Class I Eel River, IN

The Eel in northern Indiana is a quiet, scenic river flowing 110 miles through farmland and narrow woods. Rising as a shallow stream north of Fort Wayne, it flows southwest to feed the Wabash at Logansport. Numerous mills once dotted the Eel below South Whitley.

Along most of its path the banks are lined with thick vegetation and trees such as oaks, ashes, cottonwood and maples bordering farms which occasionally encroach to the river bank.

Log jams occur less frequently along the canoeable sections than on most Indiana rivers but some unmarked dams present a hazard for the unwary.

Fishing is very good, yielding rock bass and smallmouth bass with channel catfish, bluegill, and red horse sucker further downstream. Wildlife include wood ducks, great blue heron, kingfishers and sandpipers.(Indiana DNR Canoeing Guide)