Gravel Pit Lake Fishing Guide, Steuben County, Indiana

• Overview

  In Indiana, Gravel Pit Lake falls inside Steuben County. The land about it is lake country bush. It runs to roughly 28 acres — big enough to hold fish away from the bank, small enough to learn. By elevation it is in the upper part of our Indiana listings. For a base, Angola sits 3.7 miles out. The big place round here is Fort Wayne, 32 miles distant. Local rules may differ a few miles either side of here.

• Where to Fish on Gravel Pit Lake

  There is no recorded depth, so work from what you can see. Held water runs deepest at the wall and shallows back to the inflow. Rip-rap along the wall holds fish that the open bank never does. Reported across Steuben County: bluegill, yellow perch and largemouth bass. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. Gravel Pit Lake repays a walk before the first cast.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Between January at about 22°F and July at about 71°F, the water has a wide range to work through. The freeze arrives properly here and holds. Ice-out usually falls in late March, and the weeks after it fish hardest. Break-up sits around late March on average, with the water closing again about mid December. Late spring and early autumn carry the year between them. Gravel Pit Lake fishes to that pattern most years.

• Tackle & Baits

  The rules here are undocumented as far as public sources go. There is a mapped slipway roughly half a mile away. Parking sits half a mile out, which makes for a walk with tackle. A recognised fishing spot is mapped about half a mile away. A camping area sits within half a mile of here. A rest area sits about half a mile from the water. There are toilets half a mile off. Rules for this water may differ from the county norm. Long Lake at 0.4 miles is the sensible second choice. For Gravel Pit Lake in particular, ask before you travel.