Big Indiana Bass

New Bass Tourney Tracking Results

A new study is about to be published concerning the habits of tournament caught bass after release. Dispersal of Tournament-Displaced Largemouth Bass and Spotted Bass in Lake Martin, Alabama looks at radio-transmittered bass under 3 conditions: control fish implanted and released where captured, tourney caught bass brought to weigh-in and then transmittered and released, and simulated tourney caught bass that were captured in the same area as control fish, but were transported and released (after implanting) from the tourney site. Several studies have been done over the years similar to this, and this one adds more info to the growing wealth of information.

One of the larger concerns among state fishery personnel is the potential stockpiling of bass at release sites, especially on waters where the majority of tournies are headquartered out of a single location throughout the year. Some of the findings from this research include:

• Transported fish (simulated and tourney caught) moved significantly more (frequency and distance) over the first few months after release than control fish.
• Spring tourney fish moved more than fall tourney fish. After 2 weeks, 53% of the spring bass remained within 1 mile of the release site. After 1 month, only 38% were left within 1 mile and by 2 months, only 12% were left. After 3 months, none of the original released bass were within 1 mile of the release site.
• Fall tourney bass didn't vacate the release area to the degree of spring bass, possibly due to cooling waters and a general pattern of inactivity through winter. After 2 weeks, 75% of fall bass were located within 1 mile of the release site and this figure only dropped to 67% and 57% after 1 and 2 months post tournament release respectively. A full 50% were still within 1 mile after 3 months.
• Over the course of the year nearly 7,000 black bass were estimated to have been released from this single tourney site (Wind Creek S.P.) increasing the concentration (biomass) of bass by an estimated 50-100% at any given time within 1 mile of the ramp.

More Bait Analysis Info

More of that fun bait testing details that we like to talk about on this site. This time it is a test of soft stickbaits posted over at the Bass & Walleye Boats mag. website. I believe I've posted one other similar test carried out a couple years back by Mark G over at the BFHP. Scan the archives under "Baits and Lures" to find that one (HERE IT IS - first 2 links in the post still work; 3rd one is dead). This is a similar study detailing average bait weight, sample pack variance and a couple different fall rates. The article is at the link above and I have included a handy little reference chart with numeric details for easy perusal. Conditions are just now getting prime for this type presentation and this article should get you thinking in that direction. Now, if we could only objectively test all couple hundred color options available for bass preference ;)

Where You Hook'em Matters

Some very cool research is about to be published in the upcoming issue of 'Transactions of the American Fisheries Society'. The study from Wilde and Pope (Texas Tech Un.), "A Simple Model for Predicting Survival of Angler-Caught and Released Largemouth Bass" used temperature acclimated largemouth bass and manual hooking in a controlled lab experiment to determine catch and release mortality (immediate or delayed). Using a 2/0 barbed worm hook manually embedded into one of 40 potential hooking locations, they simulated an actual catch by playing fish with rod and reel, lifting, removing hook with long nose pliers and then releasing the fish back into holding tanks and observing for 6 days (3 days for test results). They then combined their data with another previously reported test very similar in design and implementation to finalize their results.

Bass were acclimated at a range of temperatures between 7-27 deg. C. (45-81 deg. F.). Fish were then randomly assigned to groups and hooked in either the mouth (including tongue and gills), the esophogus or as a control (touched by hook in mouth but not actually hooked and then released back into tank). Turns out that 98% of the bass (all but one) hooked in the mouth survived the simulation, whereas only 2/3 (66%) of the esophogus hooked LMB did the same. All control fish survived. These results matched extremely well with the previous study, hence the combining.

