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« November 2013 | Main | January 2014 »

December 31, 2013

Ultimate Match Fishing is Back (2014)!

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December 30, 2013

Stayinging Warm and Dry in the Wet and Cold

JacketEvery serious angler most likely owns a rainsuit of some sort. If you are outdoors and fish in every possible weather imaginable, then chances are you might best be served by a Goretex suit. However, you will pay for that luxury to the tune of about $425+ for a top of the line parka and bib setup (~normal price).  For everybody else, the question is what is the next best thing for the money.

After fishing out of the same old rubber coated Columbia suit for the past 20 years, I finally picked up a modern outfit this fall, and have really put it to good use during the cold weather. The outfit I went with was the Frogg Toggs ToadRage jacket with a pair of ToadSkinz pants. Total cost was about 1/3 what a Goretex outfit would have been, but I'm a semi-fair-weather angler, needing something for those occasional rainy days or brief heavy thunderstorms, but even more so for protection when out fishing during cold weather. One of the biggest keys to staying warm is having something that is very wind resistant, and rainsuits tend to double as great windsuits also.

The ToadRage jacket has a great list of necessary features such as:CIMG4414

  • Fully sealed, taped waterproof seams
  • Zippered front closure
  • Dual storm flap and hook & loop closure
  • Adjustable elastic cuff openings
  • Zippered chest pocket
  • Zippered hand warmer pockets
  • Adjustable hood with drip-free visor design
  • Adjustable elastic waist band with shock cord and dual cord locks

It also features their newest hybrid ToadSkinz fabric which is listed as 100% waterproof and 100% breathable. From a practical standpoint, and compared to my old suit, this new one is very light weight and easy to maneuver in. I have had no problems casting, working a bait, or landing fish. The attached hood has also functioned well when needed, not blocking my view or only being half effective like some stiffer molded hoods are. Needless to say, I've been very happy with the outfit so far, to the point of wearing it out fishing this year more often than my two other actual cold weather jackets I own (not rainproof).

So if you're in the market for a suit this year, but don't have the money or the need to drop big bucks on a Goretex outfit, you might give this jacket/pants a serious look. I know I no longer dread having to put on a rainsuit at times when out on the water.

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December 29, 2013

Bass Pro Shops 2014 Master Catalog

If you're like a good majority of the angling public, chances are you received your 2014 Bass Pro Shops Master Catalog this past week. I believe my nearly 725 pages of marketing goodness arrived in my mailbox on Thursday. From the looks of Facebook, many also received Bass Pro gift certificates for Christmas this year. When you finally sit down to place an order this winter, or to use your gift cards online, here's a simple and free way to help support the Big Indiana Bass website. Instead of typing in the address or searching for it, simply start on the Big Indiana Bass homepage and then use (click on) the Bass Pro shopping link on the top right sidebar to go directly to their website - then do your shopping like normal. Doing so will let them know you came through our site, and they in return will donate a little bit of $$ back to the site for every order. It's a very simple and easy way to help support running the Big Indiana Bass website, and it doesn't cost you anything.

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December 28, 2013

Fishing In an Ice Bath

Nothing like the sound of ice being broken up by 3 inches of rain and some warming south winds - or the tinkling as the aluminum boat cuts through the random floating ice cubes throughout the lake. That warm rain last weekend started the process of melting a lot of the ice covering the lake, and then the wind and above freezing temps did the rest, at least on the most important part of the lake - the ramp area. Friday afternoon there was still a good 15' of ice about 2" thick blocking everything, but the south wind was working on it quick. I figured by Saturday I'd be good, and with temps approaching 50 degrees, I had plans of hitting the lake, even if just for a bit.

It's been a particularly bad winter from an open water fishing standpoint, so just getting the boat out was reward enough. Getting a chance to run the Mercury for a while was a nice side benefit since I don't winterize it. But the odds of catching any fish...?


 Finally, the 15' ice dam is gone - the boat gets launched into open water.

