Bikes welcome back on South Shore. Plus news about Great Lakes shores, river otter trapping
Starting April 9, you can again board with your bike on South Shore trains out of South Bend and points west. For the first time, too, bikes can roll aboard at the Michigan City, Portage/Ogden Dunes and Miller stations.
Bikes haven’t been permitted for two years in South Bend and other eastern points on the rail line during work on the big double track project between Michigan City and Gary that promises to shave several minutes off of your trips.
Well, the double track project is now concluding. That also means there’ll no more busing as of April 9 — a relief to all South Shore riders.
Finally, cyclists will be good to ride on the line that leads to Chicago. It’s not only a safer, more relaxed and cheaper (no parking) way to visit the big city. It’s also a chance to visit spots along the Lake Michigan shore, like the Indiana Dunes and now Michigan City, too — without a car.
Train-inspired development: Ground broken for apartments at site of new South Shore train station in Michigan City
The Bikes on Trains season normally runs from April 1 to Oct. 31. I'm told that an updated schedule is expected soon to the South Shore website. In the past, Saturdays and Sundays have offered more trains throughout the day that permit bikes, to support folks focused on fun and recreation. Weekday trains generally permitted bikes on trains in the early morning and evening hours, more focused on commuters.
Here at the eastern terminus, passengers and bikes board at the South Bend International Airport.
Michigan City was never able to allow bikes on board because there wasn’t a level place to safely roll your bike inside, rather than using steps. That has changed with a newly built 11th Street station. The same improvements have been made, too, at Portage/Ogden Dunes and Miller.
Cyclists can also board with bikes this year at Dune Park, East Chicago, Hammond and several Chicago stations.
Learn more and watch for an updated scheduled in a link here in the text of this column online.
Protecting Great Lakes coasts
Speaking of the lakeshore, anyone can join a virtual meeting to provide input April 10 for Indiana residents and April 11 for Michigan residents on a study to assess Lake Michigan coastal areas that could be vulnerable to future storms, flooding and erosion and to identify ways to make the shoreline more resilient.
Indiana residents can drop in at 10 a.m. EDT April 10 and Michigan residents at 2 p.m. April 11 for what’s expected to be a 2.5-hour meeting on the Great Lakes Coastal Resiliency Study. You'll get an overview of the study and have a chance to give feedback “to shape a shared vision for the Great Lakes coast,” organizers say, though there will be other ways to give input, too.
This is hosted by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources’ Lake Michigan Coastal Program and similarly by Michigan’s DNR.
The study is being done in a total of states that likewise share coasts on the Great Lakes. A recording of the meeting will be available afterwards. Link to that that and more information in text here in this column online.
River otter trapping
The public has a chance to comment until April 11 on a rule change that would allow the trapping of river otters in all of Indiana’s 92 counties.
The trapping season, which runs from Nov. 15 to March 15, had opened this past season to 78 counties, up from 66 counties when the state started permitting otter trapping in 2015. That has already included St. Joseph, LaPorte, Porter, Marshall, Elkhart, LaGrange and Kosciusko counties. The state has added counties year by year as the river otter population has “continued to thrive in Indiana,” says state wildlife biologist Geriann Albers, who’s the furbearer and turkey program leader.
The Indiana Department of Natural Resources is seeking the rule change since it can no longer set regulations through an emergency rule, thanks to a recent change in Indiana Code because of House Enrolled Act 1623-2023. Until now, DNR had used an emergency rule to set the counties and quotas each year.
So, the department is simplifying the process by letting all 92 counties participate. The state says it will allow residents in some counties to deal with human-wildlife conflicts, for example when a homeowner has a pond.
The proposed rule change simplifies other parts but keeps regulations for the statewide quota, bag limits, reporting and tagging.
“We take the responsibility of balancing differing views regarding wildlife seriously and are thoughtful about making small, incremental changes to river otter rules,” Albers says. “Indiana DNR is confident the changes will not negatively impact river otter populations, which staff will continue to monitor.” Trappers sell the fur pelts. The DNR reports that about 10% of the 4,000 or so licensed trappers in the state successfully harvest an otter each year.
