Big Indiana Bass

Happenings This Past Week

I've been chatting with David Swendseid, Product Specialist Manager at Jackall Lures this past week and we're looking into doing some concurrent line testing this year. Sounds like he'll be doing some out West with a bunch of fluoro lines and possibly some type of Instron tester. That will be cool and I'm hoping to get his results when completed to post on the site. Additionally, we're brainstorming on some specific testing on my end, done 'Big Indiana Bass' style. If everything works out I'll be posting results from that endeavor later this year also.

One other interesting topic of conversation we got on was some of the Japanese rod making technology, specifically rods designed for very light line finesse applications utilizing 2-3# line. David says they're really completely different from anything available here in the U.S. There is a possibility I'll be able to get my hands on one to play with for a period of time if everything falls into place. I've got my fingers crossed that if it occurs, it might happen in time for my fall fishing bonanza. Between my deep water crappie fishing and my finesse bass jigging, I think I could give the rod a pretty thorough workout and comparison to my custom built finesse sticks that I so dearly love and use.

One key component that he did mention is that they are actually built "heavy" on purpose, which immediately set off a light bulb in my head. It makes sense from the standpoint that while there are a ton of variables involved in hooksetting, at its core is Newton's 2nd Law which states that F=m*a, or force = mass times acceleration. Everybody and their brother on bass fishing message board forums these days are all about super lightweight rods and the resultant "speed" of hooksetting (acceleration rate of the rod) to help you stick a bass. What they're all overlooking is the other component of that equation, that a rod with more mass (built "heavier") can adeqautely compensate for it's slower acceleration. In other words, while I might forego some of the ergo advantages that today's rods offer, one area I won't be worrying about with my old sticks is their ability to set the hook and bring more bass to hand (or their cost $$$).

For some additional reading on David and his design thoughts on crankbaits, check out the following article:

Cranking Cover with the Jackall MC/60

10 Years Later - The White River

It's been 10 years since the devastating fish kill on sections of the White R. in central Indiana. There have been a couple pieces written in local papers recently looking back at the event and the rivers recovery since then.

• Fish Kill: Ten years later, river in better shape
• Fish Kill: White River crucial to Indiana

Lowrance/Navico - YOU SUCK!!!!

• Bass Boat Central

Texas Fishing Forum

Ohio Game Fishing

Western Bass

Bass Boat Talk

Crapppie.com

Bass Zone

BFHP

UPDATE: Navico Management Issues Statement Concerning Linda Colt

Asian Carp Battle Lines Being Drawn

Wisconsin just joined Michigan in support of it's effort to get the Supreme Court to close the waterway. Ohio and Minnesota have also filed support briefs with the other states.

Wis. Attorney General Joins Fight Against Carp

Updated: Indiana has now given word that they too will support the Michigan lawsuit. And just today it is reported that Ontario is now also supporting.

Indiana joins lawsuit to keep Asian carp from lake

Ontario takes Asian carp fight to U.S. Supreme Court

Meanwhile, business lobbying groups for several agricultural and industrial groups that use the waterway are now making their voices heard. The battle lines are being drawn as we speak.

Closing Midwest Waterway Would Disrupt U.S. Economy, Group Says

Fishery Science In the Classroom

Since we reference so many studies on this site, many of which are carried out by graduate students and their professors, I thought this little piece was both timely and interesting.

UC Davis students get practical study of 'fish biology'

Counting Seconds

Well, the winter solstice has come and gone, a day I always look forward to as both a blessing and a curse. As someone who hates winter, hates the shorter days and the freezing weather,  as well as the overall lack of sunshine and solar heating, December 21st sucks. It also marks the first day of winter from a strictly calendar reference point. I'm not so certain I don't have some degree of seasonal affective disorder (SAD), an actual mood disorder or form of depression. At the very least it makes for a good excuse to lay around the house and be grumpy :) I'm still trying to track down a good Zoloft T-shirt or two featuring the little depressed puffball - LOL (image copyrighted by Zoloft/Pfizer).

Even though the shortest day of the year is cold, the worst of winter has yet to set in. We still have that to look forward to during January and February. This is due to the latent heat still maintained in the oceans. It takes a lot of cold weather and time to suck off all the remaining warmth stored in those vast waters. The similar but reversed phenomena is also the reason for why the hottest days of summer fall in July and August and not June, which hosts the longest day of the year. For other interesting solstice facts check out the following National Geographic piece:

Winter Solstice 2009: Facts on Shortest Day of the Year

But focusing on the positive side and the "blessing", the days have now already started to get longer. We'll gain a whole 22 seconds on day length today, already 10X more than the 2 seconds of light gained back on the 22nd of December. In just another week and a half we'll be gaining daylight at the clip of more than a minute a day. There are lots of sites where you can get this type information from, but my favorite is Timeanddate.com. The link should default to Indianapolis statistics, but you can change location as well as a host of output data options by playing around with the tabs and dropdown boxes.

