Big Indiana Bass

Interesting Fish(ing) Related News Stories

A couple interesting news stories I came across over the weekend pertaining to fish and fishing. The first one from Dec. 2008 that appeared in the New York Times pertains to stream rights and will probably be of interest to our smallmouth waders from the site. It involves a legal case over trout stream access in one of our western states.

The other featured story, also in the New York Times just appeared last week. We often fail to realize, or probably never even stop to think in the first place about lakes that actually don't contain or have never supported any fish life in them. Turns out there are really very few of them in existence, and studying the fishless lakes and comparing the differences between them and typical fish containing lakes makes for some very interesting biology. Be sure and check out the story on Fishless Lakes for some interesting reading.

Indiana On The Fly

I attended this first ever event last year, and there were loads of things to see and do. Indiana is not the most blessed state when it comes to trout fishing opportunities, so there is a nice emphasis on smallmouth bass which organizer Patti Beasley has coined "the trout of the Midwest". This second show will again be a packed event with something for everyone. Seminars, conservation, raffles and auctions, casting areas, guides, fly-tyers; you name it. It is a one day show, so mark your calendars and plan on spending a couple hours hanging out at Indiana's only event of its kind.

For more information check out the following link:

Indiana On The Fly

New SMB Research - Latitudinal Effects on Nesting

An interesting study looking at the responses of nesting smallmouth bass to various levels of angling intervention during nesting, and comparing this response across latitudes. Southern US (Missouri) SMB had 100% nest abandonment under simulated tournament (ST) conditions vs. 50% abandonment by northern and southern Ontario SMB. Controls across all latitudes were 7-10% with a range of response across all latitudes for brief angling with immediate "in water" release (CR) and exhaustive angling with 3 minutes of air exposure before release (AE) of 0-10%.  

Latitudinal Variation in Physiological and Behavioral Responses of Nest-Guarding Smallmouth Bass to Common Recreational Angling Practices

In summary from the paper: "In light of this information, there is clearly a need to determine whether there are system productivity differences that compensate for such individual-level impacts..."

Effects of Urbanization on our Stream Fisheries

From the upcoming edition of "North American Journal of Fisheries Management" I found this interesting piece entitled "Survival and Dispersal of Hatchery-Raised Rainbow Trout in a River Basin Undergoing Urbanization" by Jonathan P. Runge, James T. Peterson and Christopher R. Martin. While the paper deals with one of the southern-most trout fisheries in the U.S. centered around the Atlanta metro area, the findings are most likely applicable to all streams and rivers in highly urban or rapidly developing areas. In particular here in Indiana, this urbanization could potentially affect smallmouth fisheries in our states rivers. In a nutshell, from the paper:

"The increase in urban and suburban development is a global problem for aquatic resource managers. During the past decade, urban growth has increased dramatically in the southeastern United States (U.S. Census Bureau 2004), potentially threatening the unique aquatic fauna in the region, as well as managed sport fish populations. The resulting land use conversion and associated increases in water use can alter the dynamics of fish populations and communities, particularly in sensitive coldwater fisheries.

...With the increasing amount of impervious surface area (e.g., pavement and rooftops) that accompanies urban development, the ability of hypolimnetic water releases to mitigate summer warming trends may diminish. As more urban development occurs, surface water inputs from precipitation during the summer become increasingly warmer (Ferguson and Suckling 1990) because runoff is warmed by remaining on the surface and is discharged into the river faster than would have occurred historically (Paul and Meyer 2001). Instead, impervious surfaces inhibit the ability of storm water to reach cool subterranean strata and recharge groundwater; thus, sources of cool groundwater input can be lost (Ferguson and Suckling 1990; Finkenbine et al. 2000; Wang et al. 2003; Krause et al. 2004)."

Spring Thaw (Almost) and Smallie Research

Well, the warmest day we've had all year came yesterday. Actually the warmest we've had since the first week of December. Yesterday was sunny and the high temperature reached 67 degrees around the house. I was hoping to be able to wet a line, but a window survey of various bodies of water ranging from 0.3 acre up to 300 acres revealed that it just wasn't going to happen. Everything was still locked up solid, save a large opening in the middle of the biggest lake. All shorelines and coves were still froze over with ice. But temps remained warm overnight and several of the smaller bodies of water had nice portions of open water in them when I headed off to work this morning. Add to that temps in the 50's and a now steady rain and things should open up fast. Whether they'll hold or not for the weekend will have to be seen, as a cold front is expected into the region later today and lows later this week will be back down into the teens for a couple nights. Why won't this winter end?

Back on a research note, one more Indiana study gleaned from the Spring Technical Session last week. From a presentation entitled "Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieui) of the Eel River Near North Manchester Indiana: Life on the Edge", data collected in 2006-2007 during spawning season (May-June) showed smallies "clearly preferred spawning sites in back eddies of outside meanders" on this particular stretch. Current velocities in these areas was always <0.5 m/sec. and average spawning depth was 12"-16". One of the interesting things about this research was the big difference in weather patterns between years, 2006 being a very wet year and 2007 being very dry.

In 2006, only 7 nests were documented during 5 different spawning attempts, and overall success rate was only 25%. Average stream discharge that year was 14.2 m^3/sec. In 2007 though, they were able to document 20 nests with 100% successful hatch. Stream discharge that year averaged 6.9 m^3/sec. Their conclusion was "that smallmouth bass year class strength, and prey selectivity is highly dependent upon favorable low flow conditions during spawning."   

