Photo by Tom Berg.

Ice-fishermen in Indiana look forward to their favorite season with great anticipation each year. The only problem is that they never know when the season will start and how long it will last! The “good old days” of cold winter weather beginning in December and sticking around through the end of February seem to be gone. Instead, recent weather patterns have been straying to wild extremes, with temperatures fluctuating between balmy and bitterly cold on an almost weekly basis!

Last year was no exception, and although early-winter weather conditions produced more rain than snow, there were periods of cold weather where ice had a chance to form on many popular lakes. The problem was that as soon as ice-fishermen could get started, the weather would change and a warm front would bring mild temperatures and enough rain to ruin the newly formed ice. It was very frustrating!

One consolation for hardwater anglers last year was the late-ice season. It could have challenged an Eskimo with the thick ice and frigid temperatures that descended upon Indiana. By the last few days of January, temperatures in the northern parts of the state were going down into the single digits every night. By the first week of February, the daily lows averaged minus 10 degrees, with wind chill readings of minus 30 degrees or more. Now that’s cold! (Continued)

The icy weather continued until the last week or so of February, and many northern lakes in the state had ice as thick as 19 or 20 inches. The arctic winds made fishing difficult for anglers without shanties, but those who ventured out were not disappointed. It couldn’t last, however, and by the last few days of the month, a new weather system moved into the area, bringing rain, thunderstorms and high winds to break up the ice.

What will the weather be like this January and February? No one knows for sure. But hardwater anglers everywhere hope that we will see stable weather for a change and an ice-fishing season that lasts for a solid month or two rather than a mere week or two. Only time will tell, but prudent fishermen will have their gear ready to hit the ice as soon as it is safe!

To help anglers choose a good lake, here are five great places where Hoosier ice-fishermen can try their luck. The lakes (listed from north to south) include Appleman Lake (LaGrange County), Big Long Lake (LaGrange County), Webster Lake (Kosciusko County), Lake Maxinkuckee (Marshall County) and Hardy Lake (Scott and Jefferson counties).

APPLEMAN LAKE
The smallest body of water on our list of prospective ice-fishing lakes is Appleman Lake in LaGrange County. One of the reasons this lake is so popular with ice-fishermen is that it is one of the first lakes in the area to freeze (mainly due to its small size -- 52 acres). The most important reason for its popularity, however, is that it produces plenty of nice-sized bluegill and redear sunfish.

According to Paul Culler, the owner of a local bait shop called The Angler in nearby Helmer, Appleman Lake is a good place for ice-fishermen to try this winter. “Appleman has a lot of good quality bluegills,” he said. “There are also redears, bass and crappies, too. It’s just a small lake, but it’s amazing how many fish come out of it!”

Culler has owned his bait shop for 19 years, so he has seen plenty of fish come out of Appleman and other nearby lakes. When asked where the best places to fish are, Culler responded that it is not hard to find fish on Appleman. “Most people just go straight out in front of the public access site on the north end of the lake, in 12 to 15 feet of water.”

One local angler who likes to fish Appleman Lake is Bill LaVigne from Fort Wayne. LaVigne fishes the break line just south of the access site that Culler mentioned, but he also likes to get right into the weeds at times. “The weedy dropoff is good,” he said, “but you can also do well if you can find small holes in the weeds in that 10- to 12-foot depth.”

When the fish won’t cooperate in the shallower water, LaVigne moves to the deeper water a little farther out. “There are quite a few fish that are caught right out in the middle, in 22 to 24 feet of water,” he continued. “The bluegills are often within 12 to 18 inches off the bottom in that deep water southwest of the access site.”