Indiana DNR will change its 2027 Lake Michigan fish stocking to keep anglers supplied with robust, sizable salmonids. The agency will cut chinook salmon numbers from 275,000 to 200,000, placing about 67,000 at East Chicago, Portage and Michigan City each.

That 11 percent drop from 2026 follows earlier tweaks over two decades aimed at balancing predators and prey after biologists noted more salmon but smaller fish and fewer baitfish. The shift also lets hatcheries put out bigger winter-run steelhead yearlings next spring and rear 20,000 extra fall fingerling Skamania steelhead.