Big Indiana Bass

Cataract Survey Data - Then and Now

Despite being just 30 miles away and similar in makeup, recent general survey data from Cataract showed it to be a very different fishery than Raccoon in many respects.

The number one most abundant fish in this survey were white crappie, which made up over 40% of the fish population. Crappie growth was toward the high side, with over 30% of the crappie over 8 inches and almost 6% over 10 inches. Next in abundance was gizzard shad at nearly 20% of the population, followed by channel catfish and bluegill, tied at around 10% each.

Largemouth bass, on the other hand, were even worse than at Raccoon. Only 27 bass were shocked up, just 1.3% of all fish, for a rate of 12.5 bass/hr (CPUE), about half the rate at Raccoon and just a quarter of Monroe's. The largest was 19.3 inches, and only 15% of the bass were over the 14 inch size limit. These stats likely rank Cataract as one of the worst lakes in the state in regards to overall bass fishing.

Other fish in the survey included white bass, walleye, drum, black crappie, and flathead catfish.

Historical Data

Cataract also has an interesting history in regards to its fishery. 

For one thing, back in 1981-1983, the lake was stocked with thousands of threadfin shad. Threadfin only get about 4-5 inches at maximum, making them ideal forage size for most predators and for much of the year. Additionally, they can't survive our cold winters, so there is never an issue of them over-reproducing and taking over a lake like gizzard shad frequently do. However, it was determined that around 1983 gizzard shad got into the lake, and by 1985, were the most abundant fish in the surveys.

This abundance of gizzard shad lead biologists to start walleye stockings back up, as well as to recommend the start of hybrid striped bass stockings. Interestingly, there were no white bass in the lake back then, or at least they hadn't shown up in the surveys.

The crappie population has always gone through boom and bust cycles out there, with some years being good and others being poor in regards to size and numbers. The two tend to be inversely related. In other words, when the crappie get off a great spawn or two, the numbers go way up, but then the lake is filled with small fish for a period of time until they are either harvested or die off naturally. Then the numbers go down to a low point, but their growth improves, attracting crappie anglers en masse.

As for the bass fishing, in the 1985 survey the shocking rate was 34 bass per hour (CPUE), nearly 3 times the current rate and they made up nearly 7% of the overall fish population. Size was roughly similar with 17% of the bass meeting the 14" size limit, and the largest bass in the survey was 19.5 inches in length. Biologists did note that the growth rate had increased significantly since the shad got into the lake, especially for younger ages which were able to make the switch to a fish based diet.

In summary, the big change for the lake came in the early 80s when it flipped from a predator heavy lake (55% of the population) to a prey heavy lake (82% prey vs. 18% predators). While it allowed IDNR to make additional predator stockings and introduce new species into the lake, it also brought about several of the negative aspects of a fishery dominated by gizzard shad such as the crash of the bluegill population.

Raccoon Is Alright...If You Like Channel Cats

I just finished reading through the most recent survey that was carried out on Raccoon Lake tonight. I believe IDNR tries to do general fish population surveys on all the state reservoirs at least once every 5 years. This one was done back in 2014, and it turns out that it is has become an interesting fishery.

For one, channel catfish were the most abundant fish in the survey at over 35% of the entire fish population, the largest nearly 28" long. Bluegill were the second most abundant, and between the two combined, they comprise over 55% of all the fish.

There are several surprising aspects here. In most of our reservoirs, gizzard shad is usually number 1 in abundance, or very close to it. In this survey, less than 2% of the population was comprised of gizzard shad. This low percentage of shad also means their isn't as much competition between young game fish and young shad. This was reflected in the size of the bluegill surveyed, where over half of them measured between 6 and 8 inches.

There is also a very solid black crappie population, as they accounted for nearly 13% of the surveyed fish. In this survey, over 36% of them measured 8 inches or greater, the largest being just shy of 12 inches. Growth was also toward the high end of the district average for most all year classes.

The lake also still has a decent population of striped bass, though it is composed primarily of younger individuals. 

But what about the bass? They only accounted for less than 3% of the survey, and their shocking rate of 25 fish per hour is pretty low. Just how low? Consider that even "The Dead Sea," a.k.a. Monroe, has averaged nearly twice that rate in past surveys over the years. Additionally, the rate of "keepers" over the 16" size limit was 20 percent of all the bass collected, and the largest bass sampled was just 18.6 inches. Overall growth for all size classes of bass was also toward the lower to average rate for the area, and it takes around 6 years to produce a "keeper" bass of 16 inches.

So while the lake still produces nice sacks of fish from time to time, I wouldn't be adding it to the list of best bass lakes in the state anytime soon, either.

