# Fishing in Northern/Northeastern Indiana



## herschle1

Hello Fishermen/women,


My fishing buddies and I are considering an early spring fishing trip to either Clear Lake or the Lake James chain in Northern Indiana, and I'd love to know if anyone has an opinion on which lake offers better spring bass fishing.

If there are other lakes with public access launches in that general area that you like, I'd love to hear about those, as well.

Thanks!


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## jackstar

Spent years in that area and fished all those lakes. You can pm me whenever you like. I'm not sure you'll do any better on those lakes than some in southern lower Michigan like the randall chain. Unless you really know clear lake it can be VERY tough to fish. The James chain is better but its a lot of water to cover. Big and little otter can be good bets and there's a public launch on little otter. That is a good place to start that chain. There's quite a bit of fishing pressure on those lakes in summer but not so much in spring. There's also some big pike in that chain and great bluegills if you find them. Lake gage....not part of that chain.....can yield some nice smallmouth in late spring on the flats drifting crayfish or casting tubes. Good luck!

JS

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## herschle1

Thanks JS,


We are considering going into Indiana ahead of the catch and release opener here in Michigan. Otherwise, we'd be out on Lake St. Clair.

If we have a warm late winter/early spring like last year, where water temps were around 60 before the C&R opener in the last weekend in April, I know we'll be itching to fish.

It's a bit longer of a drive for us, but did you fish Lake Wawasee at all when you were in the area? Thoughts on that lake? It was listed as a top 100 bass lake in America by B.A.S.S.

Thanks for your advice!


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## jackstar

Never fished Wawasee. They run a LOT of bass tournaments out there and it is one of the biggest natural lakes in Indiana (if not the biggest). There's a ton of water to cover and many channels that warm up quickly in the spring. The water level was way down on that lake last year I heard, but might be up again in the spring. I have heard the fishing can be good in the spring. Summer during the day is a disaster though because it is used heavily by ski boats and pwc. 

I would say for sheer variety of structure, vegetation, and presentations I would focus on the James chain. You can run that entire string of lakes and find almost every kind of structure from submerged weedbeds, to points, to lilly pads, grass, drop offs, etc. You will find nice fish in there too. 

Lake Gage (west of the James chain)that I mentioned can be good at times but it is a smallmouth lake that has deep holes and largely a sandy, rocky bottom and shoreline. If you do fish Gage, be aware that there is no public launch on Gage itself. The launch is on Lime Lake which is attached to Gage. The local residents, in their infinite wisdom, have kept a low bridge over the entrance channel into Gage which only allows fishing boats (flat bottoms, bass boats, etc) into Gage. For example, you can't get under with pontoons, bigger boats, trolling gear up, etc. Gage can be good to fish but is not your classic weedy bass lake if you're looking for big largemouths. 

You might also consider Crooked Lake in the spring, especially the back/third basin that's shallower and warms up more quickly in the spring. it's near Gage and is more of a traditional bass lake that has a variety of structure and cover and decent numbers of both small and largemouth bass.

In general that's a very cool little corner of the world up there in Steuben County. I grew up in Indiana and many people don't realize how nice it is unless you've spent time there.

Let me know how things turn out if you decide to go.

JS


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