Warm water walleye

Cooler temperatures bring big walleyes back to southern Lake Michigan
By Javier Serna

With the Port of Indiana closed to anglers in the wake of 9-11, the question of whether or not walleye can still be caught in southern Lake Michigan is key.

There are a handful of diehard walleye anglers quietly catching walleye in the southern end of Lake Michigan as they’ve doing for years -- before a state-record fish was caught at the Port earlier this year. That fish, subsequently, was disqualified as a state record fish because it was taken inside the controversially restricted area. The Port attracts large walleye, among other species of fish, inside its walls during the cooler months in the fall, winter and spring because of its warm-water discharge.

Mike Starcevich, owner of Mik-Lurch Tackle in Hammond, said the fish are still there for the taking. He noted that warm-water discharges aren’t exclusive to the Port, though another one of his favorite spots, the Dean Mitchell Plant in East Chicago, was also closed in the name of terrorism protection. Like the Port, Mitchell has warm water discharges that attract fish in the cooler months of the Midwest. But Starcevich frequents other unclosed warm-water discharges as well as the areas around the shut-down spots. “They’re at all the discharges on the lake,” said Starcevich, who named off Inland Steel in the East Chicago Harbor as well inside and out of Pastrick’s Marina and the Gary Lighthouse, . At the Port, Starcevich will hit up the main point all the way around the west wall.

As the water temperature dips down into the upper 60s at the passing of summer, the walleye start following bait fish, which are also drawn to the warm water. “It doesn’t matter how cold it gets,” said Starcevich, adding fishing actually gets better the colder the water gets. The fish are easy to target. “It’s like shooting fish in a barrel,” he said. “They’ll be here as soon as the water comes down temperature wise. They’re food magnets.” Starcevich, for that matter, believes there are walleye at the south end of the lake year round. “I’ve caught them every month of the year just to prove that they’ve stayed,” he said. “Scuba divers back that up. They see them every month of the year.” There’s two different groups of walleye around: Residents and roamers.
The roamers, he said, are the bigger of the two, and they’re the ones that start showing up as the water cools, which, for the last couple of years, has been near the middle and end of September. “The big ones come back here,” he said. Then, he said, the key is going after them at night, which is typical of catching walleye in clear water. This can be a problem at Gary Lighthouse because there is some risk in running around the wall there at night. “There’s not too many people that are going to try and take chances at Gary Light,” he said, admitting he’s had some close calls there and said it’s not a good idea heading out on nights when the waves are more than 2 feet.

A steady barometer is good, but the direction of the wind has little impact because regardless of its course because the warm water is still there. He’ll cast crankbaits, sitting over 20-24 feet of water and cast towards the rock pilings with baits. Husky Jerks in Nos. 10 and 12 and Shad Raps in Nos. 8 and 9 are standard, and blue and silver is the main pattern. Rattlin’ Rogues and Reef Runners in similar sizes are also among the fall arsenal. “I hit the break-wall rocks,” said Starcevich, who isn’t shy in his retrieve, calling it more of a “ripping action.” “It’s more of a reaction bite,” he said. But like walleye anywhere else, the initial bite is more of a tick. Then the fight begins.

Contact Javier Serna at outsidej@msn.com.