Mississinewa Lake Smallmouth Hunters, on Facebook.


I'm putting this out here because we need to find a couple dozen interested bass fishermen who might be willing to participate in a smallmouth bass project on the Mississinewa Lake next year. This new group has just been formed on Facebook, an off shoot of our Mississinewa River Smallmouth Group that managed to get quite a bit done on the river this year (the various summaries of these projects being made available as soon as they are compiled).


So now we are switching our focus to the problems on the lake, which as many if you are already aware of the sharp decline in the smallmouth population on this lake. Our new goal is to collect data that can possibly help biologist to push for, and to take, further measures to restore some of this lost smallmouth habitat, population, and flood control fishery that is suffering serious decline. This is not going to be an easy task and there isn't going to be any or swift remedies, if in fact the required environmental quality isn't already too far gone.


What we are hoping to do, and currently working to establish, is an easy to access and use app that will allow participants to report their smallmouth catches along with some other related data, a process that will only require a few minutes of your time. This is also being left to angler convenience, meaning that there will be no required number of visits to the lake, etc. We just need to be able to generate enough “accumulated data ”to make a difference, this new “private group” having been recently created for this purpose so participants can share information within a small dedicated group of anglers, this also only allowing access to the report app to group participants without fear of intentional contamination by other third parties.




Last year we achieved the first fishery study on the river in over thirty years, along with a smallmouth fin-clipping project that will also provide some addition information in regards to smallmouth seasonal movements, that might even include evidence of migration to and from the lake. Again, however, all of this fin-clipping data being dependent on angler participation and that observation extended through to next spring. While not a perfect situation, we have worked closely with biologist on this and that data was and still is being collected.




In our river effort we required more exposure as to the number and size of the smallmouth that were being caught in the river in recent years, one theory being that this gradual increase could be attributed to the declining situation in the lake, thus this increase in the river's smallmouth population and production possibly being the result of a mass exodus of the lake smallmouth in order to find better environmental conditions that exist in the river. But all of this is still just theory and a great deal of additional data has to be collected. Sedimentation and turbidity already being recognized issues but just how large of a role this might be playing on the smallmouth population has yet to be determined. However, a lake fishery study has already been tentatively planned for some time around May, 2024. So we are already making some progress in addressing the potential issues but a great deal more data is going to be required and fisherman can greatly help in that vital data collection process.


With all of the above having been said it is also worth mentioning that we are only interested in in anglers who will actually take part and participate, if only when it is at their convenience to do so. So if you think you might be interested in joining this effort and taking part please PM me through Facebook and ask to join the group. Your participation in this project would be greatly appreciated.....Cheers!