Asian Carp Controversy: In the News

If you've been following the news at all, you've probably seen some of the stories concerning Asian carp and the lawsuits between states that have been popping up. For those that haven't, here is a sampling from a variety of sources:

• Michigan AG to hold news conference on Asian carp - The state of Michigan is preparing to sue the state of Illinois over stopping any canal breach.
• Michigan Sues Illinois Over Asian Carp - The suit gets filed and goes straight to the Supreme Court.
• Fish Kill: Snapshots of Beginning - The start of a well detailed blog on the effort.
• Fish Kill: Day 2 - Not all Chicagoans are thrilled with trying to stop the carp.
• Fish Kill: A Hall of Famer's Take - Another opinion on the subject.
• Fish Kill: A Chicago Biologist's Help - New websites appear to address some of the information being spread.
• Fish Kill: Official Wrap-up - Another website and the official summary from the Asian Carp Rapid Response Workgroup.

Finally, several of our own IDNR biologists were sent over to help with the project. For a first hand glimpse and summary from one of our own, I give you the following:

ASIAN CARP ERADICATION ON THE CHICAGO SANITARY AND SHIP CANAL IN ILLINOIS

The permanent electric fish barrier (barrier IIA) on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (CSSC) was to be shut down for a few days for scheduled maintenance late in 2009.  In the summer of 2009 environmental DNA (eDNA) indicated that Asian carp may be in the Lockport pool of the CSSC and positioned very close to the permanent barrier.  Although intensive fish sampling using traditional sampling gear could not verify the presence of Asian carp, most felt the eDNA was a true indication of their presence in the reach of the canal.  The fear was that when barrier IIA was taken off-line for maintenance, the Asian carp present in the area would move above the barrier and become trapped between barrier IIA when it was turned back on and the aging original electric barrier (barrier I) located nearly ¼ mile above IIA.  Barrier I does not emit as strong of an electrical current and therefore is less effective in preventing further movement of Asian carp toward Lake Michigan.

It was determined by a panel of experts that the best course of action to prevent movement of Asian carp further up the CSSC was to perform an eradication in the CSSC beginning just above barrier I and continuing downstream to the Lockport lock and dam (approximately 6 miles).

As the plans for the eradication began to form, further eDNA analysis indicated that Asian carp were present north of the electric barriers in the Cal-Sag channel.  The fish were potentially only 6 miles from Lake Michigan should they elect to go through the O’Brien lock and dam and through the Calumet River.  Despite this further evidence it was still felt that the eradication in the Lockport pool was important to not allow further Asian carp above the barrier.

Four fisheries personnel were approved to assist for up to 5 days in the eradication project: Sandy Clark-Kolaks, Debbie King, Jamie Smyth, and I.  This was truly a basin wide project showing the importance of keeping another aquatic invasive species from entering the Great Lakes.  Obviously Illinois was well represented in the project with fisheries personnel and their Conservation Police.  Other agencies represented included Michigan, Wisconsin, Canadian agencies, Fish and Wildlife Service, USDA, EPA, USGS, Coast Guard, Great Lakes Fishery Commission, and I’m sure other agencies.  A few other states that could not send personnel were able to provide chemicals or money for the project.  In total, I was told that there were over 500 people reporting for duty for the project.

Most crews arrived for “Operation Silver Screen” on Tuesday 12/1/09 to be briefed on the project, get fitted for safety gear (chemical applicators), and begin preparing for the eradiation.  On Wednesday a fish salvage operation took place to remove desirable fish for restocking at a later time.  Electrofishing is not very effective on CSSC due to the steep channel walls and lack of habitat.  In addition, water quality is likely not conducive to the establishment of a quality fishery.  Few fish were salvaged and quality was perhaps even less than what was expected.  The only noteworthy catches were a 20 inch walleye and a smallmouth bass which were either good at holding their breath or didn’t mind too much living in water composed of 70% effluent from wastewater treatment plants.  Sandy and I participated in the salvage.

For much of the day on Wednesday the 5 shore-based rotenone application crews which included Jamie and Debbie were getting their stations set up and becoming familiar with running the equipment.  By late afternoon everything was in place and all equipment was supposed to be ready to dispense rotenone.

Rotenone application was set to begin at 6pm on Wednesday evening starting at the uppermost shore pumping station which was located just above barrier I.  The equipment wasn’t pressure tested ahead of time and blew a fitting immediately causing a 2 hour delay in the start of the project.  Once rotenone application began at 8pm Wednesday everything seemed to move very smoothly.  USGS applied a dye to the river ahead of the rotenone and tracked the plume in order to instruct the shore application stations when to begin pumping.  Off-channel connecting water and wide areas in CSSC which would not receive the flow of rotenone coming down the channel were treated by boat.  Sandy and I were on boat crews and began our work at 1am Thursday morning and worked until late in the morning.  Jamie and Debbie were on the most downstream shore pumping station and were able to begin pumping at around 3am Thursday.  Shore stations pumped rotenone for 8 to 10 hours.

