This was a poster presentation I mentioned about a year ago, but the full report has now been compiled and placed online. Lots of great details and charts concerning bass tourney statistics over the past 3 years from registered events with the state. The full report can be accessed via the link at the end of this post. Some highlights from the report:
- Black bass tournament data was collected from ten Indiana lakes/reservoirs in 17 counties from 2006 to 2008. Lakes ranged in acreage from 669 acres (Sylvan Lake) to 10,750 acres (Monroe Reservoir). Other lakes with registered tournaments were Brookville Reservoir, Cagle’s Mill Reservoir, Cecil M. Harden Reservoir (Raccoon Lake), Hardy Lake, Mississinewa Reservoir, Patoka Lake, Salamonie Reservoir, Syracuse Lake, and Lake Wawasee.
- Lake acreage was found to have a positive relationship with the average number of anglers per lake by year. Lake acreage also had a positive relationship with average big bass weight.
- Lake acreage and the number of hours to catch a legal bass exhibited a linear relationship with average big bass weight.
- We compared lakes with 14.0 in MSL to lakes with 15.0 in and 16.0 in MSLs. Average bass weight was significantly higher at Patoka Lake (15.0 in MSL) and Cecil M. Harden Reservoir (16.0 in MSL) versus all other lakes.
- The data collected annually from registered tournaments allow fisheries biologists to see a snapshot of the harvestable bass population present within a lake. This data, in tandem with creel and survey data, can help to draw important conclusions on how to manage a fishery. It is especially vital in drawing conclusions on the numbers of legal size bass available in a lake or reservoir which may not be accurately shown by other sampling methods.
STATEWIDE BLACK BASS REGISTERED TOURNAMENT MONITORING: 2006 to 2008
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