Big Indiana Bass

Tourney Impacts to Bass Populations

Trips: 29     Hours: 66.5     Bass: 373     No. > 5#: 0

This is a topic that gets a lot of attention whenever the subject of bass tournaments comes up. There is a general perception in the angling public's eye that tourneys negatively affect overall fishing quality. A 1998 study by Wilde et al. found 51% of Texas anglers held this belief, while Ditton and Hunt (article by Ralph Manns) found around 40% of anglers viewed tourneys negatively. Two of the biggest concerns are the possible issue of fish relocation and concentration around selectively few release sites, and mortality due to accumulated stressors from tourney related activities (livewell confinement, weigh in procedures, etc.).

Several studies have documented limited dispersal from release sites (Lantz and Carver 1976; Gilliland 2001; Stang et al. 1996). Additionally, several studies including WIlde (1998) have documented various levels of tournament level mortality at various times of the year. What largely hasn't been addressed is the actual degree to which mortality directly affects the overall bass population in a given lake. The newest issue of the North American Journal of Fisheries Management has the most recent study to date which tries to answer this question. Entitled "Impact of Tournaments on the Largemouth Bass Population at Sam Rayburn Reservoir, Texas", this study utilized over 6,000 tagged largemouth bass scattered throughout the entire reservoir to document catch rates of legal largemouth bass from both tourney and non-tourney anglers. It then applied known (simulated) mortality rates to the actual numbers documented and accounted for miscellaneous uncertainties such as nonreporting or tag loss.

Their final conclusions:

• "At what we believe is our most realistic simulation (tournament mortality rate of 30% at our estimate of exploitation [6%]), tournament mortality only resulted in a 2% reduction of legal-length fish and contributed just 16% of angling mortality and 4% of total annual mortality."
• "We conclude that the tournament-related impacts on the largemouth bass population at Sam Rayburn Reservoir were low. Despite more than 300 tournaments and approximately 150,000 total tournament angling-hours during our study period (Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, unpublished data), tournament-retained fish and tournament mortality only comprised 5% and 2% of the harvestable population, respectively. Annual tournament mortality was 75% lower than exploitation and 20% lower than catch-and-release mortality."
• "Our results agree with those of other studies finding negligible effects tournament-related mortality. Northern studies with cooler water temperatures found lower tournament-related mortality than we did and even less impact on bass populations (Kwak and Henry 1995; Edwards et al. 2004)."

It is important to note that the authors do caution about the potential greater impact that could occur on significantly smaller bodies of water that receive heavy pressure. Their findings also supported the work of Allen et al. (2004) that a simple ratio of tournament harvest to nontournament harvest (TH/NH) could act as a guideline to fishery managers as to when bass tournaments may pose an issue to certain bodies of water. If this ratio is less than 1.0 (0.80 in this Sam Rayburn study), there is likely negligible impact. If this ratio is 3.0 or greater, then the likelihood of tournies affecting the overall population or size structure of bass is increased.

For all you Indiana guys out there, here is a good article by Jed Pearson, District 3 Indiana Fisheries Biologist (Bass Fishing at Lake Wawasee) that touches on some of these same issues in our state (scroll down to page 4 of link).

Big Indiana...Crappie?

Want to become a better bass angler? Here's a little tip then...Go crappie fishing. Got to spend the better part of a day on a local reservoir with a friend chasing crappie. Despite mostly clear blue skies and 15-20 mph winds, we still managed nearly 100 crappie with over 3 dozen nice keepers in the bunch. So why will crappie fishing improve your bass catching? Lets look.

Here is a shot of the first spot we started to get into them good (click to enlarge). That is a nice brushpile sitting on top of a good hard bottom area with fish in and adjacent to the brush. You'll get real good with your graph after spending time idling around looking for these stumps or brushpiles that other crappie anglers have built and placed. Some lakes are filled with cover that you'd never even realize was there until you spend some slow time behind the wheel looking for such areas.

Here is another area that gave up lots of crappie. A large flat with scattered stumps and rocks immediately adjacent to a good drop (click to enlarge). Those are almost all crappie loosely grouped on top of this flat. The very first cast had the pole bent over and the action continued steadily for almost 45 minutes before finally tailing off and having to move again. This flat sits out in 9-12' of water, again with a nice break immediately off one side dropping into 15' and then 20' of water. I'm guessing the crappie had largely finished spawning in the cove this flat sits at the mouth of and had started to move back to the main lake, gathering on this nice area before warming temperatures push them out into the open water.

Finally, here is a nice shot from the bow of an individual stump that we caught fish off of (click to enlarge). Again, this stump is situated up on a point that splits a couple cove arms. So how does any of this make you a better bass angler?

