Fish Lake, IN

Fish Lake lies in Lincoln Township, LaPorte County, where Indiana State Road 4 passes between Upper Fish Lake and Lower Fish Lake. The lakes feed the Kankakee River, and the community wraps around their north, west, and south shores. Before the Grand Kankakee Marsh was drained, the larger water body was known in French as Lac Tipiconeau, a name linked to buffalo fish. The modern English name is simpler, but the older one preserves the lake’s place in a much wetter landscape.

ATTRKen Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA / CC BY-SA 2.0

Water still organizes daily life. Homes, docks, boats, fishing gear, and summer gatherings sit alongside the road that crosses between the two lakes, while the Fish Lake Conservancy District gives residents a way to address water levels, shorelines, and lake health. LaPorte supplies larger shopping, jobs, and services, but the lakes remain the immediate reference point for weather, recreation, and property care. In winter, ice and wind set the pace; in warmer months, fishing and boating bring people outdoors. Fish Lake is a road-and-water community whose name, layout, and routines all come from the same pair of connected lakes.