Back in my boyhood days when first learning to fish, it didn’t take long for me to discover water depth had a lot to do with where to find fish.

I had the advantage of swimming and wading every square foot of Big Flatrock River, and I knew the location of every drop-off and deep hole of water. With the locations of the river’s terrain etched into my memory, I could cast a baited hook to the deep side of drop-offs and target deep holes even when the river was up and running muddy brown.

On the river, I was an “ace” at using varying water depths to my advantage; however, I soon found when on fishing ponds and lakes, I was lost and well out of my comfort range. Knowing the depth and the location of flats, stumps and drop-offs is vital to locating and catching fish.

Years ago, I was fishing with Dick Johnson of Garr Hill Bait and Tackle, at Brookville Lake. Dick knew the lake as well as any angler, and he fished more than 250 days a year on the reservoir.

To me, all I could see were vast expanses of water. As I looked across a cove, Dick began to educate me by telling the location and direction of break lines, and where fish would be holding in relation to the shoreline. Years of experience and a small depth flasher unit gave Dick the ability to locate the areas of the cove holding fish.

Triangulating our location in relation to two prominent trees along the shoreline, Dick carefully dropped an anchor and said, “This is the spot. We are in 12 feet of water holding submerged brush and spawning crappie.”

Sure enough, in less than two hours, Dick and I both had a limit of nice size crappie in the live well and were headed back to the ramp. As we motored out of the cove, Dick saw a pontoon boat nosed into the bank and tied off with a couple watching two fishing poles propped off the stern of the boat.

Slowing the boat, Dick turned to me and said, “I’m going to give those folks my crappie. They don’t know it, but where they are fishing is over 80 feet deep and they won’t catch a thing. The water is way too deep, and with the hot weather, the naturally occurring thermocline limits the amount of oxygen below about 20 or 25 feet. There’s no fish there.”

The couple was thrilled to have the fish, as they were hoping to catch enough for their supper. Dick took the time to explain the layout of the water’s depth and proposed the next day they move their pontoon into the cove where we had been fishing.

Knowing a lake’s terrain is important, and thanks to Indiana’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Fish & Wildlife Division, it is now a lot easier. It used to be that anglers either purchased an expensive depth map or spent hours huddled over a depth finder to learn the terrain of a lake. Thanks to DNR, anglers have at their disposal a less expensive and involved way to find fish.
Several new lake bathymetry (depth) maps have been added to the DNR’s website. Anglers now have a total of 63 lake maps available for free downloading in digital format. The latest additions include two new maps in Warrick County – Blue Grass and Otter lakes, as well as Shipshewana and Nauvoo in LaGrange County, Mud Lake in Noble County and Indian Lake in DeKalb County.

Armed with the depth maps, Hoosier anglers of all experience levels can launch on a new lake and know the location of the deep holes, break lines and shallow areas fish love. The complete list of the available Indiana Lake depth maps can be found online at www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/5759.htm

Sport License Finder Tool from Indiana DNR

With all of the rules and regulations for fishing and hunting, it is a challenge just to remember what licenses and stamps are needed for each activity. A chart would be great, but Indiana’s DNR has come along with something even better: The Sport License Finder.

The Sport License Finder tool will help hunters find the types of licenses or stamps needed to pursue certain sport activities. All you have to do is answer three simple questions: sport, age and residency. The search results will display the licenses or stamps available, with some other options/requirements.
If you’ve ever been unsure of what licenses you need, the new webpage tool will help. The tool is only a guide, however, and it doesn’t represent the full rules and regulations for hunting, trapping, or fishing. Please see the Hunting & Trapping Guide or the Fishing Guide for specific regulations.
The Sport License Finder Tool can be found at www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/6486.htm

A crappie of a different color

Listening to fishermen sharing their personal knowledge and experiences with others can be a real hoot. The conversations can be especially interesting when fishermen are discussing or trying to identify a particular species of fish.

One species sure to bring a wide range of discussion is the crappie, as it comes in two distinct varieties: Pomoxis nigromalcullatus and Pomoxis annularis, or black and white. Dockside, you can ask a half-dozen veteran fishermen to identify the same crappie and usually get an even number of black and white answers.

Most anglers will say a black crappie has more black on it than a white crappie. That is true … depending on the water where the fish lives. However, in some waters, the black crappie have very little black on them at all.

White crappie can be just as intensely debated (debaited?) as anglers will usually say they are much more silvery and have distinct bars on their sides. All true – but once again, water conditions determine the color of the fish and white crappie can look very dark in color.

If you said a blind person could tell the difference, you’d be right; if the blind person knows the way to tell the difference and can touch the fish. Simply hold the fish in one hand and with your finger, carefully and delicately touch the top fin of the fish.

The top fin is called the dorsal fin and it has hard, sharp dorsal fin spines in it. The dorsal spines are the key and you simply count them. A white crappie has six dorsal spines, while a black crappie will have seven or eight.
Now, do you pronounce the fish’s name as “crop-pee” or as “crap-pee?” The variance in the pronunciation can usually be traced to whether you were raised in the North or the South. Northerners’ lean toward “crop-pee,” while Southerners’ usually go with “crap-pee.”

Other local names for crappie include calico bass, speckled bass, papermouth, grass bass, moonfish, Oswego bass, shiner, speck, bachelor perch, newlight, goggle eye, strawberry bass, white perch and (French Canadian) marigane noire and sac-a-lait.

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.