 
The ramp was open, along with the main lake, but all the coves and creek arms were still frozen over, accounting for nearly half the lake. Casts were frequently made within feet of the frozen water.


The Humminbird showed it was like floating in an ice cold glass of Coca-Cola out there today. Surface temps ranged from 35-39 over the open water sections of the lake. Water clarity wasn't much better than Coke either in some areas.


Proving what I pretty much now espouse - that there is no such thing as water that is "too cold" to catch bass in. The first of two fish caught today on the small hair jig. This one came out of 12' of water adjacent to a pair of planted brushpiles.

Five minutes later, a bit smaller, but proof that the first fish wasn't a fluke. Same depth and bait. I've now got my "fishing fix" for another month or so. Go ahead. Bring back the cold and the snow now.

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December 26, 2013

The 2014 Big Indiana Bass Tournament Calendar

It's back, the Big Indiana Bass Tournament Calendar for 2014, with most all of the major events in the state being covered, as well as all events that require a permit from IDNR to fish on state/Corp. waters. This year I've expanded and covered a good majority of the Northern Indiana events also. The file is a MSExcel workbook that has tabs along the bottom for each month, as well as a separate tab for all the Lake Waveland & Northern Indiana events scheduled to date.

If you have an event you'd like added to the calendar, send an e-mail with the event, lake and date to bigindianabass "at" ccrtc.com You might also put something like "tourney" in the message line so it doesn't accidently get tossed in the spam folder. I'll try and update the calendar as I get new dates added.

In the future, simply click on the "Indiana Tournament Calendar" icon on the left hand sidebar for quicker reference.

  • Download TX_Calendar_3

Additionally, here are links to the websites of some of the organizations that have updated 2014 shchedules posted. Most all of these also appear on the calendar:

 

WAVELAND NOTES:

The tournament schedule is current as of 12-25-13. You can send an email to for possible up dates in the future as events are added. I'll also try and stay current on these.

Other items to note:

The park is closed until spring, however the lake will remain open for fishing, including ice fishing throughout the winter. Also, contractors have finished repairs to the leak on the spillway as of December 4th. A small amount of leakage still exists of approximately 15 gallons per hour compared to the 200-300 gallons per hour prior to the repairs.

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December 24, 2013

Best Wishes to All

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December 22, 2013

Happy, Happy, Happy

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December 21, 2013

Bass Fishing: Mental Toughness, Talent or Confidence?

Perhaps you've read the recent David Dudley blog over on FLW Outdoors. Entitled, "What makes a great angler truly great?," it covers the results of David's poll that he took on his Facebook Page asking readers to rate the overall percentage of importance between the following attributes; mental toughness, talent or confidence, and his ultimate reaction to the outcome.

As you will see from reading the story, the readers chose mental toughness as the largest attribute to success. David summarized, "The results were 47 percent for mental toughness, 31 percent for confidence and 22 percent for talent...Even after a few days of contemplating the results I am still trying to understand why talent came in so low! How can people discredit the skill of skipping docks all day long and only miscasting 10 times, or casting a crankbait twice as far as the average person..." (my bold).

I think I have the answer for Dave on why people rated the mental part of the game so high, and I'd suggest the reason is because that's what many professional anglers, and the media reporting on them, have expressed to the angling public for years and years. I'm not saying it's the right or wrong answer, but instead merely pointing out that the people tend to believe what they've been told or read when repeated constantly.

Interestingly, this topic goes back a lot farther than you might realize, at least some 30 years or more. Take this example (pic right) from a 1984 newspaper article in which Rick Clunn was being interviewed. The basic point to be made in that article, along with others as you'll see, is the belief that at the pro level, talent is largely equalized, and as such, it's the non-physical attributes that play the largest role in doing well. Clunn has spoken of this for years, but others have expressed the same opinion.

Do the majority of pros truly believe this, or are they simply repeating what's been expressed before by others? Perhaps just as interesting, do the majority of serious bass anglers who follow the sport truly believe that fishing talent is equal across pros? If so, then you likely have your answer as to why they rated the mental game so high in the poll.

