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Fishing in Indiana
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Maynard Lake (Centennial Park)
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Fishing regulations in Indiana
Disclaimer: Always check local fishing regulations, water access rights and land ownership before fishing, regardless of any catches logged in that area by the Fishbrain community. Fishbrain has mapped millions of acres of government-owned land across the USA to help you identify potential fishing access, but you are responsible for ensuring compliance with all legal requirements.
Fishing regulations in Indiana can change throughout the year. Make sure to check this page before fishing for the most up to date rules and regulations for the current season. Local regulations govern when you can fish, the max size of the fish you can keep, how many fish you can keep, and more.
Below you will see fishing regulations for catching Smallmouth bass as of May 29th, 2026. To view regulations for a different fish species, please click on your preferred species in the drop-down.
Seasons
Bag limit
Min size
Measurement
Aggregate
These regulations are for smallmouth bass in lakes.
Smallmouth bass regulations for rivers and streams are as follows:
- size limit = no black bass 12 to 15-inches total length may be kept, and no more than 2 black bass over 15-inches total length may be kept;
- daily bag limit = 5 black bass (any combination of largemouth, smallmouth, or spotted bass)
Smallmouth bass regulations for Lake Michigan are as follows:
- minimum size = 14-inches total length;
- daily bag limit = 3 black bass (any combination of largemouth, smallmouth, or spotted bass)
Special Regulations for Lakes:
Lake Limits by County
15-inch minimum size limit:
- Patoka Lake (Orange, Dubois, and Crawford counties)
16-inch minimum size limit:
- Cecil M. Harden Lake (Parke County)
18-inch minimum size limit and two fish daily bag limit:
- Ball Lake (Steuben County)
- Blue Grass, Loon Pit (Warrick County)
- Fidler Pond (Elkhart County)
- Failing Lake, also known as Gentian Lake (Steuben County)
- Flat Fork Creek Park ponds A and B (Hamilton County)
- Kunkel Lake (Wells County)
- Robinson Lake (Whitley and Kosciusko counties)
- All lakes at Tri-County Fish & Wildlife Area (Kosciukso, Noble, and Elkhart counties)
- Bixler Lake, Henderson Lake, Little Long Lake, and Round Lake (Noble County)
20-inch minimum size limit and one fish daily bag limit:
- Turtle Creek Reservoir (Sullivan County)
12- to 15-inch slot size limits (At the following lakes, smallmouth bass that are from 12 to 15 inches in length may not be harvested. The daily bag limit applies to bass under 12 inches and over 15 inches):
• Buffalo Trace Lake (Harrison County)
• Ferdinand State Forest Lake (Dubois County)
• Montgomery City Park Lake (Daviess County)
12- to 15-inch slot size limit (no more than two bass larger than 15 inches):
- Big Long Lake (LaGrange County)
No minimum size limit waters:
- Brownstown Pit (Jackson County)
- Burdette Park lakes (Vanderburgh County)
- Chandler Town Lake (Warrick County)
- Cypress Lake (Jackson County)
- Deming Park lakes (Vigo County)
- Garvin Park Lake (Vanderburgh County)
- Glen Miller Pond (Wayne County)
- Hayswood Lake (Harrison County)
- Henry County Memorial Park Lake (Henry County)
- Hovey Lake at Hovey Lake Fish & Wildlife Area (Posey County)
- Krannert Lake (Marion County)
- Lake Sullivan (Marion County)
- Ruster Lake (Marion County)
- Schnebelt Pond (Dearborn County)
Special Regulations for Rivers & Streams
Ohio River
- daily bag limit = 6 black bass (any combination of largemouth, smallmouth, or spotted bass)
- minimum size = 12-inches total length
20-inch minimum size limit and one fish daily bag limit:
- Sugar Creek (Montgomery, Parke, Boone, Clinton, and Tipton counties)
12-inch minimum size limit (5 bass daily limit):
- All rivers and streams in Posey, Vanderburgh, Warrick, Spencer, Perry, Crawford, Harrison, Floyd, Clark, Jefferson, Switzerland, Ohio, and Dearborn counties (with the exception of the Blue River, where the slot limit applies in Crawford, Harrison, and Washington counties).
Micropterus dolomieui
Regulations for
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