West Boggs Drawdown

[bassmanic1]

Mike ,
I really dont know how to take your last posting . I was only making a suggestion and know that it would require a lot of study by the right professionals before any changes or fish are stocked in a body of water . I wasnt suggesting "dropping a few wipers" in West Boggs , and Im not a "good ol boy" either . I have fished Indiana waters for the last 30 years and have seen a lot of our states mangement of public waters fall flat on its face . Hovey Lake in southern IN is perfect example but I dont really want to get into that here . What Im trying to say is most of us here my not be Rhode Scholars but we are honest , hard working Americans and not criminals .

[MikeAxsom]

Mike ,
I really dont know how to take your last posting . I was only making a suggestion and know that it would require a lot of study by the right professionals before any changes or fish are stocked in a body of water . I wasnt suggesting "dropping a few wipers" in West Boggs , and Im not a "good ol boy" either . I have fished Indiana waters for the last 30 years and have seen a lot of our states mangement of public waters fall flat on its face . Hovey Lake in southern IN is perfect example but I dont really want to get into that here . What Im trying to say is most of us here my not be Rhode Scholars but we are honest , hard working Americans and not criminals .

Sorry if my last post hit you wrong, but I did not intend for it to attack you or your other posts. And I totally agree that most of us here are honest and do not engage in such things as illegal stockings. In fact, my larger point in this entire thread is that the problems are really caused by just a very few individuals; and that it would be in the best interests of the rest of us to quit helping them hide in the fog of misunderstanding and misplaced camaraderie.

Education is the key and I think that the 99.9% of anglers that are honest and appreciative of the resource would do well to help make that education happen. Or at least not try to prevent it and continue to give cover to the few morons that create the problems in the first place. I suspect that one of the problems with the shad issue is the fact that people read about how those huge bass in the south are possible because of the shad forage there. That theme shows up in magazine articles, bait designs, and lure promotions on a large scale. But almost never do those efforts explain the differences in shad.

My challenge to anglers, again, is to become part of the cure. That can be done at the individual level, in those millions of bait shop and boat ramp conversations that take place every day. Or it can take place in conversations among clubs and organizations that could take a more proactive approach to explaining things like the difference between Gizzard Shad and Threadfin Shad to their membership.

[skeeter sf150sx]

Kevin Vandamm said at the Sooner Run event in Oklahoma that he believes the reason that lake has such a great fishery and large numbers of Bass is because Bass are the dominant predator. (But in the same respect they probably have threadfin shad) They have no competition from strippers or any other big fish. Hopefully that will be the case at Boggs. But hey neither Kevin nor I are professional lake people but everyone has their own beliefs. (kind of like religion)

[Moose1am]

Hey maybe with global warming the average and min temperatures of the Indiana Lakes will be warm enough to support populations of Threadfin shad year round. Now that's what we need to improve the size of our bass and other sport fish.

Threadfin shad don't get nearly a big as Gizzard Shad and are edible throughout their life cycle.

If you want to see big bass and fast growing Crappie just look for a lake that can support threadfin shad.

Right now those include Gibson Lake (Although it's closed permanently now) and Turtle Creek.. I was informed that Hovey's lake located at the very southern tip of IN in Posey County has Threadfin as it's connected to the Ohio River. I guess it's far enough South to sustain the Threadfin. Although my guess is that the threadfin spend the winter in the river and then repopulate Hoveys with the Spring Floods. BTW the drain's gates is kept open so fish can swim though it from the river into Hovey's and back out at will. The concrete structure is still there but the gate is open. I was told this by Hovey's Assistance Property Manager so he should know.

Threadfin also spawn more than one time so there is a lot more fry and YOTY swimming in lakes that have threadfin shad in them.

[Moose1am]

It's so easy these days to go online and google up some references about Threadfin Shad and Gizzard Shad.

www.google.com Then type into the search box Threadfin Shad and see what you can find!

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=threadfin+shad


http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...ad&btnG=Search


And it's very easy to tell the two types of shad apart if you look at the dorsal (top) fin. There is a long thread like thing that extends from the back of the dorsal fin on the threadfin shad. Thus the name Threadfin!

Threadfin don't grow as long or as huge and Gizzard Shad. I hate eating chicken gizzards so I also hate Gizzard shad. LOL A little play on words to help me remember the two different types of shad.

[Moose1am]

I agree with the need for better education of the fishing public. Well at least the 1% that just don't get it. Most all fishermen are pretty **** smart. But how do you educate the few that are in need of that education? That's the job for the rest of us to accomplish.