2004 FISHING CALENDAR The calendar is in PDF format. The Adobe Reader can be downloaded for free here.

By Ray Harper

The Hoosier State boasts 21,000 miles of fishable rivers and streams, along with 374 natural lakes (40,789 acres) and 580 impoundments (71,000 acres) with public access. Additionally, Lake Michigan accounts for 224 square miles of Hoosier water with 45 miles of shoreline.

In 2001, an estimated 874,000 anglers devoted a total of 14.2 million days plying Indiana fishing waters, spending a total of $519 million on fishing-related activities, according to the National Survey of Hunting, Fishing and Wildlife Associated Activities.

Fishing is by far the most popular outdoor pastime in Indiana. More than 636,000 fishing licenses were purchased last year in Indiana, with the bulk of the angling efforts being focused on public water from Lake Michigan to the Ohio River. Hoosiers have ample fishing opportunities year 'round from crappies in the Ohio River in February to rock bass in the Blue River in August to smallmouth bass at Brookville Reservoir in October. To help you keep abreast of Hoosier angling possibilities, plan trips and sample great fishing around the state, Indiana Game & Fish has compiled a fishing calendar just for you.

Here are the best bets for good fishing across Indiana in season and out of season:

For the Newburgh Dam, boat ramps are located at Angel Mounds, a couple of miles downriver and at the Alcoa Access near the mouth of Little Pigeon Creek, just upriver. For Cannelton Dam, ramps are located downriver at Grandview and Cannelton.

The river can be very dangerous, especially near the tailwaters of the dams. Avoid excursions on the river during stormy weather or when the river is a few feet or more above pool. When the river is high and fast flowing, fishing is poor, anyway. Bank- fishing opportunities are limited at both Cannelton and Newburgh. Good bank-fishing exists below McAlpine Dam at Clarksville in Falls of the Ohio State Park.

On the Ohio River, the creel limit for saugers, walleyes and saugeyes is 10 singly or in aggregate of 10 with no minimum size limit

Photo by Ron Sinfelt

While bass fishing has declined lately in Lynnville Lake, a 275-acre stripper pit in northwestern Warrick County, the former Peabody Coal Company property always produces some early-season lunker bass. The pit is located off state Route (SR) 68 just west of the intersection with SR 61. There is a $15 annual entrance fee or a $2 daily fee. State fishing regulations apply at the pit owned and operated by the Lynnville Park Board.

Other excellent opportunities for big bass may be found in the stripper pits on a 5,593-acre tract of land in northeastern Warrick County and extending into southern Pike County. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) acquired the land from the Interlake Foundation in 1999. Located just off SR 61 north of Lynnville, the Interlake tract is managed by Sugar Ridge Fish and Wildlife Area (WMA) near Winslow.

In 2001, Carnahan found crappies up to 15 inches while averaging 9.5 inches with an estimated 13 crappies per acre. In 2002, he found crappies up to 14 inches and averaging 6.6 inches with an estimated nine crappies per acre. Carnahan speculates that the lower population estimate in 2002 may be attributed to a 14-day delay in the sampling work in 2002 because of high water. The fisheries biologist says angler harvest is low compared to the size of the crappie population.

A creel survey at Monroe from April 3 to Oct. 31, 2000, showed 100,750 anglers harvested 1,178 bass and caught and released another 27,619, including 8,289 that were 14 inches or larger. The 1,178 harvested bass averaged 2.7 pounds in weight and 16.5 inches in length.

Monroe has nine boat ramps ranging in size from two lanes to 12 lanes. Some of the ramps charge a $3 daily boat-launch fee. Some ramps are within state recreation areas that charge a $4 daily entrance fee for in-state vehicles and a $5 daily fee for out-of-state vehicles.

James points to the coal stripper pits in Greene-Sullivan State Forest, and the Minnehaha, Sugar Ridge and Bluegrass FWAs. Green-Sullivan has more than 100 pits; Sugar Ridge has about 20 large pits and Bluegrass about 22.

Minnehaha, with more than 8,300 acres of property, includes about two- dozen fishable pits covering a total of nearly 600 acres.

Scott McCormick, Minnehaha's assistant property manager, suggests the Teal, Marsh Hawk and Island pits are excellent for bluegill fishing. Also, anglers report nice stringers of bluegills averaging 7 inches from Minnehaha's 118-acre Mohawk Pit

Also, Minnehaha manages the Chinook State Fishing Area and the Hillenbrand FWA. Chinook, in Clay County southwest of Brazil, includes six stripper pits covering 74 acres. Hillenbrand, in northwestern Greene County, includes eight stripper pits totaling 150 acres that offer excellent fishing for bluegills.

