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  1. #1
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    Mississinewa River Smallmouth Bass Conservation Group

    Mississinewa River Smallmouth Conservation Group on FB. Had another amazing year on the river with smallmouth up to 23”. So in 2023 I’ll be back in a boat trying to locate them on the lake because they simply have to be there, somewhere?

    That’s what this new smallmouth group is going to be all about so if you’re into smallmouth and you’re stumped as to why the smallmouth fishing appears to be in such decline on the lake then you’re invited and encouraged to join the group. Going to be a lot of information getting posted (a lot of info already getting posted) and the regional marine biologist has already joined and offered to get involved.

    I grew up on the lake and river system and if my 2022 river success is any indication as to the smallmouth population on the lake, and it has to be, then there’s still “a lot” of smallmouth in the lake, and some really good ones too! So in 2023 I’m going dive into the mystery and hopefully discover some answers. And I already suspect it all has to do with just a few factors such as the loss of shallow structure and the abundance of natural food sources in the lake in terms of the shad population. So I do have a plan of attack in trying to discover some of the answers to the mystery.

    So come join the group and let’s see what happens in 2023?

  2. Go Cubs Go cubswin's Avatar
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    #2
    We used to catch them in tournaments, this year one was weighed in at missy. Been years since a good number showed up at the scales. Don't think I caught any up in the lake this year, we used to target them before they did the dam repair.
    "It's even, but it ain't settled. Let's settle it." Fast Eddie
    I still can't believe they actually won...Cubs Fans Everywhere

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    #3
    I think there are several factors coming into play that have changed the dynamics of things. However, I still believe there has to be a good smallmouth population in the lake. During the period you spoke of those smallmouth being caught already existed in the lake so clearly they survived previous years of winter draw-downs. After that period the lake was then returned to it's annual spring fill and winter draw-down schedule, just like always. Most of the smallmouth in the lake stay in the lake, only a small percentage actually migrating into the river and truth be told there's really no reason why mature smallmouth would ever need to leave deep water. My point being, during draw down the lake loses 25 feet of water and everything becomes more condensed around the old river channel, the only place where any deep water remains. But what is the answer to the mystery? That's what I'm/we're hoping to learn more about next year.

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    #4
    Interesting read guys keep us informed. I fish lake vermilion it is river fed as well

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    #5
    Quote Originally Posted by stratosjoe View Post
    Interesting read guys keep us informed. I fish lake vermilion it is river fed as well
    Join the FB group. It may not be directly related to the waters you fish but there should be a lot of future info that might find useful and interesting that you can apply elsewhere?

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    #6
    Using general information, the average lifespan of smallmouth bass is between 7 and 12 years, but their maximum age depends on their range.

    12” - 4-5 years
    15” - 6-7 years
    18”- 8-10 years

    The past few years the river has been choked full of healthy smallmouth of every size so clearly they are still having successful spawns with plenty of food source. So there are signs that they are spawning successfully and surviving in a healthy food rich environment in the lake.

    So all the above, along with other many other factors, is why I’m not yet accepting that the smallmouth population in the lake is poor or in any type of major decline.

  7. Go Cubs Go cubswin's Avatar
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    #7
    I personally think it has to do with the water quality in the lake. When it was good for smallmouth it wasn't getting the blue green algae blooms every summer. I do know that it changed for smallmouth when they did the dam repair. First year it was good, after that it became less and less. During that same time period started to see way more algae blooms.

    It obviously isn't about food, as there is shad from end to the other all year. Largemouth are all fat, though the numbers seem down as well. White bass haven't been as numerous in the lake, but they have big cycles.

    Could have been the flooding a few years ago as well, as the lake got a lot of added fertilizer when it got up in the fields. I miss going and catching smallmouth. Don't think it is the wood breaking off or when the idiots cut all the trees off with a chain saw at low water a few years ago which has caused more of them to break off and disappear totally. As we didn't catch many smallmouth around wood to begin with.

    River seems to be in good shape now, your catches, along with others for smallmouth, walleye, and sauger all suggest the river is getting better every year. I would suspect as the water gets colder you could do well smallmouth in the lower end of the lake, though I haven't tried it much. Know shafer and freeman both get good in the winter as the smallmouth winter in the lake portion.

    Know I, and others, have asked the state about doing some habitat improvement along with stocking. They claim that both missy and salamonie are on the list, but no time frame. I'm not holding my breath. Crappie guys put out a lot of items, but the flooding moves it around fairly good.

