West Boggs

[indiana boy]

Anybody doing any good at Boggs?

[kenny]

No, How did you do yesterday?

[indiana boy]

1 about 3.5 didnt stay long you didnt do any good?

[panfish]

Is there any truth about the lake being scheduled to be drained within the next yr??? Or has any decision been made??

[indiana boy]

Panfish, To my knowledge they are not going to drain the lake. The bass fishing has started to go down as well as the panfishing. A lot of this is due to all the fish that are takin out every year. I know when the crappie fishing was good a few years ago that people would go out and catch there limit 2 to 3 times a day 4 to 5 times a week. This was done by lots of people, mostly amish! Same goes for bass lots of 5-7lb fish have been taken out in the last couple of years and it is starting to show!!

[Stevens]

Panfish, To my knowledge they are not going to drain the lake. The bass fishing has started to go down as well as the panfishing. A lot of this is due to all the fish that are takin out every year. I know when the crappie fishing was good a few years ago that people would go out and catch there limit 2 to 3 times a day 4 to 5 times a week. This was done by lots of people, mostly amish! Same goes for bass lots of 5-7lb fish have been taken out in the last couple of years and it is starting to show!!

Thats sad, two years ago you could go there and blow their doors out, now i struggle to catch a limit many times.. Many fish i catch have been caught before and theres just not as many of them there as there used to be. And The numbers probably wont go back up anytime soon tho with the shad

[topwater2007]

The bass are up and down in Indiana, due to the lakes are so small they can't handle the pressure.

I can recommend Lake Waveland right now, you will get a limit every time in this lake right now. The biggest fish will be about 3.25, but you will catch lots of fish which is a lot of fun.

Illinois has the best fishing in my area, near Terre Haute. Mill Creek Lake is loaded with fish, and fish 3 to 5 pound are caught each time I go. You just can't believe the bass in this lake, and the channel cat are awesome too, even taking them on crankbaits. Load up a buddy, hit I-70, and get a good fishin trip in. They have tournaments every Wednesday and most Sundays, but other than that, the lake is relatively unharrassed.

Another very good Illinois lake is just north of Olney called East Fork Lake. It is as good as Mill Creek, and during the week it has low pressure.

Then of course, Lake Newton is becoming a world class lunker lake. Southeast of Newton, IL.

Now I know gas is high, but these lakes are close enough to Indiana, and access is good. Illinois highway 1 goes by East Fork and close to Mill Creek.

topwater

[indiana boy]

I agree topwater Millcreek and East Fork are really good right now and have been good for a long time what are they doing to manage there lakes that we arent? Both are full of shad so you cant blame the shad at boggs!! Both Mill Creek and East Fork have lots of pressure. Tournamets every weekend and at least one during the week and they keep producing big sacks of fish and lots of fish. I fished an 86 boat tournment at East Fork a couple weeks ago and caught 12-14 keepers on a lake that small with that many boats is awsome in my book there were also 3 fish over 7lbs caught in that tournment!!

[TR21Bassin]

I personally think Boggs needs to become a catch and release lake only. The only time you'd be able to put a fish in your livewell would be for a tournament then they are all released at the end of the tourney.

Thats the only way I know to relieve some of the pressure it gets. I also think a lot of the meat eaters actually take out undersize fish as well. I have personally witnessed it and you don't catch many small fish at Boggs at all.

Boggs was about the only lake I enjoyed fishing in Indiana, now that it *****, You might as well get used to driving to KY to fish. I'd rather do that anyway most of the time.

Charlie

[small boat basser]

I agree topwater Millcreek and East Fork are really good right now and have been good for a long time what are they doing to manage there lakes that we arent? Both are full of shad so you cant blame the shad at boggs!! Both Mill Creek and East Fork have lots of pressure. Tournamets every weekend and at least one during the week and they keep producing big sacks of fish and lots of fish. I fished an 86 boat tournment at East Fork a couple weeks ago and caught 12-14 keepers on a lake that small with that many boats is awsome in my book there were also 3 fish over 7lbs caught in that tournment!!

Unfortunately, a large part of the problem of Bogg's bass fishery heading downhill is due to the tourney anglers, but not because of all the pressure. As you suggest, a lake can take a pretty good amount of pressure, and if guys are releasing their fish back into the lake, the fishery holds up for quite a while. Geist is a perfect example of a fishery that receives tremendous tourney pressure but remains an excellent bass fishery. And yes, shad will eventually take their toll, but again its usually a much longer, drawn out process of decline.

Instead, what has happened is in large part due to the "arrogance" of some of the tourney bass clubs and anglers, for lack of a better word. It seems when West Boggs instituted its tourney permits and later, its $100 permit fee, a lot of clubs didn't like being "left out". So they started sneaking in and running what are considered "illegal" tournies. Several have been caught and labeled as such as Mike has documented in these forums before. So to get around the whole being caught aspect, they've improvised when it comes time to launch and weigh in. They'll slide in as individuals, won't hold any type of pre-tourney meeting or formal take-off, and when it is time for weigh-in they just slide out, load up and haul their bass off-site to be weighed else where. Of course, they don't bring them back into the Park because they'd have to pay again to enter or might get caught when they were seen putting their fish back into the lake. So instead they do things like take them home, stock their buddies pond, or release them into local waters where they are weighing them off-site.

Like most problems, this probably is occurring at a much higher rate than what we realize. Most serious bass anglers probably can name one person or club that has pulled this stunt down there, or at least considered doing it. How long can a bass fishery hold up when limits of good keepers are being removed on a regular basis? We are now starting to get the answer to that question as Steven S has already noted. Unfortunately while we all suffer in a sense due to losing a once great bass fishery, it is the local bass anglers who live and fish their regularly that will be hurt the most. Most of the clubs will just move on to the next lake on the schedule and eventually drop Boggs when the easy catching is gone.

Really a sad statement when you think about the whole situation. Seems we as bass anglers have become our own worst enemy. But if we can't police ourselves and hold our bassin' "buddies" accountable, what other outcome would you expect?

[Stevens]

"Illinois has the best fishing in my area, near Terre Haute. Mill Creek Lake is loaded with fish, and fish 3 to 5 pound are caught each time I go. You just can't believe the bass in this lake, and the channel cat are awesome too, even taking them on crankbaits. Load up a buddy, hit I-70, and get a good fishin trip in. They have tournaments every Wednesday and most Sundays, but other than that, the lake is relatively unharrassed."

What ever happened to Turtle Creek. All I ever heard about it was good things but the one time i made the trip, everyone up there told me the bass fishing was pathetic...? I saw no grass and that was a bit troubling

[GeoFisher]

"What ever happened to Turtle Creek. All I ever heard about it was good things but the one time i made the trip, everyone up there told me the bass fishing was pathetic...? I saw no grass and that was a bit troubling

Turtle creek had an issue a few years ago where they had to generate a TON of electricity and the water temps JUMPED over 100......that cause all the vegatation to die........

Bass are kind of OK there..........I hear the catfish population is GANGBUSTERS there right now though.

Later,

Geo