TOPIC:

All, want to draw your attention to 2 upcoming meetings:


Indiana DNR is holding two public meetings in January to discuss the current Lake Michigan Chinook salmon stocking plan and plans for public input into the future stocking strategy.

The first meeting will be held on Friday, Jan. 6 at 7 p.m. at the Michigan City Fish and Game Club, 3091 E Michigan Blvd., Trail Creek, IN 46360. The second is Saturday, Jan. 7 at 10 a.m. at the Indiana Harbor Yacht Club, 3301 Aldis Ave., East Chicago, IN 46312.

Indiana DNR recently announced that 275,000 Chinook salmon will be stocked in Lake Michigan annually starting in 2023, an increase from 225,000.

At these meetings, I'll present data on the current state of the fall chinook fishery, walk through the recent stocking history, and outline the plan for how DNR is going to solicit public input to select a new chinook stocking strategy for how we'll allocate the 275,000 fish among our stocking sites


events.in.gov/event/indiana_dnr_holds_pu...on_stocking_strategy

Thanks for doing this again Ben, we’re fortunate you put in this time and effort and give us the opportunity!

I was able to sit in on the EC meeting last time. This year I know it’s my Saturday to work, but hope to be able to make it to the MC meeting after work on Friday.

I think it’s pretty cool that this was, from my observation, the first year we saw the outcomes of you last round of decisions. I can say that I had the best season that I have had for fall kings locally in quite some time. I didn’t boat fish at all for the returning fish this year. Pier fishing at MC was very slow for me with only one coho to show even though the boaters seemed to be doing very well just off shore for a stretch there. We got a big rain after the first week of September though and that was a real game changer. I had a couple of down right awesome days with the biggest numbers of kings I’ve seen in probably a decade on Trail. As the water drop and crowds grew, I left those fish and started putting in effort on the Cal and in the harbor at EC. I was surprised not to find numbers of fish in the Cal in September but was very pleased with the fishing that developed at EC through September. I was conveniently asked to cover a clinic in The Harbor for most of this fall and had about a week solid where it seemed like everyone fishing was able to hook into a fish or two each night which was great to experience again. Finally we’ll into October after another rare rain this fall I made my way back to the Cal and found kings piled up below the Praxair dam and got to play with some late running fish and stock up on a little whitefish bait.

How did everyone else do this fall? Were there any fish to be had in the ship canal or off Inland? How was this fishing in front of Portage and the Port??

Thanks Ben for taking the time once more. Some big changes have taken place since the last time we met 3 years ago.

MC_angler wrote:

All, want to draw your attention to 2 upcoming meetings:


Indiana DNR is holding two public meetings in January to discuss the current Lake Michigan Chinook salmon stocking plan and plans for public input into the future stocking strategy.

The first meeting will be held on Friday, Jan. 6 at 7 p.m. at the Michigan City Fish and Game Club, 3091 E Michigan Blvd. Trail Cre,eN 46360. The second is Saturday, Jan. 7 at 10 a.m. at the Indiana Harbor Yacht Club, 3301 Aldis Ave., East Chicago, IN 46312.

Indiana DNR recently announced that 275,000 Chinook salmon will be stocked in Lake Michigan annually starting in 2023, an increase from 225,000.

At these meetings, I'll present data on the current state of the fall chinook fishery, walk through the recent stocking history, and outline the plan for how DNR is going to solicit public input to select a new chinook stocking strategy for how we'll allocate the 275,000 fish among our stocking sites


events.in.gov/event/indiana_dnr_holds_pu...on_stocking_strategy

Just a bump on this as its coming up tomorrow and the day after that.  

I so planned on being there but the flu has me down for the count. Please recap the meeting

Ill be at the EC tomorrow morning; looking forward to a good turnout and hearing your info.  

Was at the meeting today and the DNR will be sending an email survey to anyone who purchased a Salmon/Trout Stamp last year or purchased a one-day license (assuming you have a valid email address on record). Important things to note is the survey will go out on or a day or two after 1/16/23 and will be open for 2 weeks.   it will take approximately 15 minutes to complete, and the most important part is there will be 3 or 4 options for how you want to see Chinook stocking for the next 3-5 years.   One option totally removed East Chicago from the stocking program, which was the hottest and most contested part of the meeting.   Make sure you keep an eye out for your survey (watch your spam folders) and make sure you get your vote in for how they stock the kings over the next 3 - 5 years.    I think everyone at the meeting would have liked to see at least a minimum stocking option for EC rather than a total elimination, but that is what the options are. 
Good news is the lake appears to be rebounding after several years of less than stellar fishing and predator/pray ratios.  So, let's hope the current trend continues and at the end of the day, the lake is maintained as a healthy fishery for everyone.     

anyone else that was at the meeting feel free to correct me if I have misrepresented anything.  

Ltrain wrote:

I so planned on being there but the flu has me down for the count. Please recap the meeting

 The ER took me out.  I was looking forward to the presentations and seeing everyone.  Ugh.......

Thanks Big Ed for the info. I'd also like to see EC represented in the restocking. Hope you get better soon Dirty.