One of the neatest results from the experiment was that there was no correlation to water temperature. Fish in the warmest water survived as well as fish in the coldest. The cool theory coming from that little discovery was that previous studies showing a relationship to temperature could partially be explained by lure type used and subsequent hooking location. Most cold water anglers use baits that have a high percentage chance of hooking the bass in its mouth. But as temperatures warm and more anglers start throwing various plastic baits on setups such as Carolina Rigs or wacky style, the liklihood of ingestion and subsequent esophogus hooking increases. So "some" of the relationship we've seen in delayed mortality studies could be related to lure type used and angler behavior. In tournament scenarios, the finger then also strongly points to things like livewell confinement and weighing stressors. But for everyday catch and release fishing, the overall survivability of bass is likely extremely high with the only concern coming with deep throat-hooked bass. 

Bought the Season Pass

Back out to Lake Waveland today for about 4 hours. Had heard the bite was on fire yesterday, so I had to chase. Of course, it turned out like it always does, a day late and a dollar short. Still managed to catch about 2 dozen bass in the time I was out there, but nothing like the reports I had received yesterday. Wind had turned and was coming out of the north. Temps just broke 60 degrees to match the water which was 60-64 degrees. Water has dropped an inch or two and cleared up a bit, enough to make the shallow bite tough for what I brought with.

Managed a few on jig, but I think this would have been one of those times when plastic would have worked better. Too bad I didn't have any along beside jig trailers. Also caught a few more on Chatterbait as you can tell from today's picture. It is a fun bait to fish when they're eating it. Kind of like a Rat-L-Trap in that you don't have to put a lot of thought into fishing it, though a little practice and playing will show that there are several different ways to fish it and get bit beyond chunk and wind. That said, it remains my new "easy bite" slogan - "any idiot with a Chatterbait could catch them". No offense meant to anyone as I was chunking it myself today.

Best bite, all 30 minutes of it was cranking when I came across a group of staging bass outside of a large flat/bay complex. Put about 12-14 bass in the boat in a matter of minutes including a limit of small keepers that would have weighed around 10 pounds. At one point I had 5 fish on 5 consecutive casts, all keepers topped by a chunky 2.5 pounder. Was pretty much textbook, flurries or groups like that being one of the biggest attractions of bass fishing to me. I'll gladly hunt and peck all day if I can have a flurry of action at some point.

Nearly forgot to mention. Check out the melanosis (black blotching) on the bass in the pic. Two prominent areas down near/on the tail and another less visible just behind his head near the Chatterbait. This wasn't the only bass that had the blotching that I caught, just the only one I happened to photograph. I see it frequently enough that I usually don't even think twice about it.

The Spawners Have Arrived

Getting lots of reports and lots of searches on the whole spawning bass subject. See my post a few weeks back about specifics on bass spawning in Indiana. Otherwise, know that the first wave of spawners have already headed in and started bed building in many waters of the state. This cold front coming through this week might slow them down a bit, but it won't hold them off for long. Should be quite a bit of this type activity from now until mid- May, on both smallmouth (in creeks and rivers) and largemouth.

If you've read the comments section from the 'Fishing as I Believe it' post then you'll have the report from last Sunday out at Waveland. Fished from 11:30 until 4PM and caught around 20 or so fish with 15 keepers. Best fish of 4 pounds (pic) came on a Chatterbait. Actually, second best fish going 3.5 pounds also bit a C-Bait. Most everything else came on jigs with either Zoom or A&L Baits plastic trailers. Caught a small fish or two on Rat-L-Trap and shallow cranks, but they liked the jig-type baits better today. Water temps were in the upper 50's to near 60, but I had a friend call me from out there mid week and the water temps had increased into the mid to upper 60's by then.

Been playing through the week with a tube. It's a bait I don't fish a lot, but it certainly has its place. I like them for flipping down on the Ohio River, and they are the closest thing to a guaranteed bite when chasing smallies in rivers, but I wanted to mess around with some different rigging options. Now that I'm in the downsized boat, a little more 'slow and methodical' approach and a little less 'power' will probably be the order of the day. I'm a firm believer that at times bass will definitely prefer one over the other (tube/plastic vs. jig). A jig has been a staple in my box for decades now, but I've always carried very few plastics outside of trailers. So I'm just sort of messing around and getting adjusted to a slower paced mentality in case I need to fish that way. I've included a couple pics of "chunks" I caught today on a YUM Vibra King tube (green pumpkin) while "testing" setups at a lake on Indianapolis' east side. Also had a friend along making the picture taking attempts a lot easier.