Historical Data

I pulled an old survey report from 1983 to see how much things have changed at Raccoon. The report details how gizzard shad have historically been a problem on this lake, so much so that in the fall of 1974, they performed a shad selective by treating the lake with what I assume were low doses of rotenone. Walleye and largemouth bass were stocked afterward to help fill the biological void. The selective helped, but gizzard shad were still the most abundant species in 1976.

Then, during a couple severe winters between 1976-1978, there were major winter kills that significantly decreased the number of shad in the lake. A June 1978 survey revealed no gizzard shad, but a 1980 survey showed they had repopulated again. In the 1983 survey, they continued to be first in relative abundance making up 38% of the fish sample. Longear sunfish were second at 9%.

Interestingly, largemouth bass were third at 8.6% of the sample. While this is nearly triple what the most current survey found, their shocking rate was still just 23.4 bass per hour, almost identical to the current survey. They were well represented though by all ages up to 7 years of age and nearly all 1/2-inch size classes up to 20.5 inches in length (4.83 pounds). Growth rates were about average for central Indiana, and over 27% of the bass were over the then 14" size limit.

At the time, walleye comprised a decent portion of the sample, but they were also actively stocking them. White crappie significantly outnumbered black crappie, though both were present in the lake. That ratio now seems to have flipped. Also, channel catfish, the current most abundant fish, were only ranked 8th in the 1983 survey at just 4.2% of the fish population.

I've got similar comparisons for Cataract Lake as well, and will be posting those in the coming week. Stay tuned.

Older But Interesting Tournament Data

Since we were discussing some specific metrics around bass populations in our reservoirs, I pulled up the report from about 10 years ago that was done analyzing the catch data that clubs and organizations fill out as part of their permit to hold bass fishing events on our state owned waterways. While the data I am about to show is from 2006-2008, I would just about bet things haven't changed that much. It would actually be rather interesting if IDNR did another analysis now that we've reached the 10 year mark and compare the data sets to see trends. I'll have to ask about that one.

Anyway, the following lakes were evaluated as part of this report: Brookville (BRK), Cataract (CAG), Raccoon (CMH), Hardy (HAR), Mississinewa (MIS), Monroe (MON), Patoka (PAT), Salamonie (SAL), Sylvan (SYL), and Wawasee (WAW).

I believe all of them had a 14 inch limit in place with the exception of Patoka (15") and Raccoon (16"). A few things you'll see stand out if you look at the numbers closely;

• The average bass weighed in across all these events is right around 2 pounds.
• The average big bass for all these events is right at or just over 4 pounds.
• The two notable exceptions to the big bass data were Patoka and Monroe, where the average big bass was almost always in the 5-6 pound range.
• There was a positive correlation between lake size and big bass size.
• It takes about 10 man hours to catch a keeper bass in Indiana on these waters. 
• An 18" bass is a "bigger" bass here in Indiana. While rates varied, you can generalize based on the data and say that an 18" or larger bass takes between 125-200 man-hours to catch.
• Again, there were two notable exceptions where it took considerably less time; Patoka and Raccoon. This can be attributed to the larger bass size limits in place at those two lakes.
• This brings up the interesting prospect of, if you want to see bigger bass in our lakes, you might consider supporting a higher size limit placed on some of our reservoirs. I should also mention here, there is an interesting new study out suggesting that the prevalence of catch and release by bass anglers is having a mixed effect on our bass fisheries, creating better populations (numbers) of bass, but at the expense of larger ("big") bass. More on that to come in another post.

Here are a few of the charts:

Cordry-Sweetwater-Lemon Bass Survey Data

Here are the data for recent surveys done on a few of our southern waters in the recent past (late fall 2017). Comparing the graphs is an interesting lesson in the diversity of bass populations across a series of similarly located waterbodies.

Cordry Lake

On the top you have Cordry Lake. A few things to notice compared to the other two lakes is a shortage of smaller bass which indicates poor reproduction and recruitment over the past couple years. You'll also notice very few large bass, the biggest topping out around 17". You'll also notice very few over 14", as most are stockpiled in that 10"-14" range. This suggests a possible stunted population. Add in the fact that the PSD (proportional size distribution) was 69 ("balanced" lakes usually run 40-60), as well as the fish being light for their size (data not shown), and you have a good numbers fishery but not much else in the way for bass.

 

Sweetwater Lake

Looking at Sweetwater Lake, you see a little better balance. More smaller bass overall, and a few more larger bass, too. The PSD is lower at 45, right on the lower end of a balanced fishery, but you see a stockpiling of bass just at or under the 14" size limit. This is very common among many of our Indiana waters. Additionally, but not reflected in the graph was a small population of smallmouth bass, a nice bonus to the fishery.