Rotenone was detoxified using potassium permanganate.  Crews who are normally on Great Lakes tributaries killing sea lamprey were running the detoxification stations.  Detoxification took place below the Lockport lock and dam, in areas where the CSSC was leaking water into the Des Plaines River (it flows adjacent to CSSC), and in off-channel areas where CSSC flow would not flush the rotenone.

Dead fish were required to be removed in the project and I’ve been told that the new rotenone label set to come out soon will require this in all eradication projects.  Fish recovery crews were on the river as soon as fish began being affected by the rotenone and they were on the water at least prior to 1am when Sandy and I began our boat application jobs.  Fish came up very rapidly once the rotenone was applied, but shortly after they thrashed around at the surface they dropped to the bottom (30 foot of water).  An estimated 30,000 pounds of dead fish were collected as rotenone was being applied.  On Thursday afternoon a 20” bighead carp was recovered in the lower reach of the treatment area.  This is the first validation that eDNA was correct in identifying that Asian carp were present in the area.

Crews were planning to be busy cleaning up dead fish from Friday until early the following week.  First thing on Friday (20 degrees) a large contingent of people staged at CSSC to pick up fish.  Dead batteries in boats and frozen wheel bearings were the largest challenges that morning (did I mention how cold it was?).  Very few fish were at the surface or along the shoreline so pounds recovered were very low.  As a result of limited things to do (waiting for fish to bloat and float is about as exciting as watching paint dry) the four of us from Indiana were demobilized on Friday afternoon.

As of writing this summary, few fish came to the surface to be recovered.  Although water temperature in the canal is around 60 degrees (hot water discharge from power plant elevates the temperature) bacterial action did not cause fish to bloat and come to the surface.  Divers in the area of barriers I and IIA reported an abundance of fish on the bottom of the canal that were being feasted on by crayfish, so they are down there but they may never come to the surface.  Illinois was preparing for the recovery of perhaps 200,000 pounds of fish yet less than 50,000 pounds were removed.  Still only a single bighead carp has been found.

Barrier IIA was off-line for just 48 hours and maintenance checks indicated that it was holding up very well in its first 7 months of continuous operation.  The barrier will have to be taken down every 6 to 12 months for maintenance, but obviously Illinois hopes not to have to perform this same operation ever again.  The Army Corps is busy beginning to prepare for the installation of barrier IIB which will be adjacent to IIA.  They expect it will be done in September or October 2010.

Illinois has estimated the total cost of the project to be approximately $3,000,000.  Involvement from the four of us from Indiana was “donated” time to assist our neighbor.  Total costs for our involvement in the project was $3,880 for salaries, $416 for per diem, $396 for hotel, and $308 for gasoline.  Although we contributed a mere $5,000 to the project, I know that Illinois appreciates every bit of assistance provided by Indiana and all other agencies to help on this very important project.

Doug Keller
Aquatic Invasive Species Coordinator

Another Interesting Article

While we're on an article kick, here's another I came across over the weekend that I don't believe we've covered before on this site. The link is to the paper saving 'printer' version which is much easier to read than the ad ladened online version. Search the article title at 'thefreelibrary.com' if the printer link doesn't work for you.

Hooking the Gullible 

Read It While You Can

For those who don't subscribe, I found this recent In-Fisherman article posted online:

The 10 Biggest Myths in Bass Fishing

It fits in nicely with our usual site content, and we've even covered one or two of these 'myths' before on the site.

Words of Wisdom

I was filing through some of my notes the other day when I came across a short note I had received from Greg Mangus many years back. For those that don't know him, Greg is without a doubt one of the best bass anglers in the state - has been for more than two decades now. We've spoken numerous times over the years, and I've had the pleasure of fishing with Greg up on the St. Joe River. Lots of guys would love to know what makes Greg so damn good, myself included at the time, so I asked him. I've been sitting on this little piece of self-reflection for nearly six years now, so hopefully he won't mind me sharing with readers what he had to say.

"After some thought, I think that my consistency is mostly a result of my desire to learn and my on the lake observations. I am not sure I am a real competitive person. Not that I don’t like to win, I am just thoroughly involved in the moment. I want to know everything and every inch of a lake. I generally am not stuck in doing one thing in a few places. I want to understand all presentations and not limit a bait to a single way of fishing it. I also believe I pay more attention to the speed factor than most.
 
Good locations are not definitive. They are good one day or week and not the next or not even year to year. That is why it is so important to know every inch of a body of water and not just three or four favorites. Fish everywhere. Know all the possibilities – or at least as many as you can."

- Greg Mangus