12-14-2001, 02:03 PM
Record St. Joe steelhead migration<br> ------------------------------------------<br>Awesome spring fishing forecasted<br>-------------------------------------------<br><br>Record numbers of steelhead trout are migrating up the St. Joseph River<br>through South Bend, Ind.<br><br>By Dec. 1, biologists counted 8,138 steelhead migrating through the fish<br>ladder. The previous highest total of fish counted during the fall run was<br>in 1999, when 7,970 steelhead swam through the ladder.<br><br>Bob Bell, assistant manager at Bodine State Fish Hatchery, attributes the<br>record run to several factors. "This year's water levels and mild weather<br>have been the best we've had in a long time," said Bell.<br><br>DNR fisheries biologist Neil Ledet forecasts good fishing. "Those numbers<br>are really great news. It means the steelhead population is doing well and<br>fishing for steelhead should be awesome this spring." <br><br>"Next spring, when the thaw increases the river flow, look for steelhead to<br>move out of winter holding water into the faster runs. Presentations that<br>get down to the fish in the faster water should be productive," said Ledet. <br><br>DNR fish hatcheries stock more than 1.1 million trout and salmon into Lake<br>Michigan tributaries every year. These fish grow up in Lake Michigan and<br>return to stocked streams to spawn.<br><br>Different trout and salmon species migrate upriver from June to April.<br><br>---------------------<br><br>