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Indiana => Ice Fishing Indiana => Topic started by: erikschultz99 on Feb 11, 2022, 05:13 PM

Title: Lake Michigan Coho
Post by: erikschultz99 on Feb 11, 2022, 05:13 PM
Has anyone thought about or heard of any bites going on for coho up in portage or michigan city

Thanks! & tight lines
Title: Re: Lake Michigan Coho
Post by: Gartoon on Feb 11, 2022, 06:04 PM
Not yet  but sooooooon  ;D
Title: Re: Lake Michigan Coho
Post by: river_scum on Feb 11, 2022, 07:13 PM
end of march
Title: Re: Lake Michigan Coho
Post by: stanton21 on Feb 11, 2022, 07:43 PM
Ditch is on fire.  Casting or floating shrimp,worms or sacks..
Title: Re: Lake Michigan Coho
Post by: fishersofmen on Feb 12, 2022, 11:32 AM
someone i know got 4 coho yesterday but they went all over the lake....plus fished the ditch....not sure if they were keeper coho or how many were caught in the ditch....i was in my kayak and had one hit close to kayak but it was only on for a few seconds....was not a laker unless it was a small one....felt like a 1-1/2# something
Title: Re: Lake Michigan Coho
Post by: MC_angler on Feb 14, 2022, 12:46 PM
Michigan City locked back up. Bite has been slow there.  A few caught by the warm water in the Ditch

Probably in 2-3 weeks it will be starting to pick up

Don't wait for word of a hot bite - if you wait til you hear about it to go, there's a good chance you'll miss the best fishing
Title: Re: Lake Michigan Coho
Post by: JDH46151 on Feb 15, 2022, 11:59 AM
I would love to get on some fish up there.  I went once last year and didn't catch a thing.  I think I was a couple of weeks early.  A few guys had fish at the pier but no one I talked to inland had much luck.
Title: Re: Lake Michigan Coho
Post by: northrn-duck-assassin on Feb 15, 2022, 07:09 PM
This warmer weather coming next week after the precip will start kicking the fish into gear. 1st of march is a target date to start trying on a regular basis. For about a good 4-6 weeks of shore fishing
Title: Re: Lake Michigan Coho
Post by: brad3324 on Feb 23, 2022, 12:17 PM
Anything going yet? I've only been out in a boat but I work in Valpo now and would like to do some after work trips somewhere. Any advice would be great.
Title: Re: Lake Michigan Coho
Post by: river_scum on Feb 23, 2022, 08:03 PM
couple weeks yet but its coming.
Title: Re: Lake Michigan Coho
Post by: tnrandy on Feb 23, 2022, 09:34 PM
If you get the opportunity stop in at Sleez’s bait shop in Lake Staton and get the latest info. There should be some at Portage river walk and into the ditch. If any of the launches are not iced up you can troll shallow presentations from the Midwest Steel discharge to the mouth of the ditch. The USGS gauge located under the green bridge shows more flow and the level is up from before the last rain. You can find data from the past 3 hours on the web site. The water clarity will be poor as it always is. I have started as early as February 12 some years.
Title: Re: Lake Michigan Coho
Post by: tnrandy on Feb 23, 2022, 09:40 PM
I know this is a ice fishing forum but I had to sneak that in. By the way the ice is holding around 6 inches in these parts of the northwest Indiana with some of the edges iffy. It won’t be much longer before open water.
Title: Re: Lake Michigan Coho
Post by: brad3324 on Feb 24, 2022, 09:59 AM
Thanks for the info!
Title: Re: Lake Michigan Coho
Post by: wallin on Feb 24, 2022, 10:33 AM
Do they charge to get into Portage River front now
Title: Re: Lake Michigan Coho
Post by: redjones on Feb 24, 2022, 06:33 PM
I was there last week and have never been charged anything in years past either,so no for now.


          Greg
Title: Re: Lake Michigan Coho
Post by: MC_angler on Mar 03, 2022, 07:46 AM
Do they charge to get into Portage River front now

Starts March 31st

$15 daily or   $45 for the annual National Park Pass
Title: Re: Lake Michigan Coho
Post by: wallin on Mar 06, 2022, 10:22 PM
Thanks Ben
Title: Re: Lake Michigan Coho
Post by: R.S. on Mar 07, 2022, 11:17 AM
hope to hear some reports here in a week or two!  ill be ready to hit it by the 20th.
Title: Re: Lake Michigan Coho
Post by: MC_angler on Mar 09, 2022, 11:30 AM
Fishing has generally been slow but there are starting to be a few guys catching multiple fish per day in Michigan City, Burns Ditch, etc

Two people at work fished yesterday, one caught 2 shorts, and one caught 3 keepers

