When summer turns to fall, lake trout will enter the shallows to spawn. They usually spawn over rocky reefs and sandy shoals, and one of the best places to fish for them is just outside the Port of Indiana near Portage. They usually arrive by late October, but November is also a productive month.

At the end of November in 2007, Brian Breidert was out on the lake pulling lake trout nets to monitor the laker population.

“The population of spawning adults was similar to what we have seen in the past few years,” he reported. “The largest fish that we saw was 20 pounds, with the average size being around 10 to 12 pounds. We did collect fish from many different age- classes, too.”

YELLOW PERCH
Yellow perch fishing out on the big lake has been improving in recent years. Anglers are seeing perch of all sizes again, which indicates that there have been several successful spawns. It wasn’t too many years ago that baby perch were almost nonexistent, and fishermen feared that perch would be gone forever. Overharvesting by commercial fishermen and competition from gobies and zebra mussels all took their toll on the beleaguered perch. Luckily, the perch have bounced back and are looking good.

“We should have a good year for perch as long as the weather cooperates,” Breidert said. “A lot of 12- to 14-inch fish were taken last November near the Donut and Gary Light. These two areas should remain hotspots for 2008, as well as areas off Mt. Baldy and Kintzel Ditch near Michigan City.”

Keep in mind that there is no size limit for perch on Lake Michigan, but there is a bag limit of 15 perch per fisherman, per day.

There you have it, a look at what you can expect this spring and throughout the season on our Great Lake. Hope to bump into you either on a rocky shoreline or over an offshore hotspot!