The 2002 stocking took place at Whiting Park near the western edge of Indiana waters. The following year, DNR biologists opted to stock the browns much farther east -- at the harbor in Michigan City. Each year, the stocking site is alternated so that the fish can be spread out among as many fishermen as possible. Last year, a total of 41,100 browns were stocked in Michigan City.

Although many of the browns move away from their initial stocking site, biologists believe that most will stay in the same general vicinity. That’s good because these areas provide both shore-fishermen and boaters excellent opportunities to tangle with plenty of nice-sized brown trout.

Shore-fishermen get in on the brown trout action first because they get to fish all winter long, regardless of icebound harbors. The warmwater discharges at the Stateline generating plant in Hammond and the Amoco Oil refinery in Whiting attract scores of trout and provide enough open water for anglers to fish effectively. Cold-weather fishermen in Michigan City also catch plenty of brown trout along the Washington Park pier where Trail Creek hits the lake (at least until ice becomes a problem).

As soon as the harbors thaw in late winter or early spring, boaters get into the act and head for the nearest warmwater discharges to target a few brown trout of their own. Some of the most popular areas for trollers to pursue browns include the Stateline generating plant in Hammond, the Amoco Oil refinery in Whiting, the Inland Steel shipping canal in East Chicago, the U.S. Steel Gary Light in Gary and the mouth of Trail Creek in Michigan City.

Brown trout love to eat fish, so minnow- or shad-imitating lures work best. Crankbaits painted silver or gold are hard to beat. Other good colors include chartreuse, fire tiger and silver/green. Shore-fishermen use those lures, too, but they also use a variety of natural baits as well, including night crawlers, salmon eggs, dead alewives and cut squid.

LAKE TROUT
Lake trout are a very coldwater fish, so for much of the year, they are out in deep water hugging the bottom. During the spring when the water is still cold, however, some anglers catch an incidental laker or two while fishing for other salmon and trout. For the most part, though, they are considered a bonus catch.

During the summer and fall, however, boaters have a chance to target lake trout specifically. In the heat of the summer, lakers head for the coolest water around. That means deep water offshore, and it also means fishing for them on or near the bottom. As the summer progresses, the fish will move deeper and deeper until they are out in Michigan or Illinois waters. Hoosier anglers can still catch them when fishing out of Indiana ports, but they must buy a fishing license for the state where they plan to fish.

Tactics for catching deep-water lakers include using downriggers to get baits all the way down to the bottom. Some anglers also use rods spooled with wire line and rigged with directional diving disks to pull lures deep. Large trolling spoons and large flasher/fly rigs are the standard laker baits, and productive colors include hammered silver and glow/ green.