Flood Effects on Fish

As I mentioned, Indiana finally got a good shot of rain this past week with more expected by weekend. I took the time to get out on a creek and do some fishing with a friend, and the conversation at some point got around to flooding effects on bass spawns and populations in general. So I've gathered some research and compiled it here for your reading.

Our drought conditions this year have resulted in great spawns for river bass of the brown persuasion. Lots of YOY running around all over the state from all the reports I've gathered. But heavy rainfall in certain parts of the state have prompted flood warnings, and the question becomes one of what will happen to those good spawns. Research suggests we need not worry too much at this point.

• Susceptability of Young-of-the-Year Fishes to Downstream Displacement by Flooding
• Critical Stream Velocities for Young-of-Year Smallmouth Bass in Relation to Habitat Use

It seems that there is a critical period of growth that fish need to get through in order to successfully cope with flood waters. Any fry much under 1/2-inch are extremely vulnerable to flooding. As those fry grow from 1/2-inch up to the 1-inch range, they quickly gain swimming ability. By the time they have met or exceeded that 1-inch size, as all have probably done easily by now, they are quite capable of fending for themselves. So this is good news.

There is also some nice research to show that another issue might be tied to sudden water temp changes. The warmer the water the better fry and fingerlings can swim. Warm flood pulses would actually increase the ability of YOY fish to survive. Cold pulses will slow down their ability to swim, but probably not to the level of being a disaster.

• Effects of Temperature Acclimation on the Swimming Ability of Smallmouth Bass Fry
• Swimming Performance of Three Warmwater Fishes Exposed to a Rapid Temperature Change

And if research on trout is any indication of a basses ability to cope, it takes a major catastrophic flood to negatively affect adult populations. Even so, in this worst case scenario trout were able to effectively rebound and repopulate all decimated stream areas within 3-4 years, sometimes actually exceeding pre-flood populations. Additionally, growth rates for the newly populated improved due to the lack of competition from a large population of fishes.

• Response of a Brook Trout Population and Instream Habitat to a Catastrophic Flood and Debris Flow
• Effects of Floods on Trout in Sagehen Creek, California

In the end, I'd like to think that our bass are just a bit tougher than those trout ;) and that we'll have some really good years of fishing ahead of us to look forward to.

New California State Record SMB

Ione, CA, jULY 3, 2007: Harold Hardin, a Stockton fisherman who has been fishing Pardee Lake for the past 40 years did something that no other angler in the State of California has been able to do in 31 years: He caught a 9.83 lb. Smallmouth Bass that eclipsed the current state record by nearly ¾ of a pound. The old record of 9.1 was caught by Tom Brady in 1976 at Trinity Lake. Mr. Hardin was fishing just off of Leveque Point at the mouth of the Mokelumne River using charcoal colored swim bait. According to Mr. Hardin, shortly after landing the big fish, he hooked into another Smallmouth and just before he was about to land the 2nd fish, it made one last dash for freedom and snapped the line. “The one that I lost was definitely a larger fish than the one I landed” stated Mr. Hardin. Harold estimated that after seeing the 2nd fish up close to his boat that it was at least 11+ lbs. Mr. Hardin stated that there are Smallmouth Bass in Pardee Lake that are substantially larger than his record Bass.

Reservoir Smallie Science

I first met Melissa Kaintz at the 65th Annual Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference in Indianapolis, December 2004. At that time, she presented her preliminary data on her work with smallmouth bass. She has since completed that work and defended her thesis, and the full paper is now available online. Entitled Black Bass Tournament Activity and Initial Mortality On Middle Tennessee Reservoirs, it makes for an interesting read. If the .PDF link is acting up, try this .HTML version, though you'll miss out on the pictures and diagrams.

In particular, pay attention to her small tournament observations in Section 1. This seems to be a relative constant that I believe can be applied across the board to many small tourney events being run on our waters every day through the fishing season, from weekend club events to week night jackpots.

In section 2, she has some very interesting data containing radio tracking of smallmouth dispersal from tourney weigh-in sites (of particular interest to Dale Hollow anglers), detailed livewell condition observations, and a few other tidbits such as a significant difference in average size of smallmouth caught in winter tourneys versus summer tourneys. We've always thought or stated that your best shot at a bigger fish is in the winter, now we have some data to back it up!   

Sizing Smalljaws

If you take a few minutes to browse the web, you'll see there is no shortage of charts giving you an approximate weight for a largemouth bass based on its length. Using my 5 pound minimum you'll see most charts showing that as approximately a 20.5" largemouth, give or take 1/2 an inch. What will be much harder to find is a similar table for smallmouth bass. Since I will be using both a weight and a length criteria for target smallmouth, I wanted to see how correlated the two were that I chose.

On the length (20"), for whatever reason that seems to be the bar set for most states throughout the Midwest as a trophy smallmouth. You can find plenty of discussion and verification of this by browsing some of the regional smallmouth websites such as RiverBronze, RiverSmallies, Illinois Smallmouth Alliance or Indiana Smallmouth.

The weight (4 pounds) is a little trickier and obviously varies by individual fish. However, I found this (click here) little table that puts the two marks within very close tolerances. And for those of you who excelled at Calculus, a more scientific log regression calculation here (click here).

Either way, I'm happy with the minimums and can now move on to other subjects.