 

Lake Lemon

Then you have Lemon. While the PSD is 61, right at or over the top of the "balanced" fishery line, You'll quickly notice a few things different. First is a lot of small bass, but also a lot of larger bass. You don't see quite the stockpiling in the middle of the chart either, and the percentage of "keepers" is much higher than the other two lakes at nearly 30 percent. The bass are also overall healthier using weight to length analysis. On balance, Lemon is the much better fishery overall, at least in terms of bass fishing. One interesting thing of note though was the lack of any spotted bass in this survey, which used to be very common in the lake, and some of them grew rather large. 

Tom Seward's Lure Thoughts

Tom Seward was not only one of the best crankbait designers in the industry, but also one hell of an inquisitive angler. His attention to detail, and his persistence in proving theory instead of just accepting it, was second to none. Sadly, we lost Tom a couple years ago. While digging through some old magazines today, I came across a couple of his articles from the early 90s and thought I'd share some of his observations and opinions on various tackle subtleties.

Chrome Baits: "These popular color patterns produce flashes as the lure rolls on its center of gravity. Yet they're low contrast schemes because, like a shad, they mirror the color of the sky and the water around them."

High-contrast baits: "High-contrast schemes are visible from long distance and at great depths in clear water, in dingy water, or at night. Their attracting power is akin to that of over-sized duck or goose decoys."

Eyes: "I don't believe any evidence suggests that lures with eyes are taken any harder, deeper, or by the head."

The Shad Spot: "My experience with clear-bodied crankbaits indicates that these spots are not important. Yet I wouldn't think of painting a shad scheme without them; it's part of a color tradition."

Gill slashes on baits: "It's another decorative tradition. Clear lures or lures painted without gills suffer no noticeable decline in response."

Rattles: "Depth and speed control along with lure action are critical, with size and color being less important variables. Rattles don't rank high on the list."

Strike Windows: "The sphere moves with the fish and contracts or expands according to the activity mood of the fish. A lure in motion also has a sphere around it...For a strike to occur, the lure must penetrate the individual strike window of a fish, or the fish must move to bring its strike window to the lure" ("A "collision of two spheres").

Topwater lures: "Good topwater lures suggest vulnerability or reproduce the sucking, chugging attack sounds of gamefish. They don't need rattles to attract fish from long distances."

Spoonpluggers Scoop Big Bass

The late A.J. Barton

Chattanooga Contingent Has Field Day On Lake Kissimmee

June 23, 1991|By Don Wilson of The Sentinel Staff

Leah Phillips, A. J. Barton, Ned Sanders, Buck Perry and Ken Hyde.

Last week, while most of the locals fishing on Lake Kissimmee were catching small bass, some out-of-town anglers were quietly catching real bragging fish from untouched areas of the lake.

Ignoring the emerging grassline that most of the locals followed, these folks were trolling in open water and catching plenty of bass that weighed from 4 pounds to more than 10 pounds.

Six-and 8-pound fish were commonplace in the livewells of the small boats manned by a contingent from Chattanooga, Tenn.

One of the group, Frank Hammill, said he and his wife, Theresa, caught 15 bass one day, 19 the second day and 22 bass on the third day. A few days later, he caught his largest of the trip, a 10 1/2-pounder.

They call themselves Spoonpluggers, after the odd-looking metal lure that was invented nearly 60 years ago by Buck Perry.

But the real secret of their success isn't the lure, but the technique of fishing perfected by Perry years ago. It involves trolling in open water along a bottom contour they call the breakline. That's where there is a sudden rise or drop in the bottom of the lake which usually attracts bass on their migrations from deep-water homes to their shallow-water feeding grounds.

Perry, of Hickory, N.C., was leading the contingent's fishing effort on Lake Kissimmee.

He said the key is finding that breakline in water that is 8 to 10 feet deep.

''Deep water is the home of the really big fish,'' Perry said, ''and he spends the greater part of his time there. But once or twice a day he will become active and move toward the 8-to 10-foot depths. Then he stops.''

The group found five such deep-water holding areas in Lake Kissimmee and managed to catch large numbers of fish.

''During the last three days, they've caught 130 bass weighing from 4 to 10 pounds, but they haven't gotten an 11 yet,'' Perry said at midweek. Most of the fish were released, with a few being kept for meals or mounting.

During the hot summer dog days, when most fishermen are happy with catching a bass every couple of hours, their success was noticeable.

Tennessee Spoonplugging Club Patch

I've been wanting to add one of these to the collection for a long time. I finally got my wish. An original patch for what used to be the largest and most famous Spoonplugging club in the country during the 70s and 80s.