suspending jerkbaits or slow rolled spinnerbaits is a good tactic as the cold water sets in | 11/21/2024 |
