Big Indiana Bass

Here's a quick summary of a couple new studies recently published involving white bass and largemouth bass.

Seasonal Mortality and Movement Patterns of White Bass in a Southeastern U.S. Reservoir
Kelsey J. Lincoln, D. Derek Aday & James A. Rice

Like several other states, populations of white bass in some reservoirs seems to be on the decline in North Carolina. Researchers placed transmitters into 75 white bass over a period of 2 years and tracked them monthly. At the end of the study period, researchers found that total annual mortality was just over 75%, with natural mortality accounting for 15% of the loss, and fishing mortality accounting for 60%. Highest mortality peaks were in the spring as might be expected. The annual "run" of white bass in reservoirs is a very popular occurrence that at times draws hundreds of anglers to a particular body of water.Other than during the spawning run, white bass concentrated into particular areas within the deepest sub-basins of the lake. In cooler months, white bass were located far from shore and in deep water. Based on the results, one possible remedy to declining populations might be to restrict more liberal harvest limits, especially in the spring when fish are concentrated and fishing mortality is high.

Loss of Naivety to Angling at Different Rates in Fished and Unfished Populations of Largemouth Bass
Jan-Michael Hessenauer, Jason Vokoun, Justin Davis, Robert Jacobs & Eileen O’Donnell

How much affect does lure avoidance have on our ability to catch largemouth bass? This study set out to help better understand that question. Bass from both fished and unfished populations were captured and released into ponds where anglers then tried to catch them using traditional fishing tactics. While there appeared to be no initial difference in lure avoidance between the two populations, individuals from fished populations learned lure avoidance faster than individuals from unfished populations. Overall declining daily catch rates suggested a possible social learning component of learned lure avoidance. In other words, the more fish were exposed to angling, the less likely they were to be caught, whether actually captured previously or not. So, the belief that those fisheries with the heaviest angling pressure make for the toughest bass fishing seems to be at least somewhat true.