Stream and river trout turn catch and release on January 1 until mid-April while lake trout stay open, and from February 16 shelters must come off the ice every day. Licenses run to March 31. On Lake Michigan the coldest months move the fishing into the streams and the warm discharges, and the Ohio and the Wabash run on agreements with Kentucky and Illinois.
What to fish for in early November
Indiana is two states in the cold months. Up north the glacial lakes lock up in most years and give panfish and early-ice pike to anglers on foot, down south the big impoundments stay open, and on the Lake Michigan shore the fishing shifts into the creeks and the warm discharges at Whiting and Michigan City. Sauger hold below the Ohio River dams all winter.
These notes cover the whole winter, the ice included. In early November, Lake Wawasee is usually still open water, at about 53F.
Bluegill
Takes small baits from first ice and keeps biting until spring, the bigger fish on the deeper weed edges.
Where. Weed edges and soft-bottom flats on the glacial lakes of the northeast, around Angola, Syracuse and Rome City.
The bluegill waters we forecast Water Usual water now Forecast Lake Wawasee about 53F Best Mon, Nov 9, BToday's forecast Yellow Perch
Wanders the deep basins of the larger lakes in loose bands, and on the Lake Michigan shore gathers in the harbors.
Where. Lake Wawasee, Maxinkuckee and the other deep glacial lakes, and the Lake Michigan harbors.
Northern Pike
Hunts the weed edges under first ice and is the fish the tip-ups are set for, slowing as the winter deepens.
Where. The northeast lakes, Tippecanoe and the Steuben County chains among them, and the lakes of the Kankakee sands to the northwest.
Steelhead
Runs the Lake Michigan creeks all season, more of them after each thaw, and gathers near the warm discharges in the coldest weeks.
Where. Trail Creek at Michigan City, the Little Calumet and the St. Joseph below Twin Branch Dam.
The steelhead waters we forecast Water Forecast Trail Creek at Michigan City Best Mon, Nov 9, A+Today's forecast Crappie
Suspends over creek channels and deep brush in the big southern impoundments, which stay open water in most winters.
Where. Monroe, Patoka and Brookville lakes, and Cagles Mill and the upper Wabash reservoirs.
The crappie waters we forecast Water Usual water now Forecast Brookville Lake about 57F Best Thu, Nov 5, A+Today's forecast
Usual water now is that water's normal for this point in the season: a lake's modeled seasonal curve or a river gauge's long-run average, not this year's reading. The forecast link reads this week's.
What changes soon
Nothing on this report's calendar for Indiana in the next six weeks.
Every date for Indiana from November to February (2)
- Fri January 1Indiana's stream and river trout turn catch and release until April 14; trout in lakes may still be kept.
- Tue February 16Indiana's ice shelters must come off the ice every day from today, and off for good before ice-out.
This week's fishing reports
This report covers the season. For what was caught this week, read the people who report on this water.
Indiana is reported by its own DNR, on one page of dated entries by water: last winter they ran to late December, stopped through January and February, and came back in March. Outdoor News's Indiana report, for subscribers, went quiet over the same weeks. No other winter reporter could be found for the northern ice lakes, the southern reservoirs or the Ohio River, after searches of the shops, the bait shops and the area papers.
Where to fish in Indiana, area by area
Each water links to its live forecast. The engine outlook in these areas was generated November 3, 2026, for the 14 days from that date; good hours are the hours at or above a B+.
The Lake Michigan shore
Lake Michigan · Trail Creek · Little Calumet River · St. Joseph River · Calumet Harbor
Indiana's short Lake Michigan shore from Whiting to Michigan City: its harbors, the warm-water discharges where fish gather in the coldest months, and the streams trout and salmon run into, Trail Creek, the Little Calumet and the St. Joseph below Twin Branch Dam.
Who reports here. The DNR's Fishing Reports page carried weekly entries for the boats, the shore and the tributaries in October. Last winter it ran into December, with the steelhead counted through the South Bend fish ladder, then went quiet until March, and it says the coldest months move the fishing to the discharges at Whiting and Michigan City.
