Most of the catfish aren't trophies, but big ones are taken now and then.

Lenny Cooper of The Angler Bait and Tackle Shop dips a line in the chain on Witmer Lake.

"That's where the biggest catfish are," said Cooper. "I caught one that was in the 30-inch range in the daytime on a bass lure."

Most low-light anglers prefer stink baits, but night crawlers seem to work as well as anything, said Cooper, and anglers specifically targeting the chain's cats stock up on crawlers along with other traditional baits when they're in the bait shop.

Shoreline access is limited, so visiting anglers should bring a boat.

The Indian Chain consists of Witmer Lake at 204 acres, Westler at 88 acres, Dallas at 283 acres, Hackenburg at 42 acres and Messick at 68 acres. The chain offers a total of 685 acres and is located nine miles south of LaGrange near Wolcottville.

State access sites are located on the south side of Witmer, on Westler off county Route (CR) 700 and on the east side of Messick off CR 625. Anglers can boat throughout the chain no matter where they launch.

For additional information, contact District 2 at (260) 829-6241; or call The Angler Bait and Tackle in Hudson at (260) 351-2877.

Tourism information is available from the LaGrange County Convention Visitor's Bureau (CVB) at 1-800-254-8090 or online at www.backroads.org.

MONROE LAKE
Though a large water at 10,750 acres at summer pool, Monroe Lake isn't the first place that comes to mind when the discussion turns to catfish, but that is changing as the word is getting out.

"There are excellent opportunities for catfish at Monroe," said fisheries biologist Dave Kittaka. "During the 2007 fisheries survey, we collected 332 channel cats with the largest being well over 33 inches in length."

The population of good-sized fish is very impressive. Of the catfish collected, 51 percent were also at least 16 inches in length. Five percent were at least 24 inches long and 1 percent hit the 28-inch mark, or longer. No matter how the numbers get crunched, Monroe is offering up some nice-sized catfish and lots of them.

An amazing thing about Monroe's fishery is that it's self-sustaining without the advantage of the DNR's bi-annual stockings. The lake received an initial stocking over 40 years ago, but conditions are just so that stocking is no longer necessary.

According to Kittaka, the DFW's survey conducted a couple years ago showed that only 5 percent of the anglers who spend time on Monroe are after catfish. An estimated 3,312 channel catfish and 181 flatheads were harvested in 2007 between April and October, with June being the best month for channels. The channel cats taken home that year measured anywhere between 10 and just over 29 inches.

Flatheads are less numerous but bigger, said Kittaka. Anglers took home flatheads ranging to 30 inches with an average length of over 25 inches.

According to Dedra Hawkins of The Fishin' Shedd, four anglers fished every other weekend last summer and caught a total of 600 pounds of catfish. Flatheads in the 20- to 30-pound range were part of the catch. Two years ago, a couple of flatheads ranging from 50 to 60 pounds were taken.

"There are some huge catfish in here, but the lake is also good for eating-sized fish," said Hawkins.