Another Catch Up Report

OK, a report from last Saturday afternoon that I'm just getting around to posting. Don't bash the picture because it was before our "creative" photography discussion. I'll try better from here on out, but it isn't going to be easy taking timer based self shots. I'll try though.

Water temps had risen to 56-58 degrees and a bit of a cool front had moved through as you can probably tell from the picture. Still getting bit on jigs around docks, but didn't run into any real quality fish on this trip. Was much more of a numbers trip of just typical-sized males cruising down the banks and relating to docks as they came to them, or as I ran into them. Best one for the day is in the pic. Several real small bass on shallow cranks, but jig bite was better for slightly larger sized fish. Really windy today making boat control difficult and forcing me into protective coves and pockets for a good chunk of the time I was out there (just a few hours).

Bass Fishing As I Believe It

Part of the fun and interest of running this website has been (re)evaluating my perspective on bass fishing , both as it applies to chasing and catching larger bass as well as numbers (good vs. great days). Some of this stems from discussions we've had on this site and the opinions of others, and a lot of it comes from my own beliefs and observations. So right or wrong, the following chart represents my current view of the bass fishing world.

At either end of this chart line you have what I feel are the two most controlling factors that contribute to great catches (big fish or numbers). These are the fishery you are on at the moment and an anglers ability. Ability might not be the exact term I'm looking for, but I mean it to encompass a range of factors that I feel lead to above average catches on any given day, things like knowledge, experience (time on the water), patience (as it relates to specific techniques), outside-the-box thinking, some form of above average ability as it pertains to a technique (perhaps skipping ability as a shallow water example or understanding electronics as a deep water example, or simply an overlooked bite), etc. Basically something or some combination of things that not many people have or have figured out. All these things greatly increase your odds for having an above average trip.

On the other end though, many of those factors can be easily overcome or equalled by a great fishery. Your ability and knowledge level can pretty much suck, but if you have access to a great fishery you can still come out looking pretty darned good. I've often remarked that everbody is a pro at Lake Waveland here in Indiana. That was especially in reference to the fishery about two years ago before the bass kill. Another example that many of you will be familiar with is the West Boggs fishery of the 90's. This could also include access to unpressured waters or even a recent national example, Falcon Lake. When most everybody goes to a lake and catches a limit of bass, it is not necessarily related to angler ability. You've probably just hit a good fishery on a good day.   

These chartline areas are the rare exceptions, the ends of the spectrum (bell curve) if you will. For the majority of us, we all fall inside the purple circle, sometimes being located to the positive side of the halfway mark, sometimes going toward the negative side. This represents where ability is largely equal to a degree, or is similar enough that it can be easily offset by good decisons or good timing. You see this all the time when you're out fishing, or even at a tourney. We all tend to have the same good equipment, and we all tend to have the same brands of lures in our boxes. Most everyone can pitch a jig, or toss a spinnerbait, or work a worm. So differences in outcome on any given day come down to decision making and timing - not how many patches you wear, how many sponsors you have or what model boat you fish out of (sorry guys). And your relative position on the chartline will vary from day to day. Some days you make the right calls, whether that be location, bait choice or even color/action choice, other days you don't. It's why an angler will blank or place near the bottom one month in a tourney, and then place high or even win the next.

This also takes into account the guys who go most everyday (a timing factor). Some days are just flat out better fishing days than others, but you can't always quantify or identify when those days will be. I believe it ties in with local weather and water conditions, as well as biological factors such as forage availability or bass life stage (pre-spawn, spawn, summer, fall, etc.). The guys who go fishing the most are setting themselves up to be on the water when one of these "great" days happens, and subsequently looking good when it all comes together (timing). It's not that they're any better of an angler, it's just that they're putting the timing factor into their favor (shifting to the right of center on our chart). I believe John Geirach once wrote to the effect that the wrong bait fished long and hard enough, eventually becomes the right bait, even if only for a short while - that's timing.