• Improved abilities with a depthfinder - You'll spend lots of time idling, graphing and interpreting your depthfinder. The more you do it, the better you'll get.
• Develops better boat control - We fished these areas in a 10-20 mph wind. While it may not be too difficult to fish a large point or giant flat under such conditions, to hold over a single stump or brushpile in such conditions is a challenge. Your boat control will improve tremendously as a result of practice.
• Improves presentation - We're fishing these isolated spots in heavy wind with 2 to 4 pound line, 1.5-2.0" tubes and curlytails on 1/16 and 1/8-oz. jigheads in 7-15' of open water. We're having to control the presentation so we get close enough to the wood to get bit but not so close that we'll stay hung up all the time.
• Gain confidence  - and we're catching fish. Doesn't matter that it's crappie we're catching, we're getting lots of confidence by catching lots of fish off these areas. The hardest part of learning a new technique is always keeping your head in the game and remaining confident when you don't get bit right away. Crappie will help over come that problem.
• Translation - Once you can master all the different components of crappie fishing, everything from locating isolated cover, boat control and proper presentation, and having developed the confidence that comes along with doing and catching, all you have to do is change your equipment slightly and the next trip it will be bass instead of crappie that you're catching! Thanks to crappie, I can now just as easily have presented a jig or a dropshot or a shakey-head worm to these exact same spots and caught bass.

The locations are the same, the boat control is the same, only the baits are different. So if you want to set yourself apart from so many of the other Indiana tournament anglers, get your butt off the bank and go crappie fishing!

Get the 'Hook' Out of Here!

This topic began as another post on another board. The subject being started by someone catching a bass that had the hook left deep in the bass' throat with about 18" of line attached and sticking out its mouth. I posted that this was actually recommended protocol and the response has made me realize how many people have yet to hear of this.

The original article detailing this was written by Ralph Mann's and can be found at several websites on the Net. One such occurrence is over at Bassdozer's website. The article is entitled "Hooks In or Out?" and can be found at the link. Another file that touches on this research is "Catch and Release: Living to Fight Again" written by  Jerald Horst and courtesy of Louisiana Sea Grant and the LSU Ag Center. Finally from Doug Stange and In-Fisherman, this good piece entitled "Through-the-Gill Hook Removal".

As the Spinnerbait Turns

The Internet is such a fascinating place. So here is a little tale concerning fishing lures with an Indiana connection. As the story goes, the time was back in the mid-80's. Bass fishing was really just starting to take off. Lots of new lures being created and marketed to anglers. Well, a local central Indiana tackle shop owner comes up with this idea of mounting a flexible wire onto a spinnerbait. A friend helps him out and devises a way to use a leader crimp to attach the flexible wire to the solid wire of the existing spinnerbait. Problem is with the torque and vibration of the blade, the crimp doesn't hold very well and occassionally you lose the leader and crimp of the spinnerbait along with your blade. Another Indiana gentleman supposedly sees this setup, takes the idea home to a local company further south and they get the dilemma of the separating spinnerbait halves solved, and then go patent the idea. This then leaves the first pair and supposed originator of said idea up a creek without a paddle, so to speak.

I can't vouche for how accurate the story is, but that's what I've read in cyberspace. For you 'Old Timers' around here, you'll recognize the lure as the Limberneck Spinnerbait sold by Brothers Bait Co. They also added the cable deal to a jig, I believe, and I'm sure sold quite a few at some point. I know I owned a bunch of them at one time. However, sad ending...the idea never really catches on and at some point they either sell the rights or go out of business, I'm not quite sure which.

Anyway, the roundabout intent of the post here is to give you this link to the original patent from 1986. The name isn't mentioned, but one quick look at the diagrams in the patent will confirm this for you. Once at the link, you can search through other fishing related patents. Kind of interesting to read these things, especially some of the explanations. If you have a lure package with a patent number on it just punch it into the search feature to see what you come up with. I've played a little researching things like who invented fluorocarbon and braided lines, and the process behind them. Use your imagination and check out some of the fishing world inventions, some good and some pretty bad.    

Interactive Sunshine

A little interactivity is always a good thing for a website. Along those lines, and touching one last time on the sun exposure topic, I came across this quick online and interactive quiz. Ten questions to test your knowledge about the sun, radiation and sun screens. I scored 10 out of 10 (100%), though I have to admit to making one good guess out of the bunch. Have fun!

Sun Exposure Quiz

Post-Spawn

Trips: 25     Hours: 56.0     Bass: 322     No. > 5#: 0

That would appear to be the situation here at the present time. Got out for 2.5 hours this afternoon and saw several schools of fry and caught several fry guarders. Only saw one fish that looked like he might be on a nest. Water temps have started to bounce back after the brief cold front that moved through earlier in the week. Main lake was reading 69 degrees consistently. Bluegill haven't started nesting yet though. They still appear to be staging, though I imagine they'll be on the nest within the next week or two max. Spent most of the little time I had covering some water with a crankbait. A lot of smaller fish running the banks but the better fish today were starting to pull back out slightly and hang around docks. This included the fry guarders also. Best fish of the 31 caught went 3-12 and is the one in the pic. Had a lot of 16"-18" fish though. Besides the crank, I also caught fish on a trick worm and a Horny toad. 