Below you'll find a few examples I've tracked down from a variety of sources and pros, all espousing the basic sentiment that the mental factor is the/a primary driver in competetive fishing success. I'd suggest this is why Dave got the answer he did in his poll. Does David's argument for talent change your mind at all?

 

> "At this level, it's all mental," said Major League Fishing pro Jeff Kriet of Ardmore, Okla. "It's 100 percent mental."

Source: http://www.majorleaguefishing.com/news_details.aspx?id=1072

 

> “I think the mental game is 90 percent of your success,” said B.A.S.S. Elite pro Terry Butcher.

Source: http://www.lurenet.com/fishing-articles/bass-fishing/thementalgame

 

> Cliff Pace - "A lot of people don't realize just how much of professional bass fishing is mental. I'd say it's about 99 percent, but that might be low. At this level, everyone can cast extremely well. Everyone knows the right knots to tie. Everyone can operate their boat and get to the fish quickly and efficiently. In short, everyone can fish."

Source: http://www.bassmaster.com/blog/balance-everything

 

> Dave Lefebre: "Mental attitude is everything. In a nutshell, it’s visualizing everything happening before it happens—without getting your hopes up in case it does not turn out exactly the way you want."

Source: http://www.fishingclub.com/magazine/articles/articletype/articleview/articleid/4013/how-to-catch-bass-on-tough-days

 

> Davy Hite: "Mental preparation is a major component in succeeding in all professional sports, a fact of which pro bass anglers are acutely aware."

Source: http://www.bassfan.com/tips_article.asp?ID=48

 

> Brandon Palaniuk: “The mental side of fishing is just as important as the mechanics so I use positive visualization to prepare myself. “It’s the mental side that separates the winners from the rest of the field,” said Palaniuk.

Source: http://www.thelakeonline.com/outdoors/recreation/article_cc45c68e-4c9e-11e3-9a8e-0019bb30f31a.html

 

> Clark Wendlandt: Mentally Preparing for Tournaments

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December 19, 2013

TWRA reveals Chickamauga Lake bass DNA analysis

Florida bass have huge impact

A story by Richard Simms over at NOOGA.com details some great DNA work being done by biologists who have been studying the affect the stocking of Florida strain largemouth have been having on the fishery at Chickamauga. By now everyone knows what kind of killer sacks have been coming from the lake all year. A few excerpts from the report:

  • In genetic terms, biologists place Chickamauga largemouth into four major classes: pure northern bass, pure Florida bass, hybrids and "backcrosses"—a cross between a hybrid with another hybrid, a pure Florida or a pure northern.
  • In the 2012 lakewide DNA analysis, biologists found 7.8 percent northern bass, 2.3 percent Florida bass, 15 percent hybrids and 75 percent backcross. That means 92 percent of all the bass in Chickamauga Lake carry at least some Florida bass genes.
  • In 2013, when Jolley and his crew collected DNA samples exclusively from bass weighing more than 8 pounds, they found no pure northern bass and no pure Florida bass. However, 75 percent of the big bass were hybrids, and 25 percent were backcross.

An important point to note here is that while the fishing for giant bass is great right now, and probably will be for a few more years to come, there are some challenges and bigger questions that lie at the heart of such stockings. One of the first that comes to mind is the fact that there appears to be almost no (<10%) pure-strain northern largemouth left in the fishery. The gene pool has been almost completely diluted, and that should bring up some concerns.

Another is that 75% figure for all the giant bass being hybrids. The only way to get a true first generation (F1) hybrid (which is likely what these giant bass are) is to cross (in this case) a pure Northern with a pure Florida. Since the bass population now consists of only 8% Northerns and 2% Florida's, those hybrids are going to get eliminated from the system sooner rather than later. When that happens, there won't be any more F1 hybrids, only backcrosses, which tend to not have near the vigor and attributes of the hybrids. In other words, it wouldn't surprise me to see the big bass fishery collapse for the most part once the true hybrids are dead and gone, and then there will be no easy fixes for the lakes fishing given the huge dilution of the gene pool. Fishing would likely go back to the way it was before the Florida introductions, and stay that way, very reminiscent of the big bass boom in California back in the 80s, and the subsequent "crash" that eventually followed.