I could probably go on and on with various examples, and perhaps we will in discussion, but I think this gives you a pretty good overview of where I stand "mentally" at the moment. The more things you can do to shift that timing/decision making/ability apsect into your favor, the more likely you are to come out on the good side of any particular fishing trip. And if you tend to fall to the left half of the chartline for whatever reason, don't lose hope. Instead, just spend more time focusing, researching and hopefully accessing potentially above average fisheries and you'll end up catching your share.   

Moving On

The website difficulties continue, but I'm going to start posting a little bit just so I don't get completely backlogged with topics. Thought we might have made some progress correcting the issues yesterday afternoon, but things have returned to their messed up self. Not sure when or how this will resolve itself, so bear with me.

Late last week I joined a friend for a river outing chasing prespawn smallmouth. It was a good trip with lots of fish caught, including 3 "doubles". Bite got even better a few days later when I couldn't get out, but that's the way it goes. Hoping to sneak in one more such trip over the next week and chase a big girl before the fish go spawn/post-spawn. It all goes back to that timing issue, which I'll have more to say on that subject in the next week or so.

Rivers are really a cool fishing experience. Everything is so dynamic and always in a state of change or flux. A river is basically always either rising or falling, rarely staying exactly stable (a balance of incoming water equaling the rivers desire to move that water "down and out"). Conditions literally change daily, and so do the bass living in the river. Inches of water level up or down can completely change the holding location or aggressiveness of the fish, and this change can happen in a matter of hours or less.

 

There is also the mystery of never really knowing what you might hook into in a river. On this particular trip we landed a nice sauger, a couple rock bass, dozens of smallmouth and 4 largemouth, all in a period of about 3-4 hours. We ended up catching quite a few fish on square-billed cranks, at least most of the smaller aggressive fish, smaller being a relative term here. Lots of smallmouth between 13"-16" caught. However the two largest fish took bottom related presentations. The included picture is one of those aggressive smallies caught on a little craw-colored crankbait...our attempt at a little "artsy" photography for something different. If you'll look close you'll notice the treble hooks are barbless, which is one of only two requirements my friend has for tagging along with him on a trip. Since then I've been playing with and researching the concept some more and will have a whole post dedicated to the topic soon.   

Technical Difficulties

Sorry for the apearance and condition of the site at the moment. We are experiencing some technical difficulties with weblog appearance and I don't want to add anything further to the site until the issue is resolved. A help ticket has been generated and I am awaiting support response to the problem.

Whackfest

Looks like we're into a full blown pre-spawn bite on our local waters. Had the day scheduled off work for a local meeting I had to attend, so came home afterward, knocked off some housework and shopping and then hit the local reservoir around 4 PM. A gorgeous day weather-wise other than the wind. Mostly sunny skies, air temps in the low 70's, but a howling SW wind at 20-30 mph. After launching safely with only minimal water coming in over the stern, I headed straight across the lake to the slightly calmer side in hopes of having some type of boat control ability. Knew it was going to be a good day when I caught a nice bass on only my third cast, which as everyone knows is much better than catching him on your first (the kiss of death for a productive trip).

Thought I'd be forced to use cranks and other moving baits, but the fish didn't really seem to eat them well when I did throw them, plus there is an abundance of green "snot weed" starting to fire up as water temps continue to increase with the better weather. It was almost impossible to throw the crank bait correctly (hitting bottom or ricocheting off cover) without getting a wad full of the stuff quick and ruining the cast. Water clarity has also cleared up nicely with probably 18" or better in many areas. Water temps were running between 52-56 for the most part.

