For the third year in a row, the Indiana State Fair will feature a free fishing pond to help children learn how to fish. The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) needs various types of volunteers to make the effort a success. Each will receive a free fair ticket for each day worked and a T-shirt to wear; no experience is necessary.
The fishing pond will be open for the duration of the fair, Aug. 6-17, with two shifts each day available for volunteers: 9 a.m.-noon and 4-7 p.m., except for Aug. 6 and 9, when no morning sessions will take place. Six positions are open.

A tent for Angler’s Legacy, which needs to be staffed, has been added. Angler’s Legacy is a program focused on involving adults in fishing through teaching someone to fish or taking someone new fishing every year.

Volunteers are also needed at the fishing station to help one to two children fish every 15 minutes of the three-hour shift. At the arts and crafts station, volunteers will help kids with a craft activity after the children have finished fishing, and will help pass out gift bags to the children.

Applicants preferring a more low-key volunteer position can sit in the equipment tent’s shade and repair poles as needed to keep the fun going. Finally, volunteers are also needed to help at the registration table.

Contact Leland Kinnett, State Fair fishing pond coordinator, at LKinnett@ dnr.IN.gov or call 317-562-1338 with your name, phone number, address, job, shifts and days desired. If you would like to bring friends along to help, please provide their information as well.

Women in the Outdoors

The Lincoln Longbeards Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation will host a Women in the Outdoors event June 21 at the Spencer County Memorial Forest in Fulda, Ind.

“Here’s your chance to rekindle old outdoor interests or learn new skills,” said Women in the Outdoors Regional Coordinator Cindy Spillman. “You don’t have to be in tip-top shape or handy with an ax. This event is a chance to spread your wings and try something new in a beautiful outdoor environment.”

Women in the Outdoors events are open to females age 14 and older. Expert instructors will teach outdoor skills such as self-defense, basic handgun use and safety, recreational shooting, scrapbooking, outdoor photography and outdoor cooking. The day’s activities cost $40, and the registration deadline is June 16.
For more information, contact Shannon Werne at 812-937-2981 or Cindy Spillman by e-mail at cswito@ hughes.net
The Women in the Outdoors Web site is www.womenintheoutdoors.org

DNR monitors non-native fish in Lake Wawasee

Non-native white bass are firmly established in Lake Wawasee, but have had no noticeable impact on other fish or fishing in the 3,400-acre Kosciusko County lake, according to the DNR Division of Fish and Wildlife.

DNR biologists captured 11 white bass in early June during their latest fish population survey at Indiana’s largest natural lake. During a similar survey in July 2004, three white bass were caught.
“Someone apparently stocked white bass in Lake Wawasee without a permit about six or seven years ago,” said Jed Pearson, a DNR biologist who has monitored the lake since 1975.

“We first started getting reports from ice fishermen who caught several small white bass during 2003. Since then, more and more anglers have caught them.”

To keep tabs on Lake Wawasee fishing, the DNR surveys its fish population about every five years. The results are used to track its long-term status and trends related to habitat changes, fishing pressure and introductions of non-native species.

Although white bass are a popular sport fish and are native to some Indiana lakes, Pearson said he thinks they could upset the balance within Wawasee’s fish community if they become abundant.
White bass, a silver-colored fish with dark horizontal spots, are predatory and typically feed on other small fish. If their population expands, they may eat enough small perch, bluegills, crappies and largemouth bass to affect overall fishing quality.

The DNR prohibits the stocking of fish in a public lake without a permit because of the potential damage to the fish population already there.

“No one applied for a permit to stock white bass,” Pearson said. “Had they done so, we would not have approved the request. The lake simply does not have the type or amount of forage fish needed to support a large white bass population.”

Lake Wawasee already has high numbers of predator fish, including one of the largest northern pike populations in the state, as well as largemouth and smallmouth bass, so food could get scarce if white bass numbers increase. In turn, biologists hope the same predator fish will help keep the recently introduced white bass numbers low.
During a recent survey, fishery biologists caught 85 pike ranging from 15-34 inches long. “Wawasee has always been a great place to fish for pike,” Pearson said. “Fishing for bass, bluegills, crappies and perch has also been good.

“White bass are just the latest in a list of species that have gotten into Wawasee, going all the way back to carp stockings in the late 1800s.”

He said such intruders included clams from Asia, zebra mussels, Eurasian water milfoil, curly-leaf pondweed, purple loose-strife and even some pacu, a fish from South America.

Man drowns after capsizing boat in flood waters

Indiana Conservation officers located the body of Mark Stroud, 44, of Coatsville, Ind., in Mill Creek on the afternoon of June 9. Stroud and a friend were operating Stroud’s airboat on floodwaters near his home on June 7.

According to the passenger, they drove the airboat into the channel on Mill Creek. While operating on Mill Creek, Stroud turned the airboat to avoid a fallen tree in the river. While attempting to turn, the boat took on water and capsized. The passenger was able to swim to the levee and go for help.

The Ashland and Adam Township Fire Department, the Hendricks County Tactical Rescue Team, Indiana State Police and the Morgan County Sheriff’s Department looked for Stroud and his boat until dark on Saturday. On Sunday, Conservation officers and the fire and sheriff’s departments resumed the search for Stroud and his boat.

The boat was located at 3:30 p.m. Conservation scuba divers were called to search around the boat. It was determined the water was still too swift to attempt to dive in, and the search for Stroud was again called off until the water level dropped.

The search resumed at 9 a.m. June 9. Conservation officers and the Brown Township Fire Department began a boat-based search along Mill Creek. Stroud’s body was located approximately 100 yards upstream from his boat by individuals searching on foot.
“Even though the flood waters are receding in many areas, they are still dangerous,” said Col. Mike Crider. “It is important to stay diligent in staying away from the water until the flood waters are gone.

“With high outdoor temperatures, it is tempting to let children swim and play, as well as adults to get out and explore the flooded areas. There are many hidden dangers under the water and the current may be swifter than expected, turning a water adventure into a water tragedy.”