Time on the Water = Success

Ask most people what the key to being more successful at bass fishing is and chances are a good majority of the respondents will mention 'Time on the water'. Simply put, the more time you can spend fishing, the more experiences you'll gain and the more your ability to catch fish should improve. This sort of goes back and ties in with the whole 'pattern' discussion.

A slight variant of that is when studying, your best source of knowledge in many cases will come from those who spend a lot of time on the water. Of course the first thought becomes bass pros who do this for a living. However, another equally good source is guides. I've read a lot of fishing reports from a lot of boards, but I've got several favorites to share and start you in the right direction.

What makes for a good report? A few of my criteria are regular reports through out the year to get you a good overall feel for patterns and changes over an extended period of time; Sufficient detail that you could take the basic information and apply it to your own fishing without much trouble, including tackle details and fishing patterns; and extensive experience on a given body of water, or local knowledge.

And how best to use this information? What I like to do is copy and paste a full years worth of posts into MS Word for a given lake/guide. Then I go through and edit out all the miscellaneous talk that doesn't directly have to do with the core information. Organize by date with bold highlighting and then "clean up" the overall document. What you end up with is a years worth of detailed fishing reports for a given body of water in chronological order that can act as a roadmap for you to apply to similar bodies of water in your area throughout the seasons, or act as a good study guide. It takes the better part of a day to do this with many of the reports, but once complete, the benefits are well worth the time invested.

So on to the good stuff. Here are a few of my favorites that I regularly track and follow:

Lake Lanier, GA - Matt Springer

Lake Guntersville, AL - Troy Jens (Angling Alabama)

Lake Lanier, GA - Ryan Coleman (Lanier Spots)

Lake Varner, GA - Randall Kirkpatrick (Fish Atlanta)

Lake Guntersville, AL - Alex Davis (The Spinnerbait Kid)

Laka Allatoona, GA - Mike Bucca (Spot Country)

Kentucky Lake - Dave Stewart (Bass Busters)

And since this is an Indiana site, a few of my own reports :)

Indiana Fishing reports

    

Want to see a BIG Indiana Bass?

Trips: 24     Hours: 53.5     Bass: 291     No. > 5#: 0

Since this site is so named, I thought I'd direct everyone's attention over to Rick Vogelbacher's site (Rick's Ultimate Bass Fishing) for a picture of a truly BIG Indiana Bass. This 8# 14-oz. bass was caught in NE Indiana a few weeks ago. Rick hails from NW Ohio while his parents live in NE Indiana. He spends as much time on our natural lakes as many, along with some other very accomplished anglers. If you want to know what is going on with bass fishing on our northern natural lakes and rivers, bookmark his site and follow his Indiana fishing reports page.

Thermocline Theory

Everyone is probably familiar with the term thermocline. We'll be discussing thermoclines a little later this year as they begin to set up, even have some graph pictures to share. Most of us think of thermoclines as horizontal creations. However, vertical thermoclines are well documented in the literature in saline waters (oceans and seas), and I have even seen some discussion of them in larger freshwater bodies such as the Great Lakes. But smaller bodies of water to my knowledge haven't been studied near as much as to potential vertical thermoclines or at least vertical thermal masses. Richard Ziert sent me the following article he has written discussing his theory on the matter and how they (vertical thermoclines) could play into locating and catching bass.

Edit: The picture on the left has been added to the article describing an appoach to detecting these vertical thermoclines.

Bass Patterns

Roland Martin is largely credited with coming up with the concept of pattern fishing. Roland gives his definition of pattern fishing on his website in this "tips" article. His book, "One Hundred & One Bass Catching Secrets" is more like 101 different bass catching patterns. Anyway, reader Richard Ziert dropped me an e-mail with the following questions to post on the site. You can add your thoughts or answers by clicking on the comments section at the bottom of this post if you'd like to join in the discussion.

Patterning Fish:

1. What are some of the things each of you do to pattern fish?
2. What are the specific steps you take each outing to find active fish?
3. How much time does it take you each day to pattern fish?
4. How early in the day does it all come together for you?

5. Do you go through a debriefing session with yourself at the end of each outing, covering shoulda dones?

6. What have you learned from all these things?

Edit: There was a very good response worth mentioning over on the BFHP concerning a very similar line of questioning that can be found here. The responder, "MikeB" or "TMike" as he sometimes goes by is Mike Bucca who runs Spot Country Guide Service.