Engine outlook
- Best: Mon, Nov 9, A+10 good hours58F measured Nov 3 at TRAIL CREEK AT MICHIGAN CITY, INbest run 10h46 cfsat TRAIL CREEK AT MICHIGAN CITY, INon this water
Northern Indiana's natural lakes
Lake Wawasee · Lake Maxinkuckee · Tippecanoe Lake · Lake James · Big Turkey Lake
The glacial lakes of the northern counties, thickest in the northeast around Wawasee, Tippecanoe and the Steuben County chains and scattered west to the Kankakee sands: mostly small, weedy lakes with a few deep ones, holding bluegill, perch, pike and, in a few of them, stocked muskellunge.
Who reports here. The DNR's report page was the one source for these lakes last winter, and only until December 19: by then the northeast lakes had partial or full ice and early-ice pike and panfish, the northwest had some fishable ice depending on the day, and JC Murphey Lake at Willow Slough was closing to ice fishing on December 22 for waterfowl hunting. Nothing more was posted until March.
Engine outlook
- Best: Mon, Nov 9, B9 good hours57F modeled from this lake's own seasonal curvebest run 9h
Central and southern Indiana's reservoirs
Lake Monroe · Patoka Lake · Brookville Lake · Cagles Mill Lake · Salamonie Lake
The Corps and state reservoirs of the southern hills and the upper Wabash, Monroe, Patoka and Brookville the three largest, with the Indianapolis water-supply lakes between: crappie, walleye, bass and stocked striped and hybrid bass, in lakes that ice over less often than the northern ones.
Who reports here. The DNR's report carried Lake Monroe and Patoka Lake into October but posted nothing for any southern water last winter, and no other winter reporter could be found after searches by lake name.
Engine outlook
- Best: Thu, Nov 5, A+10 good hours61F modeled from this lake's own seasonal curvebest run 5h
The Ohio River
Ohio River · Falls of the Ohio · Markland Locks and Dam · McAlpine Locks and Dam · Cannelton Locks and Dam
Indiana's southern line from Lawrenceburg to the mouth of the Wabash, held in pools by the locks and dams at Markland, McAlpine, Cannelton, Newburgh and John T. Myers, with bank access across from Louisville at the Falls of the Ohio. The tailwaters below the dams hold sauger, hybrid striped bass and big catfish.
Who reports here. Nobody publishes a dated winter report for the river from either bank, which is also the finding on Kentucky's side. The newest account of the winter sauger fishing below the dams that could be found is a Kentucky Fish and Wildlife column from December 2020.
Engine outlook
- Best: Thu, Nov 5, A+10 good hours64F measured Nov 3 at OHIO RIVER AT MARKLAND DAM NEAR WARSAW, KYbest run 5h22900 cfsat OHIO RIVER AT MARKLAND DAM NEAR WARSAW, KYon this water
The rules from November to February
What changed this time
- No fishing rule change is pending. The rules the DNR has proposed this year cover bobcats and other wildlife, and the one item near fishing is a technical repeal of the definition of inland water.
Read on October 20, 2026, from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Fish and Wildlife (its license, Lake Michigan, ice fishing and fishing report pages and its pending rules), from title 312, article 9 of the Indiana Administrative Code, and from Indiana Code 14-22-11.
Licenses, and which state's rules apply
- A license runs from April 1 to March 31, so one bought since April covers the whole winter. Residents pay $23 a year or $10 a day; nonresidents $60 a year, $35 for seven days or $15 a day. Residents 64 and older pay $3 a year, and the oldest need no license.
- Trout and salmon need an $11 stamp on top of the license; the one-day license includes it. Anglers under 18, resident or not, need neither license nor stamp.
- On the Ohio River main stem, where it forms the Kentucky line, Indiana and Kentucky honor each other's licenses and stamps from a boat or either bank, but not in embayments or tributaries; a bank angler follows the rules of the state whose bank it is. On the Wabash, where it forms the Illinois line, each state honors the other's license within its own river banks, under the rules of the state whose water it is. Calumet Harbor on Lake Michigan has a mapped Indiana-Illinois reciprocal zone that leaves out the river banks, the bridge and the north and south slips.