St. Joseph County has seen the fewest otters trapped in our area, just one this season and as many as four in 2019-’20. Elkhart County ranged from 10 this season to 23 last season. Marshall County varied from eight to 24 in recent years and LaPorte County from nine to 16. The maximum limit this past season was 750. For a map and county-by-county numbers of river otters trapped across the state, find a link in the text here of this column online.
To comment on the proposed rule online by April 11, visit IN.gov/nrc/rules/rulemaking-docket and find the “Submit Comments Here” link under “River Otter Trapping Rule.” Or mail comments to Natural Resources Commission, Indiana Government Center North, 100 N. Senate Ave., Room N103, Indianapolis, IN 46204.
Record smallmouth
If you’re looking to catch a record smallmouth bass in Indiana, Rex Remington recently made it harder for you. The Indiana resident caught an 8 pound, 4 ounce smallmouth bass on Monroe Lake south of Bloomington on March 3, beating the prior state record by a whole pond. The last record had been set in 1992 on Twin Lake in LaGrange County, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources reports.
Remington released the bass back into the lake. So if you want to fool that fish again, ... well, you better not wait. Fishing for smallmouth in lakes is best in early spring, the DNR advises, since they feed aggressively before spawning. When the water warms up, smallmouth move into rocky points and flat rocky areas. The best lures are the ones that imitate prey, like spinnerbaits, crayfish-patterned crankbaits, surface lures and live minnows or crayfish.
Spring nature notebook
It is full-on spring, and nature is letting us know.
Osprey have migrated back to their nests, including the platform near Saint Mary’s College across the St. Joe River from Riverside Drive/Riverside Trail and Lathrop Place in South Bend, along with the platform at St. Patrick’s County Park.
Just a bit to the north of the Saint Mary’s osprey, great blue heron have returned to their rookery, with well more than a dozen large nests filling two huge trees that are visible now before the trees leaf out. From the osprey viewing spot, walk a little bit north on Riverside Trail to see it.
A friend recently spied a loon on Worster Lake at Potato Creek County Park, a common stopover for migrating waterfowl; so listen for that lovely, throaty call if you’re hiking there this spring, before they fly north.
Among the various spring woodland wildflowers, I see reports of Dutchman’s breeches now blooming in northwest Indiana. Which native flowers do you see blooming? Send me a note.
∎ Wildflower Bioblitz: There is no time to delay. It’s time to walk carefully and scan the greenery along the floor of any woods you visit for native wildflowers. Most of their elegant blooms will be gone by the time the leaves have fully leafed out. So, Elkhart County Parks challenges folks of any age to identify and document these early bloomers in a Spring Wildflower BioBlitz from April 1 to May 31. You’ll use the free iNaturalist app, where you’ll post photos of flowers, guess what you saw (the app will help to identify it), note its location and make other observations. The wildflowers can be anywhere in Elkhart County. Last year, the program documented and identified 66 species. Find the how-to details in a link here in the text of this column online.
∎ Dunes birding: It doesn’t matter what your birding skill level is. You can join Dunes-Calumet Audubon Society leader and naturalist Dan Barriball for a two- to three-hour walk to look for spring migrants at 8 a.m. CDT April 6 at Indiana Dunes State Park in Chesterton. Meet at the Wilson Shelter parking lot. Registration is required, and you can do so in a link here in the text of this column online.
∎ Pink moon night hike: What eclipse? There’s a pink full moon coming. And from 8:30 to 10 p.m. April 23, St. Patrick’s County Park in South Bend invites you to don a pink outfit and do a self-guided hike on the trails, then have a pink drink and treat as you make pink slime. It costs $5 per person. Register by April 16 at 574-654-3155.
Find columnist Joseph Dits on Facebook at SBTOutdoorAdventures or 574-235-6158 or jdits@sbtinfo.com.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Bikes back on South Shore trains in Michigan City, South Bend; otters
