Brian Emery, the superintendent of the Parke County Park and Recreation Board, has done his share of ice-fishing.

"The Park and Recreation Board began officially allowing ice-fishing last year," Emery said. "I did really well over about 16 feet of water just off the bottom and caught lots of nice bluegills. I've also had good luck along the dam catching redears. Across from the beach on the far bank is a good spot for crappies. This is the deepest part of the lake, where the old creek channel is located. There are a lot of downed trees in this area."

Channel catfish and bass are fairly abundant in the lake and can be taken during the colder months of the year. Though uncommon, largemouth bass up to 6 pounds have also been caught.

"Ice-fishermen on Rockville catch a lot of bluegills and crappies and they're nice keepers," said Norman Toney of Toney's Bait and Tackle. Toney has been in business for nearly 50 years. "Every once in a while someone will hook a bass or a catfish on maggots. This is the best bait for panfish, winter or summer, and they work well on everything swimming under the ice."

Anglers can check the park's voice mail at (765) 569-6541 (once cold weather arrives) for the latest information on ice conditions and whether or not access is available. Last year, there were only three good days of ice due to the prevailing warmer, spotty temperatures. Even without the ice, fishing can still be good, according to Toney.

A $4 fee is charged at the entrance of the park and anglers pay on the honor system.

Rockville covers 100 acres in Parke County, one-half mile north of the city of Rockville. The boat ramp is reached from state Route 29 via Anderson Street and then East Lane on the southwestern corner of the lake in Rockville Lake Park. An electric trolling motor-only restriction is in place.

Additional information is available from District 5 at (765) 342-5527 or from the superintendent's office at Rockville Lake at (765) 569-6541.

WOLF LAKE
"I'd recommend Wolf Lake in Hammond for winter action," said Bob Robertson, a District 1 fisheries biologist with the Kankakee Fish and Wildlife Area.

"Wolf Lake lies in both Illinois and Indiana, but the two sides are fairly well divided by a levee. Some fish travel back and forth through a couple of tiles connecting the two sections, but the sections are still quite different."

According to Robertson, Perch America has been stocking the Indiana side of Wolf Lake with advanced walleye fingerlings for a number of years. For a while, the DFW stocked smaller fingerlings to supplement the Perch America stockings, but studies showed that returns on the smaller fingerlings were diminishing, so the stockings were discontinued.

"Ice-fishermen, in addition to bass and bluegills, have caught some very nice walleyes," Robertson said.

At times, there is open water from the hot-water discharge in the "channel" as it's called locally, on the north end of the lake. The channel used to be the outlet to Lake Michigan, but it's been closed for decades. The lake now discharges to the Calumet River on the west side in Illinois. Because of what remains of the connection to Lake Michigan, even an occasional salmon is taken from this lake. The first rule in ice-fishing is to fish where the fish are, and that's one qualification that Wolf Lake has no problem meeting even in an urban setting.