For whatever reason the bait of choice today was a jig. Every where I went they'd whack it. I've noticed that the burrowing crawdads located along the waters edge (the ones that make the mud "chimneys") have sprung up, so maybe the crayfish in the lake have started to stir. Maybe it was just the best presentation for their mood. Whatever it was they were unloading on it all afternoon. I lost count of the exact total caught, but it had to have been up in or near the 30's. Definitely one of the better jig bites I've had in a while. I've included a couple pics of today’s fish - just nice healthy pre-spawn chunks. Fish seemed to be holding in about 3-6' of water and the best bite (surprisingly) was out on the main lake or a short ways inside the coves and creek mouths. Caught a few from further back but not as many as I'd have expected given the warmer water temps back in the pockets. After a bit I just stopped second guessing the fish and simply focused all effort on the productive areas.

The Bite Is On

Last weekends crappy weather turned out to be not such a bad thing for the fish, even if the fishermen didn't enjoy it that much. Looks like the waters have settled enough, or things have progressed along enough to offset some of the temperamental behavior we saw the week before. The H.O.T. on Patoka recorded three sacks over 20 pounds including the winning 24+ bag of 6 fish. But even the smaller waters were kicking out good bags. The Purdue Bass Club kicked butt up on Maxinkuckee by winning the Big Ten Bass Tourney by 20+ pounds. Word was fish were biting moving baits in and around the channels. Lake Lemon produced a new single day winning weight record for the USA Bassin division down there going over 18 pounds. There were half a dozen bags in the double digit range. Lake Waveland kicked out a 17 pound winning bag of fish on Saturday, and the "Big Dummy" himself (our 'Tip of the Week" provider) whacked some heads out on Geist with a 17+ pound limit of 5 bass. In the Junior tourney out at Summit, Brett Rounsaville and Jacob "The Apprentice" Wheeler paired out of the same boat to capture 1st and 2nd place individually (attached pic), each with a limit of bass. And I'm receiving reports of some really nice bass being caught in the local ponds, pits and rivers around Indy.

Bottom line is that the next couple weeks are shaping up to be some great fishing. So do what you can to get out and swing some sticks this weekend (or sooner). I've got plans to head back out to the river now that it has receded and try for a big prespawn smallie myself.    

New Barotrauma Study

The April 2008 issue of "North American Journal of Fisheries Management" has a newly published study (Severity of Barotrauma Influences the Physiological Status, Postrelease Behavior, and Fate of Tournament Caught Smallmouth Bass - Gravel & Cooke) on barotrauma of smallmouth bass caught during a tournament on Rainy Lake. This particular study actually transmittered numerous bass to observe post-release behavior as opposed to some form of traditional pen or cage observation. Approximately 75 teams fished 2 days weighing in 592 smallmouth bass. This was a fall tournament with water temps around 57 degrees and air temps around 50.

Initial results revealed that 76% of bass (subset) showed signs of at least one form of barotrauma (mild/negligible), and that 32% showed signs of two or more indicators (severe). Of these fish, all non-affected or mildly/negligible affected fish showed no evidence of post-release mortality, suggesting that all recovered. These same groups of fish also disperesed rather quickly from the release site. Of the severely affected fish, 40% of those fish ended up dieing, resulting in an overall mortality rate for the event of 12.8% (about 76 individual fish of the 592 weighed). These fish were also much slower or less likely to move away from the immediate release site.

No predation was observed on these severely affected fish, though one fish was struck and killed by a boat while floating on the surface during recovery. Also interesting was a positive correlation between larger bass and severe barotrauma. Are larger fish more susceptible due to age/body condition, or does this suggest that perhaps larger bass were more likely to show severe signs because they resided in deeper depths? Unfortunately the study didn't investigate this particular aspect. They did mention several of the recent studies that we've spoken of on this site suggesting that overall mortality rates in tournaments tend to show no significant affect to bass on the population level. They also raise a range of questions concerning fizzing or other depressurization techniques, and the need for more long-term follow-up studies comparing various techniques, as well as questioning a seasonal relationship to barotrauma.