Indiana fishing reports
75 reports for Indiana — what's biting, water temps, and where to focus.
Wabash at 10,700 cfs: Spring Bass Go Shallow, Lake Michigan Salmon Season Opens
The USGS gauge at site 03335500 put the Wabash River at 10,700 cfs on the morning of May 4 — elevated spring flow that's characteristically pushing bass out of the main channel and into calmer backwaters and flooded timber along the banks. Wired 2 Fish this week covered exactly the technique that fits these conditions: a swimbait to cover shallow water and locate pre-spawn and spawn-phase fish, followed by a finesse bait to extract bites from fish sitting on structure. On Lake Michigan's Indiana shoreline, early May is traditionally the opening act for chinook and coho salmon, though no charter or shop reports from the region were available this cycle to confirm current activity. Walleye and channel catfish round out the Wabash's spring lineup, holding in deeper current seams and eddy pockets behind structure during these elevated flows. The waning gibbous moon favors early morning and late evening feeding pushes through the week.
Indiana Lake Michigan Shore Eyes Coho Arrival as Full Moon Peaks
On The Water's Captain Joe Fonzi podcast this week highlighted goby-driven smallmouth and walleye dynamics across the Great Lakes — and while his focus was Lake Erie, the forage pattern is directly relevant to Indiana's Lake Michigan shoreline as early May arrives under a Full Moon. No buoy readings or local charter reports landed in this cycle's feeds for the Indiana stretch, leaving confirmed conditions thin. Seasonal expectations, however, point toward an active transition window: yellow perch typically spread into open-water feeding zones this week, coho salmon commonly begin staging nearshore in early May ahead of their midsummer offshore push, and smallmouth bass should be creeping shallower as lake temperatures climb. The Full Moon adds a favorable solunar angle — concentrated feeding bouts near dawn and dusk are realistic, and lit pier structures can produce well into the night. Treat all species timing as seasonal expectation, not confirmed on-water intel, and verify conditions locally before launching.
Wabash River Surging at 15,300 cfs; Lake Michigan Spring Bite Building
The Wabash River recorded 15,300 cfs at USGS gauge 03335500 on May 2 — a reading that puts the mainstem in high, fast, and almost certainly turbid condition following recent runoff across the watershed. That level typically displaces walleye and sauger from their usual riffle haunts and pushes catfish into slack eddies and flooded backwater timber. Wired 2 Fish reported crappie actively staging for pre-spawn across the Midwest this week, a pattern that fits Indiana reservoirs and river oxbows squarely in their best fishing window of the year — brushpile presentations at 3–6 feet should produce through the weekend. On the Lake Michigan side, we're in the heart of the coho and brown trout trolling window along the Indiana shoreline, with surface temps climbing toward the mid-50s. No buoy data was available for Lake Michigan this cycle. The full moon this weekend compresses productive windows to dawn and dusk, when feeding activity peaks.