Trout season begins in Indiana's stocked streams. And large white trilliums in full bloom.
The opening day for trout fishing season in Indiana streams, apart from Lake Michigan tributaries, comes to us April 27. Have you been training? Well, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources has been — to a degree. Their biologists and staff have been going through their annual rounds of stocking lakes and streams with trout, just in time.
The DNR reports that it is stocking nearly 63,000 rainbow and brown trout across the state this spring in 35 bodies of water and 21 counties.
The stocking of lakes with rainbow trout was mostly done in March. That includes about 400 trout in the lagoon at South Bend’s Pinhook Park. There isn’t a trout season for lakes. So go for that anytime.
In streams, more than 23,000 rainbow trout were expected to be released in the time leading up to opening day. That includes a target of 800 rainbow trout and 150 brown trout in Potato Creek at Potato Creek State Park. Others on the stocking list include Cobus Creek, Little Elkhart River, Rowe-Eden Ditch and Solomon Creek in Elkhart County and Little Kankakee River and Slocum Ditch in LaPorte County.
Extra rainbow trout will be stocked at several sites until Memorial Day weekend. And 10 bodies of water will be stocked with brown trout in May.
Look up this year’s full stocking plan at on.IN.gov/fish-stocking.
Fishing ins and outs
∎ Trout season for inland streams runs from the last Saturday of April through Dec. 31.
∎ DNR advises that trout will bite on artificial baits, like spinners and flies, but natural baits such as worms and bee moths tend to be the most popular.
∎ The bag limit for trout in inland waters is five per day at a minimum size of 7 inches. No more than one of these can be a brown trout. There’s no size limit for trout caught on inland lakes except for Brookville (below the tailwater), Oliver, Olin and Martin lakes, where the fish must be 18 inches or larger.
∎ Anglers must have an Indiana fishing license if they are age 18 or older, plus a trout/salmon stamp in order to catch trout. Indiana residents who don’t need a license include younger anglers, those born before April 1, 1943, full-time military folks who are on approved leave and people who are legally blind or have a developmental disability or who are residents of a licensed health care facility or a state mental health facility, along with other factors. Those 64 and older can buy a Senior Annual or Senior Fish for Life License.
∎ You can also buy fishing and hunting licenses at on.IN.gov/INHuntFish. Or buy one in person at state parks, including Potato Creek, and a few retailers — in St. Joseph County, they include Meijer and WalMart stores, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Kelley’s Bait & Tackle in Lakeville, Kabelin Ace Hardware in Walkerton and Michiana Archery Pro Shop in South Bend. (For other counties, visit on.IN.gov/HuntFishLicenseRetailers.) To order by phone, call 317-232-4200 or 877-463-6367 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
∎ Indiana residents can fish without a license this year on May 12, June 1-2 and Sept. 28.
∎ Read up and find tips in the 2024-2025 Indiana Fishing Regulations Guide at on.IN.gov/fishingguide. Free printed copies of the guide can be found at retail outlets and DNR properties like state parks and lakes.
∎ Bait delivery: Walmart stores have started offering a new service: You can order live fishing bait and either pick it up at the store or have it delivered to your home. How? When you’re placing an online order for the product, choose whether you want to pick it up or have it delivered.
Wildflowers at their peak
Woodland wildflowers have been strutting their springtime stuff for weeks now, but the show-stopping climax has arrived. The large-flowered white trilliums broke into full bloom last week at Bendix Woods County Park in New Carlisle and at other nature preserves.
These full-bodied white blossoms carpet the woodland floor by the hundreds at Bendix, creating a calming, fairy-tale scene as they mix with other native flowers like purple phlox, maroon prairie trilliums and white false rue anemone. At Bendix, they’re in the state nature preserve.
Identify those blooms: The South Bend Tribune's annual spring wildflower guide
I found them Sunday on the narrow dirt trail at Trillium Ravine Nature Preserve in Niles, a short trail where I crutch-walked for a short stretch as I recover from foot surgery (it’s going well). To find Trillium Ravine, take the Walton Road exit east from the U.S. 31 bypass, then take the first right turn onto East Geyer Road and follow it as it turns right and becomes Riverside Road; look for the preserve sign on the right.
