Recommend me a fishing spot - St. Joseph/Elkhart county

[TB1999]

I know people are reluctant to give out info on fishing holes, but I was hoping my INGO connections would come through.

I'm looking for a spot to take my 6 yr old son fishing from the shore. Not looking for big steelheads but more something than can be reeled in by a kid with basic equipment.

Can anyone recommend a public spot, or even better, private land that someone will allow us to go once or twice a month. Willing to pay a small fee for use of private land.

Thanks!

 

[trophyhunter]

Some of the best fishing around is just to the South of you near Bremen on Lake Of The Woods. It's stocked with Walleye by the DNR and is full of gills, perch, big cats and white stripe bass.

There's a campground on the NW corner of the lake called Rupert's that still rents aluminum rowboats, IIRC it's 15.00 for a half day rental and all you need do is row out about 35 yards to the lilly pads and let him catch blue gills.

There's some decent walleye can be caught from the North bank on the St' Joe river on the west side of Main Street bridge, just use a torpedo weight with the rubber insert about 20" back from the hook baited with a nightcrawler and tossed out into that fast water there to sit on the bottom. I anchor there regularly and see more fish caught there from the bank fisherman than any other stretch of the river.

 

[Tin Cup]

Any place in Central Park in Mishawaka. Steel head run seems to be slowing down but I am always seeing guys catch other fish. A week or so ago I ran into a couple guys that had 2 walleye, 17 and 19 inches. I've had a buddy catch some smaller smallmouth bass lately.

 

[ghuns]

The Benton Dam area on the Elkhart River, close to New Paris, has some pretty good smallmouth fishing.