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If this was 20 years ago or so before IL was giving Indiana some brown trout each year, it wouldn't be so odd. For the past 10 or fifteen years it is odd. I've been out a couple times and have caught a good bunch of fish each time. Most of them were in artificially "warmed" areas and those hot-water areas concentrate browns. Before the agreement with Illinois at this time of year maybe one in fifteen were browns. After a few years into the IL/IN agreement that went up exponentially. I ran a morning and afternoon trip one year, fishing the ship canal and 26 of the 30 fish caught were browns. This early in the season everyone should be hooking a few browns each outing - or more! Or maybe it's like the vanishing chinooks, the baby fish are dumped in the lake and they disappear to (choose one or more options - predation by cormorants, predation by gobies, predation by smallmouth bass, predation by gulls, starvation, weather, sucked dry by lampreys, poor stocking locations, poor stocking techniques). Heck, I certainly don't know, I just know I've netted a lot of fish so far this year and am still looking for the first brown trout.

Hello Mike. I have been out at least 6 times this year & every trip so far I have caught 1 or 2 Browns. They have been ranging from 2-6 lbs. I always throw them back. I like the coho much better and it gives them a chance to get bigger for someone else to enjoy catching them. Steve

I have been out 3 times so far and we have managed a brown a trip along with a total of 7 natural feeder kings ranging from 12 to 14 inches. According to Ben Dickinson, Browns should be stocked between April 7th and April 11 depending on when they become available from Il. which In trades steelhead for the brown fingerlings. They still slated to be stocked at EC Marina as far as he knows.

I've only been on the water twice this year, but the first trip on February 27 brought 4 Browns to the boat. Nothing but coho and a laker on my second run. All 4 were pulled from way inside the shipping canal in the warmer water. Nick

Maybe just luck of the draw.....

We have done pretty well on the Browns this year right around Portage. Every time out we have caught at least one. This one was caught Saturday morning right by the beach out of the ditch.

Nice job Scott!!

X2, that is a beauty!

Very nice!

Actually it was only 12". Scott was holding it out towards the camera. Lol