Several warmwater discharge sites provide open-water fishing throughout the winter for shore-fishermen. They include the Amoco Oil refinery in Whiting, the state line generating station near Hammond and the Nipsco plant near Portage. If we have a warm winter, many of the local harbors will be ice-free and fishable, too. Examples include the Port of Indiana near Portage, the mouth of Trail Creek at Michigan City and Pastrick Marina in East Chicago.

If there is no pack ice restricting the use of boats, fishermen can also motor out to the discharge sites at the Gary Light and the Indiana Harbor Shipping Canal. Both spots provide dynamite fishing, but be sure to keep an eye on the weather!

MARCH
Bass Lake: Muskies
Bass Lake is one of several lakes located in the Dugger Unit of the Greene-Sullivan State Forest in southeastern Indiana's Sullivan County. The lake is on reclaimed coalmine land, and at 220 acres, it is the largest body of water in the unit. It is also a deep lake, with a maximum depth of 50 feet.

One of the main attractions of Bass Lake is its resident muskie population. Muskies have been stocked here annually since 1997, and a Department of Natural Resources (DNR) muskie survey in March of 2008 showed that these fish are doing extremely well. During the survey, 68 different muskies were captured and measured, ranging in size from 30 inches to nearly 44 inches long. The largest fish weighed a very healthy 26.4 pounds!

An excellent forage base keeps the muskies well fed at Bass Lake, since there are plenty of gizzard shad, alewives and sunfish present. Early- season anglers can pursue muskies on the lake's large, shallow flats, and then move deeper as the year progresses. Shad-imitating plugs and crankbaits will be productive, as will traditional muskie baits like bucktail spinners.

APRIL
Cecil M. Harden Reservoir: Striped Bass
Cecil M. Harden Reservoir, also called Raccoon Lake, is a sprawling 2,060-acre impoundment in Parke County. Like most large reservoirs, it has lots of deep water and many coves, points and deep-water breaks between its dam and the farthest upriver reaches. It is also home to an excellent population of striped bass.

Rhett Wisener, the District 5 fisheries biologist for the DNR, reports that Harden Reservoir is a great place to fish for striped bass.

"We surveyed the lake in October of 2008, and found stripers up to 21.5 pounds," he said. "There are certainly larger fish present, as angler reports and photos attest to fish in the 25- to 30-pound range being caught here."

Stripers grow very large at Harden, and one of the reasons is that they have plenty to eat. They feed heavily on the lake's abundant gizzard shad, so look for schools of shad dimpling the surface or on your electronics when fishing for striped bass here.

"If you find concentrations of shad, you're likely to find some stripers nearby," said Wisener. Search along the creek channel and near the deeper points out in the main lake.