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All this week people have been catching skamania both at Portage and Michigan City... a handful per day at Michigan City between not many people fishing

Sorry to spoil the word for anybody that's been keeping it hush hush... but with cool water and bait around, it's a great time to get out before the July madness starts!

I went down for sunrise Tuesday morning. 1 fish for about 8 guys. Was thinking I’d give it a shot again tomorrow morning, but sounds like I might have to bring the camping gear out and stake out a spot tonight after work lol. 

Was at portage last night from noon til 5 saw the mouth of the ditch LOUDED WITH BAIT !!!! And one guy with rain gear land one fish could have swore it was a steelie good luck

Yes Portage has been hot with all the bait there, but it's still hit or miss on the bite. One day this week our creel clerk reported nearly 20 steelhead landed by the pier guys. 2 days later the bait was a couple hundred yards offshore judging by the birds, and there was only 1 caught all morning. 

Same deal in Michigan City, one day it's 6 or 8 fish, next day none, few days later another handful caught

It's been all over social media, so hardly a secret if you want to search info out.
Not from the area, but also saw on social media that they're closing wash Park down again at night due to vandalism and loitering issues. How does one get to the pier before sunup?
Or launch a boat before sunup, as the other ramp doesn't open early enough.

I don’t normally go out before sun rise but when I do I put the boat in the water the day before and rent a slip in the harbor.  Normally when I do that I keep it in for a couple of days.  Probably not the answer you were looking for.

I talked to the parks superintendent and he said that when they're charging, they should be opening the gates about 6:15 or 6:30 AM, and then the police are shepherding people out between 9:45 and 10 PM.

Historically they know that anglers are not an issue out there, and in the past they haven't charged or hassled people that get there before the gate attendants are collecting gate fees.

My takeaway was that the hours of the park haven't changed - the difference is they're actually enforcing things in the evening for the park closing, to clear out any troublemakers. Take that for what its worth... i'm sure the pier folks will figure it out in the early morning

Thanks for the report