Russ Schoonveld from Brook lifts a big cold-weather brown trout, which he caught while trolling a crankbait through the warmwater discharge near Gary Light. Photo by Tom Berg.

Hoosier anglers who are interested in doing a little trout fishing might think that they need to make a trip out West to the famed trout streams of Montana, Wyoming or Colorado before wetting a line. If steelhead trout is their quarry, maybe the legendary steelhead rivers of Oregon or Washington State will come to mind. Thinking about big brown trout? A trip down south to the White River in Arkansas might be what you are thinking about.

Although those are all good options, trout fishermen from our state don't need to travel far from home to experience some fabulous trout fishing. With high gas prices and inflated airfares being what they are today, fishing for some homegrown trout might just make more sense than ever.

But what options are available for Indiana trout fishermen? When is the best time to pursue trout in our home waters? Where are the best places and how big are the fish? World-class trout fishing awaits interested anglers right here in northern Indiana, so read on to find out more!

LAKE MICHIGAN BROWNS
When it comes to trout fishing, Lake Michigan is definitely one of the best places in the state to wet a line. There are browns, lakers and steelhead swimming around in our great lake's depths, and they can get big -- really big! Brown trout are the most accessible right now, and some of the best fishing for browns will be taking place from now through the end of April. Shore-fishermen get in on the bulk of the brown trout action first, but as soon as the harbors become ice-free, large numbers of boaters will join in on the fun, too! These are not the 12-inch trout that you might expect to catch from a Western stream, either. Lake Michigan brown trout average 3 to 4 pounds each, and many push the scales past 10 pounds. There is always the chance that you will tie into a new state record, too, like the 29.03-pound brown trout caught near Whiting in 2006.

Although not native to Lake Michigan, brown trout have been stocked by all of the lake's border states over the years (Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan). Because of limited hatchery space and other factors, however, Indiana stopped stocking brown trout into our portion of the lake more than 25 years ago. Even so, plenty of browns stocked by other states naturally migrate down to Indiana's warmer waters on their own, and we still enjoy excellent brown trout fishing during the cold weather months.

A new chapter in Indiana trout fishing began in 2002, though, when Indiana biologists were able to negotiate a fish trade with Illinois and we started receiving brown trout fingerlings to stock in our own waters again. In that year, 35,000 brown trout were stocked by Indiana biologists at Whiting Park along the lakefront.

Since 2002, brown trout have been stocked in Indiana every year in an effort to create more and better angling opportunities for local fishermen. The number of stocked trout has varied from as few as 35,000 to as many as 46,238 -- and the stocking site has changed yearly to spread the fish out to as many anglers as possible, too. The first fish were stocked in Whiting, but then the next year, the fish were stocked in the harbor at Michigan City. Each year, the stocking site alternated between Whiting and Michigan City in an attempt to spread the fish out.