Bait, gear and fish you cannot keep
- No more than three poles, hand lines or tip-ups at a time, each with no more than three hooks or lures. Trout and salmon must be hooked in the mouth. Live carp are never bait, and a fish may not be moved from one public water to another.
Lakes, ponds and rivers
- Statewide daily limits: six walleye, sauger and saugeye combined, with walleye of at least 14 inches south of State Road 26 and at least 16 inches north of it; five black bass, of at least 14 inches on lakes and reservoirs; three northern pike of at least 24 inches; one muskellunge of at least 36 inches; 25 crappie.
- Trout in streams and rivers may be kept through December 31, five a day of at least 7 inches with no more than one brown trout. From January 1 to April 14 streams and rivers are catch and release only. Trout in lakes may be kept all year, five a day with one brown trout.
- Lake Michigan and its tributaries: trout and salmon of at least 14 inches, five a day combined with no more than three lake trout; 15 yellow perch; three black bass. The St. Joseph River above Twin Branch Dam follows the inland trout rules instead.
- The Ohio River main stem, not its bays or tributaries, has its own limits: six walleye, sauger and saugeye of at least 14 inches; six black bass of at least 12 inches, with no size limit on spotted bass; 30 crappie; two muskellunge of at least 30 inches. No snagging.
Through the ice
- Through the ice: tip-ups count among the three lines, must stay in sight, and carry the owner's name and address or DNR customer number. A shelter shows the same in 3-inch letters on its door, carries a red reflector on each side when out between sunset and sunrise, and comes off the ice before ice-out; outside January 1 to February 15 it comes off every day. No hole may be wider than 12 inches.
- The DNR asks for at least four inches of clear ice to fish, five to snowmobile and eight for a car or light truck, checked with a test hole near shore: one part of a pond can be a foot thick and another an inch.
Read on these agency pages: Indiana DNR: License fees, Indiana Code 14-22-11: Licenses (2026, PDF), Kentucky 301 KAR 1:220: Reciprocal agreements regarding fishing (Kentucky Legislature), IDNR: 2026 Illinois Fishing Information (PDF), Indiana DNR: Indiana-Illinois Reciprocal Sport Fishing Zone, Calumet Harbor (map, PDF), Indiana Administrative Code 312 IAC 9: Fish and Wildlife (2026 edition), Indiana DNR: Fishing FAQs, Indiana DNR: Ice fishing safety.
The season at a glance
What these months usually do
Each lake's own seasonal curve, the one the engine scores the lake on: what these dates usually do, modeled rather than measured, and not a forecast for this year.
| Water | Nov 1 | Dec 1 | Jan 1 | Feb 1 | Feb 28 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brookville Lake | 58F | 48F | 41F | 38F | 40F |
| Lake Wawasee | 54F | 44F | 37F | 35F | 37F |
The moon from November to February
| Month | New moon | Full moon |
|---|---|---|
| November 2026 | Mon, Nov 9 | Tue, Nov 24 |
| December 2026 | Tue, Dec 8 | Wed, Dec 23 |
| January 2027 | Thu, Jan 7 | Fri, Jan 22 |
| February 2027 | Sat, Feb 6 | Sat, Feb 20 |
The U.S. Naval Observatory's dates, on local time.
Daylight in each area from November to February
Worked out for one place in each area, on its own clock.
| Area | Shortest day | Earliest sunset | Latest sunrise |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Lake Michigan shoreat Trail Creek at Michigan City | 9h 9m, Dec 21 | 5:18pm, around Dec 8 | 8:16am, around Jan 4 |
| Northern Indiana's natural lakesat Lake Wawasee | 9h 11m, Dec 21 | 5:15pm, around Dec 8 | 8:10am, around Jan 3 |
| Central and southern Indiana's reservoirsat Brookville Lake | 9h 22m, Dec 21 | 5:17pm, around Dec 7 | 8:02am, around Jan 4 |
| The Ohio Riverat Ohio River below Markland Dam | 9h 27m, Dec 21 | 5:20pm, around Dec 7 | 8:00am, around Jan 5 |