TOPIC:

Hey everyone! So I have never fished the river dearing the salmon run. Can anyone give me some pointers on what to use, what ports to use in the area, ext.?
How to fish with egg sacks?
I would be on a boat.
Basically a how to and such.

Most people fishing the tributaries in NWI do it from shore. They are so small that you can't take a boat very far up them.

From boats, people usually troll the harbors and the mouths of Trail Creek in Michigan City, or Burns Ditch in Portage/Burns Harbor. Salmon will stage in the nearshore waters and most people troll with J-plugs, spoons, meat rigs, etc. Some use crankbaits as well.

Most people fish skein or spawn sacs under bobbers in the tributaries. No reason you couldn't do that from a boat either, but it tends to be easier to locate fish in the river and find those concentrations of fish.

If you wanted to, you can go up the Little Calumet a little ways from Portage via boat and troll and/or fish with bait. Just be considerate if there are people shore fishing in the same area, since the river isn't very big and shore guys don't take too kindly to boats running into the hole they are fishing

I'll mostly go up the west branch of the little cal, in my little jon boat I'd go all the way up to the dam in lake station/ new Chicago area, in my newer boat I go until a tree blocks me. I usually float down casting cranks and spoons like hotntots and k.o. wobbles between fallen trees like I'm bass fishing, not so much targeting cover but looking for current breaks. I never got into using skein as I dont have the patience to watch a bobber knowing they'd hit a lure early and by late fall I'm in full blown deer hunting mode. Just to let you know, the salmon fishing on the west branch has dwindled a bit in the last few years from when I first started, not to say they're not there, just dont get discouraged if it takes a while to see some fish.


These were caught fall of 2014.