Indiana Trout Season Will Open Saturday Despite High Water
The 2013 Indiana stream trout-fishing season will open as scheduled this Saturday despite high water and swift current conditions.
Department of Natural Resources officials are urging anglers to exercise caution, especially if they are fishing around dams or in flooded streams.
“The combination of strong currents and cold, deep water makes it hard to maintain your footing when wading,” said Jeremy Price, DNR’s North Region fisheries supervisor. “This would be a good weekend to leave the waders at home and fish from the bank.”
Fishing conditions will be less than ideal at some locations and trout could be difficult to find. Price said the fish will be seeking refuge in deeper pools, eddies and the downstream side of rocks, woody debris and other structures in the stream.
More than 23,500 rainbow trout will be stocked into 19 streams across the state by Saturday morning.
Stream trout fishing in Indiana opens Saturday, April 27 at 6 a.m. local time and runs through Dec. 31. Anglers must have a trout stamp in addition to a fishing license to fish for trout.
The trout are produced at DNR’s Curtis Creek Trout Rearing Station in LaGrange County.
Indiana trout fishing is governed by a five-fish daily bag limit and 7-inch minimum size limit.
At the Brookville tailwater in Franklin County, the trout bag limit is still five but not more than one can be a brown trout, and an 18-inch minimum size limit applies to that species. This special regulation is intended to increase the number of large trout available.
An additional 24,000 rainbow trout are stocked each year into 19 public fishing lakes across the state. There is a year-round open season on trout fishing in lakes except at Island Lake (Minnehaha Fish & Wildlife Area in Sullivan County) and Airline Pit (Greene-Sullivan State Forest in Greene County) that are closed to trout fishing from March 15 to April 1. All other trout regulations apply at inland lakes. The special brown trout regulations also apply to Oliver, Olin and Martin lakes in LaGrange County, where brown trout are stocked.
