Wouldn't it be nice.... SMALLIES

[HOGMONSTER]

I was reading a article on the indystar.com website about the explosion of muskie in some of the lakes around Fort Wayne. It talked about how a group of muskie anglers had worked together with the DNR to get and keep this fishing opportunity growing and I think that it is great that they are succeeding.

For years the IDNR has been all about stocking Wipers and Walleye into our reservoirs (both non-native species to this part of the country) and though that stocking has been to control the shad population which it has failed to do, it has offered different angling opportunities for people to experience.

I guess what I am trying to get at here, is that it would be really nice if we could get the DNR to start looking at smallmouth as a worthy species to start stocking in some of our reservoirs, specifically Monroe and Patoka. And it would be really nice if we could get a group of smallmouth anglers to work with the DNR to accomplish this the same way that the muskie fishermen have worked with the DNR to establish the muskie fishery.

For a little background, both Lake Monroe and Patoka were originally stocked with some smallmouth when they first opened. However, they did not take off like the largemouth did because both lakes were basically mud as far as the bottom makeup was concerned and the DNR did not do any subsequent stocking. As these lakes have aged they have become much more conducive to smallmouth being able to be established as the water clarity has significantly increased as well as the mud washing away exposing much of indianas famed limestone.
There are some smallmouth in both lakes, and it seems like every year there populations increase more and more. It would just be awsome if there would be a way to help them along which would create another great fishing opportunity here in this state.

Last year I caught a 4 pounder out of Monroe on a topwater. When it hit it was like someone through a stick of dinomite on the water.... WOW.... I am hooked!!!

[RVogler]

To answer your question....yes, it would be nice.

[raporter]

Been catching them fairly often in Patoka.

[Lucky1s]

Last year in the IBF tournament at Monroe between me and my co-angler we had over 10 pounds of smallies in the boat. Big one was about 3.5... They're there....

[small boat basser]

Since smallies are "natives" as you mentioned, I believe DNR thought process is if conditions are right, they would take off on their own. As you mentioned, they do seem to be expanding slowly as more rock is exposed, so might just have to wait a bit more on the developing fishery. That said, a "shot in the arm" would be nice. Might want to drop in on the Indiana Smallmouth Alliance (www.indianasmallmouthalliance.org) guys and see what they know or could do to help.

[Stevens]

Since smallies are "natives" as you mentioned, I believe DNR thought process is if conditions are right, they would take off on their own. As you mentioned, they do seem to be expanding slowly as more rock is exposed, so might just have to wait a bit more on the developing fishery. That said, a "shot in the arm" would be nice. Might want to drop in on the Indiana Smallmouth Alliance (www.indianasmallmouthalliance.org) guys and see what they know or could do to help.

Thats kind of what i was thinking, theyve stocked more muskie because of gizzard shad problems, but gizzard shad are much to big for smallies to eat. If we had more populations of threadfins then id definatly agree but yeah i think if the conditions were suitable for smallies in patoka and monroe they would already have taken off.. i really dont know tho

[Moose1am]

I wish we were about 20 deg further South in Latitude and we could have threadfin shad in our region.

I know most guys would rather have threadfin shad that those stupid gizzard shad.

IDNR has stocked some Muskie in the pits down here in Warrick County, IN and if they do well and eat the gizzard shad perhaps they may stock some of those muskie in Patoka lake.

IDNR stocked Pike in Patoka when it first opened and they were fun to catch. I caught my fair share of Northern Pike when the lake first opened.



quote=Stevens;332778]Thats kind of what i was thinking, theyve stocked more muskie because of gizzard shad problems, but gizzard shad are much to big for smallies to eat. If we had more populations of threadfins then id definatly agree but yeah i think if the conditions were suitable for smallies in patoka and monroe they would already have taken off.. i really dont know tho[/quote]

[HOGMONSTER]

"... but yeah i think if the conditions were suitable for smallies in patoka and monroe they would already have taken off.. i really dont know tho

The Problem is they were stocked 30 to 40 years ago and the lakes have changed significantly since then. A "shot in the arm" could potentialy result in a explosion of smallies in these lakes, and if not then it is not a program the DNR has to continue. Walleye don't reproduce in these lakes and the Wipers are sterile so these program require constant restocking at a higher cost than a "shot in the arm" IMO.

[Stevens]

The Problem is they were stocked 30 to 40 years ago and the lakes have changed significantly since then. A "shot in the arm" could potentialy result in a explosion of smallies in these lakes, and if not then it is not a program the DNR has to continue. Walleye don't reproduce in these lakes and the Wipers are sterile so these program require constant restocking at a higher cost than a "shot in the arm" IMO.

I think your right that as these resevoirs age they would become more suitable for smallmouth habitat.. i still dont know what forage they could thrive off of tho. i mean they can obviously survive because they are doing so. but can they thrive without something like threadfin, i dont know. What do all the smallies eat up north? there has to be a reason southern indiana isnt spitting out any smallmouth when everyone around us is. anyway i think it would be worth a shot.

[Moose1am]

It would be nice if IDNR stocked some more Small Mouth Bass in Patoka. I would think that would help boost the SM populations.

According to the In_Fisherman Book on Small Mouth Bass it's very easy to deplete the population through winter time fishing. Since the small mouths school up in big schools during the winter months and are easier to located. One or two guys could cull a lot of fish out of those big schools if they put their minds to that dastardly deed. I hope that most fishermen would not think about doing that and would help conserve those valuable fish during the winter months. I think that Small Mouth Fisherman are some of the most conservation minded guys around.


Is that Indianasmallmouthalliance organization a subscription based organization?

I noticed one post about using paypal to subsribe or something

Didn't Ray Rigsby have something to do with that web site in the past or is this something new and different.

I know that Ray was into smallmouth bass fishing an did at one time have a small mouth only web site that I use to frequent.

As for Patoka Lake, guys one of my friends who fishes Patoka Lake about 150 days a year or more told me that he thinks that the areas we fished together are silting in over the last 30 years. Now all that silt that flows into the lake via the three or four mai tributaries has to settle down to the lake bottom sometime.

I know that KY lake has a lot of old ditched and creeks that have silted in somewhat. So Patoka Must have some sediment built up on the bottom.

The FHS maps show areas along the shoreline of Patoka lake that have rocks and gravel. I would guess that's where the small mouth may be found along the shoreline. The rest will be in the deep water humps and points.

Since smallies are "natives" as you mentioned, I believe DNR thought process is if conditions are right, they would take off on their own. As you mentioned, they do seem to be expanding slowly as more rock is exposed, so might just have to wait a bit more on the developing fishery. That said, a "shot in the arm" would be nice. Might want to drop in on the Indiana Smallmouth Alliance (www.indianasmallmouthalliance.org) guys and see what they know or could do to help.

[jpfearnofish]

There are days you can get into them pretty well out on Lk. Wawasee...

[idbefishing]

There are days you can get into them pretty well out on Lk. Wawasee...

Where about? if it's a closely guarded secret, I understand.