Largemouth bass fishermen descend on the lake in good numbers during the ice-fishing season, and they target the bass both in the shallow backwater area (early in the season) and out in the main lake. Tip-ups set with big golden roaches or large bass minnows are the preferred rigs. As the season progresses, most bass anglers set their tip-ups along the dropoffs in the main lake right at the weed edges. There are some lunker bass in this lake, just waiting to be caught!

Although many people fish for bluegills, the average size is not as large as it once was. There are still plenty of nice-sized fish caught every year, though. In the 2005 creel survey, bluegills up to 11.5 inches were recorded. Yellow perch are also numerous, but they aren’t usually large. Nice-sized crappies can be caught on small minnows or ice jigs that are suspended near the weedlines in 10 to 15 feet of water.

Hardwater anglers interested in trying Webster Lake for large bass through the ice will need to get some really big golden roaches for bait. Stop in at Ye Olde Tackle Box bait shop on state Route 13 in North Webster to stock up on bait and supplies. You can also get a fishing report when you buy your bait. Call (574) 834-2011 for more information.

LAKE MAXINKUCKEE
The second largest natural lake in Indiana is Lake Maxinkuckee in southwestern Marshall County. This 1,864-acre lake boasts an excellent multi-species fishery, and it attracts anglers from across the state -- from spring through winter. With a maximum depth of 88 feet, Maxinkuckee is a deep lake, but it has plenty of shallower flats and humps where fishermen can target their favorite species. Some of the most popular fish species here include bluegills, bass (largemouth and smallmouth), yellow perch and walleyes.

Bob Robertson, the District 1 fisheries biologist for the DNR, points to Lake Maxinkuckee as a great place for ice-anglers to try their luck this winter. “I think it’s a fabulous fishery,” he said. “Some really nice bluegills and yellow perch are caught here every year by ice-fishermen. A few years ago, we did a creel survey of the ice-fishermen on Maxinkuckee, and our creel clerk caught a 12-inch bluegill through the ice!”

That creel survey was performed in 2004, and it showed that most anglers (33.5 percent) were targeting bluegills through the ice. The second-most sought-after fish by ice-fishermen, however, are walleyes. More than 28 percent of fishermen reported that they were fishing for walleyes during the survey. Walleyes are a popular fish here, and the DNR stocks them in the lake annually.

Robertson recently completed another survey of the lake in the summer of 2007. Although the data has not been compiled yet, he reported that bluegill and walleye numbers were good. “We caught bluegills up to 9.2 inches long,” he said, “and walleyes up to 20.5 inches.” Bluegills were the second-most abundant by number, and surprisingly rock bass were No. 1 by number! A total of 83 rock bass were caught during the survey, up to a maximum of 11 inches long.

“Ice-fishermen do a lot of jigging for walleyes,” explained Robertson. “They use a jig/minnow or a small artificial jigging minnow. Some anglers also use tip-ups with large live minnows for the walleyes (and bass).”

Walleye fishermen catch some monster perch every year, too, with reports of perch in the 15- to 16-inch range!

There are plenty of places to fish on Maxinkuckee, but they aren’t all easy to get to. The south end of the lake is popular, especially around the channels. Some of the mid-lake humps, however, require a very long walk. According to Robertson, walleye anglers with snowmobiles tend to fish the underwater humps out in the middle of the lake, just because it would take so long to walk out there!