Registration for the annual Becoming an Outdoors-Woman (BOW) workshop, which is open to women ages 18 and older, opened March 1. The BOW workshop will be held May 1-3 at Ross Camp in West Lafayette, Ind.

BOW is designed for women to learn outdoor skills in a relaxed, low-pressure environment. Participants will choose four activities from more than two dozen offerings, including fishing, archery, geocaching, wildlife tracking, shooting muzzleloader firearms, and outdoor cooking.

For more information on the camp go to: https://www.indianabow.com/about.php

Fishing For Walleye

The walleye spawn in early spring is an ideal time to catch these elusive fish. During this period, walleye will move out of their usual lake sanctuaries and journey up feeder streams to the shallows to lay eggs. Shore fishing can be a fun and simple way to catch them during this time.

To effectively catch walleye, try crankbaits in chartreuse or baitfish color patterns along the shoreline during low-light conditions and evening-to-nighttime hours. Other helpful tactics include jigging with a ball head jig and a plastic body. 

There are many lakes in Indiana where you can target these amazing fish, including Brookville, Patoka, and Monroe. The fish are known for their delicious filets, so head out this spring and give walleye fishing a try.

Walleye are fish-eaters, preferring deeper waters of lakes and large rivers, moving to shallow flats to feed during darker hours.

The large, opaque eyes of a walleye are efficient at gathering light. They tend to retreat to deep, dark water during the day and move into shallower areas (5-10 ft.) to feed at night. Walleye tend to prefer rock or gravel bottoms, drop off areas and points. Standing timber areas in reservoirs can be a good place to fish for walleye in midsummer.

Walleye fishing in tailwaters depends greatly on the discharge from dams, but fishing can be excellent from March through May. When flows from the reservoirs are high, fish migrate upstream toward the dam. Some walleye are also flushed from the reservoir and hang below the dam. Reservoir tailwaters provide ample shore-fishing areas.

Adopt A Public Access Site

With about 400 public access sites throughout the state, the Adopt-A-Ramp program is a great opportunity for individuals and groups looking to give back to nature through volunteering.

Adopt-A-Ramp is a flexible volunteer opportunity for families, individuals, corporate workgroups, or organizations to contribute to healthy waterways, wildlife, and recreation at DNR-managed public access sites.

Collecting trash, removing debris from ramps, cutting back vegetation, and reporting site issues to public access staff are all ways Adopt-A-Ramp volunteers help leave Indiana’s waterways a healthier resource for people and wildlife.

You’ll first need to visit the Division of Fish & Wildlife volunteer page to create a volunteer profile. Once your profile is complete, you can sign up for the Adopt-A-Ramp opportunity directly.

    You will receive a follow up email from DFW staff to help locate an adoptable ramp and connect you to welcome resources.

Once approved, you can care for your ramp by collecting trash and sharing any site issues with staff in a timely manner. Plan to visit your site at least three times during the calendar year.

 Remember to report your volunteer hours to staff. The hours recorded for this volunteer opportunity allow the public access team to leverage the value of volunteer time and use more federal grant funding to support projects.

‘till next time,  

Jack

Readers can contact the author by writing to this publication or e-mail Jack at jackspaulding1971@outlook.com 

Spaulding’s books, “The Best Of Spaulding Outdoors” and “The Coon Hunter And The Kid” are available from Amazon.com as a paperback or Kindle download.