Generally, the native woodland wildflowers last through mid-May. The white trilliums will turn pink just before they fade out. The wildflowers quit once the trees are fully leafed out.
A reminder: Don’t pick any of the flowers. Not only is it against the law in nature preserves and county parks. It damages the plant, robbing it of its ability to come back and put on another show next year. Instead, take lots of photos.
Who’s got the biggest tree?
Every five years, St. Joseph County Parks asks the public if their yard or property may harbor the very biggest tree of its species in the county. It’s that time again — and Arbor Day on April 26 is a perfect cue — to look up and around. Nominate trees by Sept. 1 for The Big Trees of St. Joseph County contest. It will coincide with Indiana’s State Big Trees.
The program has gotten a strong response in recent years, but it continually needs new nominations. Categories that lack any current champion include red oak, black walnut, sugar maple and eastern red cedar. Many champion trees win several years in a row, but there are always new challengers pushing their way to the top, program coordinator Amal Farrough says. Local naturalists will measure and verify the nominations in the fall. The program receives help from Rum Village Nature Center, St. Joseph County Soil and Water Conservation District, Purdue Extension of St. Joseph County and the University of Notre Dame.
To see the list of current champions and download a nomination form, which has an explanation on how to measure trees, visit sjcparks.org/547/Big-Trees-of-St-Joseph-County. Or call 574-654-3155.
Spring rituals
∎ St. Joe pilgrimage: The four-mile Way of Saint Joseph pilgrimage walk returns on April 27. You can join for free, strolling with dozens of others on the paved river trails from St. Joseph Catholic Church in Mishawaka to St. Joseph Catholic Church in South Bend, held on the Saturday before the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker. It begins with Mass at 7 a.m., blessings at 9 a.m., stepping off at 9:20 a.m., stops along the way and finishing with lunch and music and bus rides back to the start. Register and find more details at https://diocesefwsb.org/joseph-pilgrimage.
∎ Native plant chat: Regional botanists Nathanael Pilla and Steve Sass will explore the ecology, history and physiology of some of their favorite Indiana Dunes plants from 10 to 11:30 a.m. CDT April 27 at the Indiana Dunes Visitor Center, 1215 N. Indiana 49, Porter. They’ll highlight species that will be offered in the Friends of the Indiana Dunes’ upcoming native plant sale.
∎ Camino pilgrimage talk: The Harbor Country Hikers will host one of its members, Katha Kissman, as she shares her experiences hiking the Camino de Santiago at 6 p.m. April 30 at the New Buffalo Township Library, 33 N. Thompson St. She had started her Camino walk on Sept. 1 last year in western France and finished Oct. 6.
∎ The Force is with St. Pat’s: Dress as your favorite “Star Wars” character and join games, a “Jedi Training Course,” “galactic concessions” to buy from noon to 3 p.m. May 4 at St. Patrick’s County Park in South Bend. It will finish with a costumed hike on park trails. Cost is $5 per person. Register by May 1 at 574-654-3155.
∎ Forest bathing experiences: Guided forest bathing sessions will begin May 17 in the wooded preserves of southwest Michigan and be offered several times a month through December. These will be led by experienced and certified guide Karen Joy, founder of Nature Therapy of Michigan/Nature Therapy of Michiana, in a partnership with Chikaming Open Lands. Forest bathing, also known as Shinrin-yoku, is a therapeutic practice where you immerse yourself in nature’s healing power by taking gentle strolls, doing mindfulness exercises and meditating. You escape stress and connect more deeply with nature. “Our goal is to create a safe, welcoming space where individuals of all ages and abilities can experience the healing power of the forest," Joy says. "Through these sessions, we guide participants to reconnect with themselves, each other, and the more than human world." Two-hour sessions cost $35. Learn more at www.naturetherapymi.com.
Find columnist Joseph Dits on Facebook at SBTOutdoorAdventures or 574-235-6158 or jdits@sbtinfo.com.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Trout fishing season begins in Indiana streams as trilliums bloom
