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. During winter months, angler effort is lower, and fewer fishing reports are received, so the reports may be updated less frequently than during other seasons. Additionally, with changing weather conditions and delays between receiving past reports and the public reading them online, ice reports may be unreliable
| Waterbody | Fishing Reports | Date |
|---|---|---|
| St. Joseph River (below Twin Branch Dam) | The steelhead migration is picking up. Over the past couple weeks about 600 steelhead showed up through the South Bend Fish Ladder, along with a few coho. Water temps are good for aggressive feeding, try casting brightly colored spinners, crankbaits, and spoons, or floating skein. Smallmouth bass are still a good bet, using crankbaits, jerkbaits, ned rigs, and topwater during low light periods. They will start migrating toward deeper wintering holes soon, and may be concentrated in larger schools, or be completely absent from areas they were inhabiting during the summer. Look for fast current near woody debris/logjams and depth changes. A variety of fish are being caught near the dams on live bait. Look to lower current areas with wood or weeds for panfish. The South Bend Fish Passage dashboard is back to being operational after technical difficulties earlier this year. | 10/7/2026 |
| Lake Michigan (boat) | There has not been a lot of fishing effort. A few straggling staging salmon may be around still. Look to troll near East Chicago and the shipping canal, near the Port of Indiana/Burns Ditch, and the mouth of Trail Creek. J plugs, mag spoons, and meat rigs are good tactics, and focus on dawn/dusk hours. A couple anglers caught some immature salmon going out past 110 feet offshore and trolling in the top 40 feet of the water column. Smallmouth bass should be putting on the fall feedbag as temps cool off. Jerkbaits, goby imitations, and soft plastic/minnow combos are all good options. The Michigan City buoy is deployed for the season, and can be viewed at https://data.freeboard.tech/station/45170/ | 10/7/2026 |
| Lake Michigan (shore) | Action has been pretty slow. The bulk of the pier action for salmon is likely done for the season. There are some kings in East Chicago harbor, and a few fish are being caught at Portage and Michigan City. Fish during low light or at night with glow spoons or rattling deep diving crankbaits, or skein under a bobber. Some anglers reported doing better casting crankbaits and spinners in the lowest sections of tributaries rather than fishing at the harbor mouths. In a couple weeks lake trout should show up near shore. | 10/7/2026 |
| Lake Michigan Tributaries (Trail Creek, Little Calumet River, Salt Creek) | The report is mostly unchanged from last week - there are coho, kings, and steelhead in the streams but a large run has not materialized. Anglers are catching a few fish here and there in all the streams. With cooler water temps in the lake, consider fishing lower down in the streams, to intercept fish fresh from the lake, which tend to be more aggressive than fish that have gone upstream and holding in deeper areas. Or fish deeper pools in areas that have less angling pressure to find fish that haven't been harassed. Spinners or aggressive wobbling crankbaits are a good bet for those fish. Upstream, floating skein is a good tactic. Please respect fellow anglers, private property, and please do not litter! For links to stream flow, see the links below the report tables | 10/7/2026 |
| Northwest Indiana Lakes | As the water cools, look for aggressive bass with jerkbaits, chatterbaits, or topwater on inside weedlines, dropoffs, and near docks. Panfish are still schooled up and may be on deep weedlines or suspended over open water. Use electronics to find them and then target with slip bobbers or tightlining. | 9/25/2026 |
| Lake Monroe | Surface water temperatures on Lake Monroe continue to be on the warm side. Anglers targeting largemouth bass have done well with many quality fish being caught both by recreational anglers and tournament anglers. Look for bass hanging out in shallow water around Lake Monroe and up Salt Creek as low oxygen levels in deeper water near the dam push bass and baitfish into the shallows. Anglers should take care to minimize handling and air exposure of fish they plan to release as multiple species of fish are vulnerable to heat stress this time of year. Good numbers of crappie and nice channel catfish are also being caught now. Look for crappies suspended around structure in either shady areas or in deeper water. Live minnows and jigs have been common lures for crappie this month. Catfish fishing was considered best either at night or early in the morning with live bait or shrimp. | 10/1/2026 |
| East Fork White River | Water levels came up substantially in August as the floodwaters made their way south, peaking at over 20 feet on August 20th near the city of Bedford, Indiana. Over the last week, water levels in the White River have fallen quickly, currently sitting at around 8 feet and continuing to drop. Exercise caution while traveling to and on the river as the recent flooding may have damaged roads and shorelines and moved debris around. | 9/3/2026 |
| Northern Indiana musky lakes | Fall offers some of the year’s best opportunities for trophy muskies in northern Indiana, in lakes such as Webster, Barbee Chain, Bruce, Tippy Chain. As baitfish consolidate and water temperatures stabilize, muskies are increasingly active and respond well to both trolling and casting presentations. Anglers focusing on deeper edges, transitional structure, and large baits should expect consistent action and potential for fish over 40 inches. | 9/25/2026 |
| Worster Lake (Potato Creek) | Water temperatures are sitting at about 70 degrees Fahrenheit with good oxygen down to 15 feet. A survey completed on 9/22/26 showed a very healthy population of hybrid striped bass with multiple measuring over 28 inches and weighing more than 10 pounds. Crankbaits and other active lures that mimic gizzard shad are a great way to fish for this species. Remember this is an electric only lake. | 9/25/2026 |
| Big Turkey Lake | Anglers reporting catching bass using Texas rig, swim baits, and chatterbaits. Most anglers were targeting weedlines and piers. | 9/25/2026 |
| Shadyside Lake | Water temperatures are currently in the upper 60's. Biologists recently completed a targeted hybrid striped bass survey on Shadyside Lake. Higher abundances of hybrid striped bass were observed in the north basin, with the largest being over 30 inches and 13lbs. Anglers looking to target hybrid striped bass should try chicken livers or baits that mimic shad. Quality sized channel catfish were also seen during the survey. | 10/7/2026 |
| Patoka Lake | Water temps are cooling off quickly and are in the mid 70's. Fish are beginning to transition up shallow to start their fall feeding preparation for winter. Largemouth are being caught on top water and moving/cranking baits in the shallows. Hybrid striped bass should be making a push to the shallows along main lake points any week now where they can be caught on just about any moving lure imitating bait fish. Catfish should also begin moving into the shallows early morning and evenings. Anglers can have success targeting catfish with chicken liver, punch/stink bait, cut bait, or live bait. Crappie will begin moving into the shallows as well and can be caught on small jigs and minnows. Anglers can have success catching crappie targeting structures along shallow points and shoreline. To view locations where there has been artificial structure placed check out the DNR habitat webpage at: https://www.in.gov/dnr/fish-and-wildlife/fishing/reservoir-habitat-enhancement-program/. | 10/5/2026 |
