NW Indiana......

[ChiCityBasser]

Kankakee backwater areas, marshes and bayous are heating up...awesome bass fishing AND with the cooler nights approaching soon it will be time to stock your freezers with some tasty crappie fillets too.

Best baits for bass have been T-rigged worms (4 inches or less); pop-r; and jig-n-float combos. Windy days seem to offer the best results.

Thanks for the info I think I'll be trying Black Oak this sunday with some of these exact baits from the shore.

Thinking of trying some shallow cranks as well..Strike King 1XS and BPS XPS Egg to keep them in the 1-3' range?

[ChiCityBasser]

.

try Countryside Park - your buddy can cast for bass and you can bank fish...just a pond, but there's some good bass in there AND it's in Portage!

Want to take a long drive and satisfy you both? Try Willow Slough near Morocco - excellent bass and gill fishing from shore...there's some nice 12" gills in there too.

How is the fishing at Countryside Park in Portage?

[TheOriginalFishaholic]

If you live in Portage, it's an alternative place to go; if you're driving in from Illinois, I wouldn't waste my time - I'd try Wolf Lake in Hammond for big bass, walleye, northern or musky

[ChiCityBasser]

If you live in Portage, it's an alternative place to go; if you're driving in from Illinois, I wouldn't waste my time - I'd try Wolf Lake in Hammond for big bass, walleye, northern or musky

Thanks for the info about Countryside

Any particular areas to try at Wolf Lake?

[ChiCityBasser]

Countryside in Portage wasn't too bad at all as far as size. I caught a 2 & 3lber but that was it for a couple of hours. No numbers but ok on size.

[ABLE2DISABLE1]

Laporte Indiana, New Carlisle, Hammond  Laporte was great fishing at the lakes just outside of town which wasn't far.Tower hill in Michigan city wasn't bad from the beach ethier.Randolph and Wal Bash in Chicago was great fishing when I was a kid from the pier by the armory, National Gard Armory .Caught some pretty big fish growing up,Wish we had this face-book stuff back then.Memories of steelheads small-month bass and even carp, never really got to involved with pike .Sometimes I see my-self still fishing off the banks kept my butt out of plenty of mischief, tight lines to all who are creating their on memories.

[dandelion]

i too am from the region.  i've been out of the game for years!!!!  when i was young, i used to fish the corn channel right by the water discharge... and i went back... and there really wasn't any good place to fish.  =/  basically, i'm looking for anywhere to fish which i can catch ok numbers... and decent size.  (not really interested in bluegils.)  just wondering if there is any decent spots (shore fishing at or near wolf lake... and also if there is a decent spot off the grand calumet river.  i tried off of that wetland park off cline.. but didn't have any luck.. and i don't have a lot of experience river fishing... so i was wondering if there was a nice calm spot off the river i can check out.   or.. any spots in NW indiana i should check out.  i tried area 3 a couple weeks ago after reading some of the post.. but i couldn't even get to it.  (some sign about hunting or something.)  any advice would be appreciated about where to go.  i'm trying to get one of my friends into fishing (as i recently rediscovered the love for it)... and everywhere i've taken him we just caught babies.  i'm pretty sure they all had bibs on too.  =(

thanks in advance

[dandelion]

but so far i've tried cedar lake (horrible) area 1 (since we couldn't get to 3) horrible... wolf lake... couldn't find a decent spot... but going to try again on wednesday....

[dandelion]

thanks for the links fishaholic  =D  i'll check them out now.  maybe i can catch a big one..... and make everybody proud.  =D   i wasn't able to reply your message though.. cause i don't have 10 post yet  *kicks the dirt*

[TheOriginalFishaholic]

Where are you located? Maybe we can hook up and I'll show you a few places to try.

[dandelion]

i live in merrillville.  i'm familiar with the whole region though.  probably lived in every town out here... including out there by you.    i used to live on sturdy road near valplayso.     that would be neat!  my fishing days are usually thursday and friday... to avoid the big crowds at my 2 spots.  >.<  and you can even have my fishies i catch.   