Only time will tell if these possible negative scenarios play out, but it will be an interesting story to follow, a great case study in bass genetics and stocking protocol, and a possible warning that all that glitters is not gold.

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December 18, 2013

Indiana DNR Notes of Interest

NORTHERN INDIANA

Patoka> Biologists continue to monitor the state of cisco (Species of Special Concern) in Indiana lakes. From 2012-13, staff have sampled 22 of the 45 lakes known to have had ciscoes in 1955. Data suggests just 7 of those lakes still have cisco populations.

> Black crappie consistently ranks second or third in our (northern Indiana) angler preference surveys.

> Biologists have been working to standardize ~250 June glacial (natural) lake fish surveys going back to 1985. These standardized datasets will allow them to quantify and trend various metrics.

> In 2013, district biologists conducted a muskie survey, four largemouth bass surveys, four status and trends surveys, seven standard surveys, 14 vegetation surveys, a river survey, a cisco survey, a wiper survey, four walleye surveys, and one summer creel.

Eel> Pine Lake in LaPorte was stockjed with walleyes.

> There were three reports of pacu being caught from Cedar Lake in Lake County. These are the tropical fish commonly (and erroneaously) claimed to be piranha.

> 2013 produced a near‐record summer and fall steelhead run on the St. Joseph with over 7300 steelhead being counted at the South Bend fish viewing window.

> Over 3400 trout and salmon caught by Indiana anglers this year have been examined, collecting valuable data for the federally‐funded Mass Marking program.


SOUTHERN INDIANA

SMB> In August, a public meeting was held at West Boggs to discuss the timeline of the 2014 renovation plan. Biologists have began assessing private ponds in the watershed for threats to the success of the project. To date, 78 of the 148 ponds identified in the watershed have been checked and no undesirable species have been found.

> Bass sampling occurred on the Flatrock River as part of a statewide black bass management plan. Smallmouth bass as large as 19 inches were collected.

> Biologists also collected bass from the East Fork of the White River. Bass tournaments are a weekly event throughout the summer in this stretch. The survey will act as baseline catch data for monitoring the (new) protected slot size-limit. They collected 56 spotted bass from 3.0 to 13.3 inches inlength, and four largemouth bass from 9.3 to 14.8 in total length.

> A Sullivan Lake creel survey was completed at the end of October. Data includes angler creel stats, a fish community survey, and largemouth bass and channel catfish surveys.

> Did you kow there are American eels in Indiana? Though not overly common, there were several reported in the state this year.

Tag> Vegetation surveys at Salinda Lake, Hardy Lake, and Pride’s Creek Lake were carried out. Electrofishing samples at Huntingburg Lake for saugeye and Patoka Lake for walleye were also completed. Bryant's Creek Embayment had a general survey done to assess the fish community, and a shovelnose sturgeon survey on the Wabash River was also finalized.

> Trap netting at Hardy Lake was done to help assess a possible crappie length limit in the future.

> A lot of time was spent collecting and tagging bass for this years tag reward study. This study covers three river systems which include the West Fork White River, St. Joseph River and the Eel River. A total of 406 bass were tagged throughout these three rivers. Tagging began in June, and already they've had 11 tags reported, and most of them have been returned.

> Indiana's urban fishing project from this year is being evaluated. Preliminary creel results for the nine urban lakes surveyed from April to August showed over 24,000 anglers that fished more than 44,500 hours. The total catch of all urban fishing program lakes was over 11,000 fish, of which ~6,000 were harvested. Bluegill and catfish made up 85% of the total harvest in these urban areas. The most heavily used areas were Garvin Pond and Diamond Valley Pond in Evansville, Terre Haute’s Dobbs Park Pond, and Krannert Lake which is located in Indianapolis. Fishing pressure was highest in the months of May and June and went down after stocking of catfish stopped in early June.

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