    It is possible I just suck at fishing, but either the smallmouth gave up on the area's they spent 30 years hanging around, or numbers are down. The structure in those areas were mostly rock, and it is still there.
    Last edited by cubswin; 10-23-2022 at 12:18 PM.
    "It's even, but it ain't settled. Let's settle it." Fast Eddie
    I still can't believe they actually won...Cubs Fans Everywhere

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    #8
    What I've done is I have selected two areas of the lake where I'll be spending the greatest portion of my time on the lake next year, (a lot of different factors went into selecting those particular areas.) What I'm really waiting on now is the full winter draw down so I can get out there on foot with my camera so I can take look around. So we'll see how it all turns out?

  9. Go Cubs Go cubswin's Avatar
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    #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Last Smallmouth Hunter View Post
    What I've done is I have selected two areas of the lake where I'll be spending the greatest portion of my time on the lake next year, (a lot of different factors went into selecting those particular areas.) What I'm really waiting on now is the full winter draw down so I can get out there on foot with my camera so I can take look around. So we'll see how it all turns out?
    Another tool that is nice is google earth using the time feature, can find it at winter pool if you go back in time. Good luck!
    "It's even, but it ain't settled. Let's settle it." Fast Eddie
    I still can't believe they actually won...Cubs Fans Everywhere

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    #10
    Quote Originally Posted by cubswin View Post
    Another tool that is nice is google earth using the time feature, can find it at winter pool if you go back in time. Good luck!
    I use it sometimes but not enough resolution/detail for what I'm needing/wanting to do.

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    #11
    Well good luck but you're wasting your time. I gave up on missy for bass fishing all together. Something is off on that lake.

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    #12
    Quote Originally Posted by MLCA View Post
    Well good luck but you're wasting your time. I gave up on missy for bass fishing all together. Something is off on that lake.
    That's what I keep hearing, but what exactly? Again, as good as the smallmouth fishing has been in the river in recent years then this directly contradicts a lot of what I'm hearing about the lake? Not doubting that things have changed in the lake, certain something has, just doubting that those same healthy fish aren't in that lake in good numbers somewhere. So we'll see what happens. Could be I end up saying the thing as everyone else by the end of a full season of trying to find them?

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    #13
    I think part of the problem is over abundance of shad in the reservoir so it's hard to make a fish bite when they are never hungry.

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    #14
    Quote Originally Posted by MLCA View Post
    I think part of the problem is over abundance of shad in the reservoir so it's hard to make a fish bite when they are never hungry.
    I definitely think that access to food sources is playing a major role.

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    #15
    Quote Originally Posted by MLCA View Post
    I think part of the problem is over abundance of shad in the reservoir so it's hard to make a fish bite when they are never hungry.
    I certainly think anglers are having to compete with an abundant food source but that food source isn't consistent everywhere in the lake, which is one of the factors I'm going to be counting on. Here's some quick info that might prove helpful in that effort:

    Gizzard shad typically reside in the limnetic zone, and can comprise up to 80% of fish biomass in certain lake systems. The limnetic zone is the open water area where light does not generally penetrate all the way to the bottom. The bottom sediment, known as the benthic zone, has a surface layer abundant with organisms. Schools of gizzard shad can stay offshore in deep water virtually all year.

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    #16
    In my personal hunt for big smallmouth on the river, one of the main challenges that exist on the river is, “how do I compete with such an abundance of feeder shad?” This has proven a huge factor in the number of big fish I catch each year and I’m sure it will play a similar role on the lake. Now some of this may sound a little different from traditional thinking but what I’m about to share has certainly worked for me in recent years during my river fishing.

    First and foremost, I don’t even bother with small offerings anymore, the larger the offering the better. Why? First, it makes it easier to compete with all of those 2,3 and 4 inch Gizzard Shad in the river for a couple of reasons. A larger lure simply stands out from the pack, it’s easier for them to locate and to isolate in the crowd. Add to this that big smallmouth don’t want to expend a lot of energy so a larger offering makes for a larger meal without all of the chasing for those smaller multiple meals. And last, a big offering can also be employed in a threatening manner, a tactic I employ all the time because big smallmouth are typically protective of their space. So most of the time I’m fishing my offers very aggressively in an effort to trigger impulse reactions from these larger smallmouth. In short, I’m always trying to give them multiple reasons to attack my offerings.

    Something else worth mentioning, just as with deer hunting, big adult smallmouth are different from their younger kin. I don’t want to say that they are solitary because I have found them in good numbers in the same general location, however, in my experience the biggest fish are definitely protective of their space and that space can be quite small and most likely occupies the very best space in any location. Find that very best space and it will likely produce big adult smallmouth year after year as long as that river environment experiences little to no change.