[ChiCityBasser]

i too am from the region. i've been out of the game for years!!!! when i was young, i used to fish the corn channel right by the water discharge... and i went back... and there really wasn't any good place to fish. =/ basically, i'm looking for anywhere to fish which i can catch ok numbers... and decent size. (not really interested in bluegils.) just wondering if there is any decent spots (shore fishing at or near wolf lake... and also if there is a decent spot off the grand calumet river. i tried off of that wetland park off cline.. but didn't have any luck.. and i don't have a lot of experience river fishing... so i was wondering if there was a nice calm spot off the river i can check out. or.. any spots in NW indiana i should check out. i tried area 3 a couple weeks ago after reading some of the post.. but i couldn't even get to it. (some sign about hunting or something.) any advice would be appreciated about where to go. i'm trying to get one of my friends into fishing (as i recently rediscovered the love for it)... and everywhere i've taken him we just caught babies. i'm pretty sure they all had bibs on too. =(

thanks in advance

Area 3 in Grand Kankakee was closed til 9/19 for waterfowl season. I called and checked before heading down that way and it should be fine for fishing now but always best to call and check with them.

[dandelion]

perhaps i'll try it next thursday and hope i can find a decent shore spot to fish off of.   

[dandelion]

off of shore* 

[TheOriginalFishaholic]

There's plenty of good locations to fish from shore...from the parking lot, walk (south) down to where the bayou empties into the waterfowl refuge, then walk along the bank to the East - there's a channel along that shoreline, and on the opposite side of the channel is a stump field (underwater most of the time); also you can work the shoreline on the east, there's plenty of areas for you there too...

Good Luck, get a biggun.

[dandelion]

oh my!  i have so many places to try.    i wish i could fish every day!  weeeeeeeeeeeeeee  i'll surely get a big one if i did

[pkghost]

Hey there, new to the forums here.

We have been fishing on the Kankakee and have been trying to to find some more good shore spots in the area.

We haven't had too much luck at Black Oak recently, so we were thinking about giving Wolf Lake a shot.

Anyone got some directions to some nice shore spots there?

Thanks.

Also has anyone in the area had any luck finding any large minnow. We have tried about 7 bait shops and nobody seems to be able to get chubs, suckers, shiners...anything..

[dandelion]

for minnows.. try mik lurch.  7025 indianapolis blvd in hammond.

(219) 989-0575  just call and see what they have.  i'm sure they will have something for you.

as far as good shore spots.  i would try somewhere off forsythe (sp?) park.  thats where i seem to see most people fish.  there are a LOT of spots... depending on what you are looking for.  you just turn right on 119th off of calumet.  that's where i notice most people fish anyway.   i'm still trying to find the perfect spot myself... but throughout my life.. fishing in that area i have caught everything under the sun.. from muskee to really big bass.  i try to fish the lake once a week to find something amazing.. but i'm still working on it.     

[TheOriginalFishaholic]

This is Fall Fishing at its best...try a 5/8 oz. black Jitterbug at Wolf Lake - work the area between the primary and secondary weedlines on the flats.

[dandelion]

what are these "flats" you speak of there buddy? 

[dandelion]

and i thought the jitterbug was a dance.   weeeeeeeeee   ;D

[TheOriginalFishaholic]

The area on either side of the "towers road" is for the most part a consistant 4 foot flat...off Sheffield Ave. to the West is a gravel/slag road (more or less) at 129th St. - it's paved going East, and gravel/slag going West. Go West and just before you hit the toll road, follow it to the North and it should take you to the "towers road".

[pkghost]

Will be hitting up a few spots along Wolf Lake in a few hours. Thanks.

[dandelion]

how did you do?

[pkghost]

Didn't do well at Wolf Lake. But the water was very rough.

Towers road was a little scary driving out to

Didn't make it around to Forsythe Park this time.

Ended up running out to the Kankakee and nailed a Northern within the first hour. A large northern hit as well but snapped the line.

Caught a few undersized largemouth as well, kinda looks like they just stocked or something. There were lots of little guys poppin the surface.

Thanks for the tip on Mik Lurch they had what we wanted.