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RUSSELLS POINT, Ohio – As the leaves are just beginning to change color, warm fall weather is keeping fishermen busy at Indian Lake and many of the state’s other lakes and streams.
At 5,800 acres, Indian Lake in Logan County ranks third among Ohio’s ten largest inland lakes. Grand Lake St. Marys in Mercer and Auglaize counties is the largest inland lake at 13,500 acres, followed by Trumbull County’s Mosquito Creek Reservoir at 7,850 acres.
Indian Lake was built in 1853 as a reservoir feeder of the Great Miami River and first contained only 1,000 surface acres of water. Work to enlarge the lake began in 1856. There are 68 islands and connecting channels here that offer a variety of good fishing spots.
Fishing opportunities this year are rated excellent for channel catfish and saugeyes. Night fishing in areas of the lake that have underwater currents is most productive for channel catfish anglers when using nightcrawlers and cut baits fished along the bottom. The tributary streams offer good fishing for channel catfish early in the year immediately after the ice has melted.
Saugeyes were stocked annually by the Division of Wildlife beginning in 1990. More than 575,000 saugeye fingerlings were released here in 1997 and 1998. Approximately 600,000 saugeyes were released this year.
"Saugeye fishing generally begins to improve in October, but December and January are perhaps the best months," said Steve Graham, the wildlife agency’s fish management supervisor for central Ohio. "The best saugeye fishing locations would include South Bank, which has a lot of public access, the area around Dream Bridge that links with the central lake islands, and the Moundwood Canal. Our only management work at present is collecting new data on water depths across the lake to update our public fishing map of Indian Lake."
Most of the lake averages about six feet deep.
Largemouth bass offer good fishing opportunities through autumn. Most of these fish measure 12 to 18 inches. Anglers generally cast spinners, 6-inch plastic worms, weedless spoons, and small crankbaits in areas around submerged stumps and logs, and in areas around aquatic vegetation. Using live bait such as nightcrawlers and softcraws is also productive in catching bass. Anglers may only keep bass that measure 12 inches or more.
Bluegills and crappies offer good shoreline fishing for those who may not own a boat. There are a variety of public fishing accesses found along the 29 miles of shoreline, including those at Indian Lake State Park. The 670-acre park offers picnic, restroom, and campground facilities in addition to boat docks and ramps, and seven miles of hiking trails.
Indian Lake also is a highly popular ice fishing lake when conditions are safe during winter. Saugeyes, bluegills, crappies, yellow perch, and the occasional largemouth bass are taken through the ice by anglers hearty enough to brave cold winter temperatures.
White bass and carp provide additional fishing opportunities here as well. Most white bass measure 10 to 14 inches and are caught along South Bank during April. In the summer months, anglers prefer to fish for white bass at night with minnows near any of the bridges. Bow fishing remains popular in the many marsh areas, especially in May when searching for carp. Elsewhere, anglers can catch carp in shallow water when using doughballs, worms, and softcraws.
"This is a particularly attractive lake located between Bellefontaine and Wapokaneta off of U.S. Route 33. It’s among our oldest man-made lakes and is a popular fishing and boating destination for many Ohioans," said Graham.
Uploaded: 10/2/1999
Uploaded: 10/2/1999