    How can I apply all of this to the lake? Well, I’m not sure yet, which is why I want to get out on foot with the camera during the full winter draw-down. I also have to figure out how to fish large offerings in the same aggressive manner in deep water. It’s much easier to do this in a shallow river in well established and more easily identifiable, “prime spaces.” It’s just far easier water to access and to fish.

    From my experience it really is like hunting trophy bucks and for all the same reason you’ll usually find dominate adult smallmouth occupying the same type of prime core areas and those same type of prime spaces that exist there. But it does require “a lot” of time dedication. Whenever I go to the river I'm only after big adult smallmouth, seldom am I interested in numbers.

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    #17
    Jim,

    Under a blazing summer sun? Yep, it’s true, the best time to go big smallmouth fishing in my local shallow river is between the bright summer hours of 11am & 3pm. This is when I catch 90% of my bigger fish. Why, you ask?

    Because they are confined to very-very small spaces and when you know where those small spaces are at it then becomes easy. Imagine going to your favorite big smallmouth river and being able to call nearly every hookup. That’s what the past few years have been like for me. But it isn’t a short or easy path to getting there and it requires a huge amount of time and dedication.

    For these big smallmouth it’s all about avoiding predators while making one’s self comfortable under a blazing sun. Maybe snatch an opportunistic meal whenever it threatens to invade your tiny space. This simple concept has accounted for the greatest portion of my success in recent years. Seldom will you see me on the river early or late in the day. Why? Because then these big smallmouth can become more scattered and that only makes finding them more difficult.

    “Those tiny spaces,” learn your rivers well and find them. That’s the key. Once you discover these tiny spaces the rest will fall into place, and there are hundreds of them to be discovered. I locate a few new ones every year.

    I shot this video in a single afternoon, maybe a couple hours of actual fishing once you account for all of the hiking between locations. And I had even left the river to go meet my son for lunch before coming back. So no more then a couple of hours total on the river. Hope this info helps!….Cheers!


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    #18
    Fantastic video work. Even better fishing! Well done! I truly enjoy reading your commentaries.

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    #19
    Quote Originally Posted by hoos202 View Post
    Fantastic video work. Even better fishing! Well done! I truly enjoy reading your commentaries.
    Thanks! And if you haven't already, join the FB group because I really think it can the beginning of something that's good for the future of Indiana smallmouth. In the meantime, here's another fun little video. I shot this video after a guy had sternly remarked that he had never seen a 22-23" smallmouth caught on the Mississinewa River, so the very next day I went to the river and made this video for him....lol


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    #20
    Bear with me. What I’m trying to do is to challenge the Mississinewa smallmouth masses in several different ways and hopefully get some constructive conversations going. Case in point…….

    Consider this, 2,3,4,5 pound smallmouth don’t just disappear from a lake or river only to start showing up again in fair numbers a couple of years later. Smallmouth don’t grow that fast. So that 3,4lb smallmouth had to be a 2 pound smallmouth a few years ago. This past year the river above the lake was full of them. So where did they come from?

    Another thing I don’t think many Mississinewa fishermen consider, and that I’ve not spoken of until now, is the river above the Marion Dam, basically a very shallow miniature Mississinewa Reservoir system with a small lake and spillway. They catch some really nice smallmouth in the long lake-like pool above that Marion dam. And the focus here is on depth, which everyone believes is the reason for the poor smallmouth fishing in the reservoir, the winter draw-down just not leaving enough deep water. Really?

    At best you have maybe 10-12 feet of maximum depth above the Marion dam at normal pool but during winter draw-down on the main lake you still have way more depth then that and over a much larger area. So what does the situation above the Marion dam tell us about smallmouth survival during the winter months in shallow water? It tells us that they don’t need all of that main lake depth in order to survive those winter months. So, simply losing 25ft of water from the main lake in the winter months shouldn’t be a problem, at least not from a simple depth concern.

    So if the winter draw-down is the problem then it’s likely more related to the ecosystem rather then depth. This is why we need the state people to investigate things more thoroughly.

    But, from purely a depth concern,, if, as has been reported, that 5-6lb smallmouth have been caught above the Marion dam, then why would they not exist in the main lake as well? I don’t have these answers but I am searching for them anywhere I can think to look and/or find reason to look. But I’m just one guy, need at least a dozen or more, and eventually, hopefully the state.