Main lake temps are in the low 30s, so the coming warm up should get them scooting into the relatively warmer harbor and pier areas
Title: Re: Lake Michigan Coho
Post by: JDH46151 on Mar 09, 2022, 02:07 PM
Thanks for the info.  I've been looking into going up there but the weekend weather hasn't been looking good.  I may need to take a weekday off and head up there before gas prices get higher.
Title: Re: Lake Michigan Coho
Post by: R.S. on Mar 10, 2022, 06:46 AM
im sure not making the trip with 4$+ gas!  ridiculous to say the least.  no reason for prices like this!  bad leadership
Title: Re: Lake Michigan Coho
Post by: abishop on Mar 10, 2022, 08:11 AM
im sure not making the trip with 4$+ gas!  ridiculous to say the least.  no reason for prices like this!  bad leadership
Lets go Brandon. lol
Title: Re: Lake Michigan Coho
Post by: pearcheyes on Mar 10, 2022, 08:11 PM
Looking to try trolling for coho .I don’t have down riggers or planer boards or dopey divers but can you just troll with diving plugs and still have some luck hooking up.And what plugs would anyone that trolls for them recommend.Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.
Title: Re: Lake Michigan Coho
Post by: abishop on Mar 11, 2022, 02:08 AM
j plugs, little cleos, k.o.wobbler
Title: Re: Lake Michigan Coho
Post by: Doeslayer on Mar 11, 2022, 02:17 AM
Looking to try trolling for coho .I don’t have down riggers or planer boards or dopey divers but can you just troll with diving plugs and still have some luck hooking up.And what plugs would anyone that trolls for them recommend.Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.
id imagine at times of the year so e fish can be caught that way... But you really need to get a little deeper... Dipsys arent super pricey
Title: Re: Lake Michigan Coho
Post by: pearcheyes on Mar 11, 2022, 06:04 AM
Thanks for the relies and I was mainly referring to the early spring coho where they are really close to shore
Title: Re: Lake Michigan Coho
Post by: R.S. on Mar 11, 2022, 07:36 AM
never found the need for a boat this time of year.  just chunk out some shrimp or crawlers with trout paste from shore.  the major creek mouths will fill up with fish very very soon.
Title: Re: Lake Michigan Coho
Post by: TeacherPreacher on Mar 11, 2022, 07:58 AM
Not really a Coho man, although caught bunches back in the day when all the craziness started. A few years ago we had a couple of days in March in the 70's so took my 16' Starcraft out at Portage with a buddy that loved spring Coho. Trolled around in front of break wall  and west a ways with silver and black Hot'nTots , no weight.  Had  a limit in a couple of hours. Never got more then couple hundred yards off the beach.
Teach
Title: Re: Lake Michigan Coho
Post by: 2LMKR2 on Mar 11, 2022, 10:47 AM
Looking to try trolling for coho .I don’t have down riggers or planer boards or dopey divers but can you just troll with diving plugs and still have some luck hooking up.And what plugs would anyone that trolls for them recommend.Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

You don't need anything fancy to troll this time of year. Planer boards just spread out your lures. You can still run 4 or 5 flat lines without too many tangles, just watch your turns! That's how I started years ago. Most any minnow type of lure will work. Hot'n Tots, Thin Fins, Rapalas, Reef Runners all work great! You can vary your spread depth by running a few deep divers. I use keel trolling weights quite often, I use a 30” to 36” momo leader with a snap swivel to attach the lure, and a ball swivel on the other end, then a snap swivel on the main line for the leader. If you want the lure to run deeper just add a 3/8, ½, 5/8, ¾ oz trolling weight between the main line and the leader, and you can run with or without weight and change or adjust in a matter of seconds.
Title: Re: Lake Michigan Coho
Post by: pearcheyes on Mar 11, 2022, 02:03 PM
Going to be expensive trip for sure if I would hook up or not but been watching you tube videos and I have the fever.Another question what size rods would anyone recommend .I don’t have any trolling rods per say but sportsman whate house has some relatively cheap combos that would probably work
Title: Re: Lake Michigan Coho
Post by: abishop on Mar 11, 2022, 03:14 PM
I have caught 100's of salmon and steelies with light to med action. If you are trolling for Chinock with down riggers. I can't help you. When Dean Mitchell was running we used to fish from shore. Many a day I had 5 casts = 5 fish
Title: Re: Lake Michigan Coho
Post by: 2LMKR2 on Mar 11, 2022, 05:34 PM
Just about anything you have will get you started. I caught my first coho on a 5' ultra light. For an all round rod I like a 9' to 10 ½' light action spinning rod, they are great if you want to stop trolling and do some casting. For trolling only, same length rod with a level wind reel (with a line counter) could help you at times
Title: Re: Lake Michigan Coho
Post by: Doeslayer on Mar 11, 2022, 05:51 PM
Also.... Lead core line is another way to get deeper without a lot of extra gear....would t be able to use regular spinning tackle though