Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) biologists netted a 14.7-inch white bass in Waubee Lake in mid-June, adding it to the growing list of lakes where the fish has apparently been illegally stocked by anglers.

Biologist Jed Pearson with the DNR Division of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) captured the white bass in a routine fishery survey of the 187-acre natural lake, in northern Kosciusko County. He suspects an angler caught it elsewhere and released it into the lake without a permit.

According to state law (IC 14-22-9-8), anyone who stocks fish in public water must first get a permit from the DNR. Doing so without a permit is a Class C misdemeanor.

“We are finding more and more white bass in lakes where they should not be,” Pearson said.

White bass do not naturally occur in Waubee Lake, nor are they native to other Indiana lakes in the Great Lakes watershed. They are also not native to upper reaches of the Tippecanoe River watershed.

In 2003, white bass were found in Lake Wawasee, Indiana’s largest natural lake, located not far from Waubee. Since then, white bass have been found at Big Lake in Noble County and Lake-of-the-Woods in Marshall County. An angler also caught a white bass at Loon Lake in Whitley County last summer and reported it to fisheries officials.

Numbers of white bass in Wawasee and Lake-of-the-Woods are increasing. Pearson said he thinks the populations originated from fish taken from lakes naturally containing white bass.

“White bass have always been present in several Kosciusko County lakes, including the Barbee Chain, Tippecanoe and Winona,” Pearson said. “Today’s boats now have built-in livewells and aerators, making it easy to move fish from one lake to another and very hard for Conservation officers to detect.”

White bass, which are actually silver in color, are considered sport fish and are popular with anglers. But, they are also predatory fish and can feed on small bluegills and largemouth bass.

Where white bass occur naturally, they typically eat gizzard shad, a forage fish of little interest to anglers. Shad, meanwhile, cause other problems by competing with bluegills and largemouth bass.
Waubee, like Wawasee, Big and Loon, does not contain shad, so biologists don’t know what long-term impacts the species may have on the native fish community. Pearson’s nightmare, however, is someday also finding gizzard shad in these lakes.

“We understand why anglers may want to stock white bass, but they need to realize white bass can harm fishing,” he said. “An even bigger problem would result if fishermen now think these lakes need shad to feed the white bass.”

Pearson’s advice as both a biologist and an angler is: “If you’re going to take a fish from a lake, take it home to eat.”
Too many bass in Noble County

The DFW may seek changes in largemouth bass fishing regulations at two Noble County lakes in hopes of culling high numbers of the popular sport fish to increase their growth and size.

Based on sampling conducted last year, DFW biologists say Big and Crane lakes contain three times the normal number of bass found in northern Indiana natural lakes. As a result, bass grow slowly and few bass large enough to be taken home by anglers are present.
Currently all angler-caught bass shorter than 14 inches long must be released. The DFW imposed the 14-inch minimum size limit at nearly all natural lakes in 1998 to increase bass numbers. The limit has apparently been overly protective at some lakes.

“We’ve seen huge increases in bass numbers at Big and Crane lakes as a result of the size limit,” said Pearson. “Coupled with angler promotion of catch-and-release fishing, some lakes now have more bass than they can support.”

Biologists captured 303 adult bass per hour of sampling at Big Lake and 294 per hour at Crane Lake. The average catch rate at most natural lakes is 96 per hour. Only 2 percent of the bass captured at Big Lake and 5 percent of the bass captured at Crane Lake were of legal size.

According to Pearson, changes in bass fishing regulations may be worth considering at Big and Crane lakes, to encourage anglers to catch and keep small bass.

The theory is once many of the small bass are removed, the remaining bass should grow larger. Once balance in the bass populations is restored, the 14-inch limit could be reinstated.
Any changes in bass fishing rules must first be approved by the Natural Resources Commission. It would be an extensive process to assure any change will achieve the desired results and would include a public hearing, so no changes are likely to be made this year.

“Before we take a proposal to the Commission, we need to iron out the details of what may be needed,” said Pearson. “We also want to make sure the public is willing to accept the change and Conservation officers will be able to enforce it.”

The DFW is considering three options. All three rely on what Pearson called a “reverse slot limit.

“Instead of a 14-inch minimum size limit, anglers may be allowed to keep only 10- to 14-inch bass,” he said. “We could also relax the daily catch limit of five for bass that size. Or we could allow some combination of 10- to 14-inch bass and bass over 14 inches.”
If a change is eventually made, the DFW plans to promote it widely to encourage anglers to fish the two lakes and take home bass. A change could be linked to fishing derbies and other events designed to encourage fishing, especially among youngsters.
“All of this is in the talking phase right now,” Pearson said. “If and when a change is made, we will also want to closely monitor the results.”

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Jack Spaulding may contact him by e-mail at jackspaulding@hughes.net or by writing to him in care of this publication.