The Perfect Rod: A Matter of "Common Cents"

Have you ever found the perfect rod for your favorite technique, only to find out that the company no longer produces the rod? Or purchased a 7' MH 5 power rod in one brand and then tried to match the same rod with another brand? Both can be very frustrating experiences as there is no standard when it comes to rod classifications of power or action among companies. But what if I told you science has stepped in and resolved these issues?

Dr. William Hanneman believed that fishermen would be better served by having a system of objective and relative measurement for quantifying rod power and action, exactly what science does best. As such, he developed The Common Cents System, a system that can be used in a totally objective fashion without being influenced by the subjective opinion or bias of the person taking the measurement.

Dr. Hanneman is a fly fisherman and developed the system to classify the many hundreds of models of fly rods out there. More recently however, a group of guys from the BFHP spearheaded by MarkG began an effort to start classifying common spinning and baitcasting rods using this system. Some of the early findings are still available on the Net and can be found here and here. As the effort continued and the list of blanks and rods tested continued to grow, it became necessary to put these into a database for easy access and searching ability. The official (and always growing) website with these results can be found at The Rod Database results page.

This is an easy system to setup in your garage or work room, and will give you a way of matching even long discontinued rods with current models that will perform nearly identically to existing favorites. So perform some science and reap the rewards!   

1 Sinker, 1 Hook & 1 Worm

Trips: 22     Hours: 49.5     Bass: 274     No. > 5#: 0

Kind of reminds me of a George Thorogood song. In actuality, it has been my 'Modus Operandi' the last couple evenings. It's easy to get wrapped up in all marketing, glitz and glamour that can be bass fishing, but catching fish can really be as simple as the title to this post. I've snuck out for an hour or two each of the last few afternoons with nothing more than a one bag of soft plastics, a couple hooks and sinkers thrown inside, all tucked in my back pocket along with a pair of long nose pliers. About as simple an operation as you could ask for, and I have been rewarded with 36 more bass for the effort (or lack there-of).

These have been bank trips, and what I've found is that a simple presentation that allows you to slow down and explore your waters a bit more can be a rewarding experience. Most of these fish are really coming off just a handful of spots, some obvious and some not. But being on the bank and only carrying one bait to fish with has allowed for a more thorough understanding of just how simple fishing can be. The old F+L+P=S formula revsisted. Two small rock points guarding the entrance of a beach, a line of riprap bolstering the base of a launch ramp and a nice drop-off bordering the edge of a spawning flat has produced all the action. When you don't have 150 horses at your beckon call, or a button under your foot controlling 74 pounds of thrust, ready to instantly whisk you down the bank to the next good piece of cover, you get the opportunity to slow down and learn intimate things about your water that the bass already know.

Hank Parker once made the statement that 80% of all the lures we carry are 'defensive', meaning we only carry them 'just in case'. This reminded me of the Pareto Principle, or the Rule of 80-20. It has become a managerial and business buzz-word, but has found applications in many other scenarios. Also known as 'the law of the vital few', it basically states that 80% of all outputs or results can be generated by or with only 20% of the resource(s) or effort. Simple examples include 80% of a companies sales generated by just 20% of its top sales people; Wearing 20% of your clothes 80% of the time; Or even spending 80% of your time with just 20% of your friends and acquaintances. These numbers are not fixed rigidly at 80:20, as you could argue 75:25 or 90:10. The primary principle being a minimal amount of resources/effort generating a large majority of all results.

So how does this apply to fishing? As Hank stated, in reality, we all probably use many fewer lures than we actually carry or own, all just 'because'. If you want to talk tackle management, analyze your lure useage this season or last. How many actual baits did you use versus how many you carried with you on a trip. When I learned of this principle many years ago, I actually sat down with my records and did a Pareto analysis. A buddy and I fished a local jackpot tourney every week on the same lake, along with a couple weekend tourneys every month. Over a period of 4 years we cashed 56 checks for nearly $9,000 dollars on just this one lake. So I documented what every keeper we caught over those 4 years was caught on. Then I 'threw out' all the fish caught that didn't directly result in a check. After entering all this data in a spreadsheet and graphing the results, it turned out that 80% of all the money we won could be accounted for with just 4 baits. If we dropped down and picked up a 5th bait, that moved the percentage up to 90%. When all was said and done, we could have literally carried just 5 baits in a paper sack to every tourney over the years and done nearly as well.

Which gets us back full circle to the 1 sinker, 1 hook and 1 worm. Take some time and analyze your fishing records and see if you don't catch a majority of your bass on a minority of your baits. Consider simplifying your approach and your tackle, and see if you don't catch as many fish without all the 'baggage' and decision-making that comes with carrying a giant tackle management system.