A creel clerk surveyed anglers on regular intervals from April 2, 2001 to Oct. 31, 2001, finding a total of 2,149 redears were harvested weighing nearly 1,096 pounds. They ranged in length from 6 to 11 inches and averaged 8.5 inches. Some 62.9 percent of the harvested redears were between 8 and 9 inches in length. Another 11 percent were 9.5 inches or larger. While fishing pressure is high at Scales, the creel survey showed less than 1 percent of the anglers listed redear sunfish as the species they were targeting.

Carnahan says Scales is a "great fishing lake" for catching large redear sunfish. "The lake possesses large numbers of 9-inch-plus redear sunfish."

Scales has a daily entrance fee of $1.50 ($15 annually) and a daily boat-launch fee of $1 ($20 annually). Only electric trolling motors are permitted. Rowboat rental is available. Much of the shoreline is accessible for fishing and a handicap-accessible fishing pier is located on the northwest bank.

Fisheries biologist Carnahan said the state has been stocking striped bass in Patoka to help control the shad population since June 1997. More than a half-million fingerling striped bass have been stocked. "Fish have shown up in survey work and creel samples from every year that we've stocked," Carnahan said.

Anglers are beginning to discover this new resource. Fish from the 1997 stocking have reached the 10- to 14-pound range, he says. In August 2003, creel workers surveyed 50 fishing parties who said they were in pursuit of striped bass. Their total fishing time represented 382 hours. Those anglers reported releasing 23 striped bass in excess of 18 inches and 36 smaller than 18 inches. There is no minimum size limit on striped bass that in other states have grown to more than 60 pounds. The daily creel limit is two.

There are nine boat-launching ramps at Patoka. During the peak season, attendants collect a $5 daily launch fee. If the ramp is inside a state recreation area, an additional entrance fee of $4 is due for in-state vehicles and $5 for out-of-staters.

The river is teeming with rock bass, according to Carnahan. "From the Stage Stop Campgrounds at Harrison-Crawford State Forest upriver as far as you want to go, you've got an abundance of rock bass," Carnahan says.

Dick Lambert, who operates a canoe livery at Fredericksburg, says the best rock bass fishing is from Milltown upriver to Fredericksburg and 10 miles above Fredericksburg on both the Pekin and Salem forks.

Carnahan says rock bass population estimates range from 223 fish per river mile to 1,080 per mile with an average of 589 per mile. Carnahan says population estimates for rock bass in the Blue River are at record highs with the previous high an average of 439 fish per river mile in 1998.

Canoe rental is available at Milltown and Fredericksburg. There are two public boat ramps in Harrison-Crawford State Forest. The daily creek limit for rock bass is 25 with no minimum size limit.

Jeff Martin, a veteran Evansville angler, found those conditions for three weeks in the fall of 2003. "One day," Martin said, "I had my limit (five 12-inch bass for the main stem of the Ohio River) in 20 minutes." Martin says a limit of largemouths never took more than a couple of hours in the evening. While some of the fish Martin caught were only 11 inches, many were 13 or 14 inches.

Martin says he launched his boat at the city ramp in Mt. Vernon and never strayed more than three miles upstream or downstream, fishing the upstream ends of small islands with riprap or other rocky cover. Martin was fishing on the Uniontown pool. Other ramps on the pool are located just west of Evansville and at the Hovey Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area.

Similar fall fishing opportunities exist on other pools of the Ohio River, especially the Newburgh and Cannelton pools.

Brookville, the state's third-largest reservoir at 5,260 acres, is located in Franklin and Union counties in southeast Indiana. The best population of smallies is below the Fairfield causeway, according to Doug Keller, the state's District 5 fisheries biologist.

Brookville has 10 boat ramps and four full-service marinas. The lake's three major bays - Templeton, Wolf and Hanna Creeks, the lakes - are idle zones. Launch fees and gate entrance charges are the same as at Monroe and Patoka.

Richard Parker, owner of Central Park Bait Shop in South Bend and a steelhead guide, recommends fishing below the Twin Branch Dam. On a good day on the St. Joseph River, Parker says he catches eight to 10 steelheads in the range of 6 to 11 pounds. He says the Bodine Fish Hatchery in Mishawaka recovered 700 post-spawn steelhead trout from the St. Joseph last spring. They averaged 11.5 pounds.

Parker is always willing to share the latest news on the steelhead migration. He can be reached at the bait shop, (574) 255-7703.

Park workers monitor the thickness of the ice and a call to the park office can ensure that the ice is sufficiently thick for fishing. In 2002, Summit Lake had a lengthy ice-fishing season that began in mid-December. During other recent winters, the ice never was sufficiently thick for fishing. The park office suggests for anglers to park their vehicles at the south boat ramp and walk northwest in the direction of the dam. In December, there are no park entrance fees. The phone number for the park office is (765) 766-5873.