'11 05 May ION

INDIANA'S CHOICE FOR OUTDOOR NEWS AND INFORMATION • SINCE 1994

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Vol. 2011 • Number 5 Like ION in print? Like us on

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

LATE SEASON TURKEYS PAGE 7

BRUSHPILE CRAPPIES PAGE 9

BABE & BRIAN ON TURKEYS PAGE 10

May, 2011

W W W. I N D I A N A O U T D O O R N E W S . N E T

MUSKIE GROWTH STUDIED AT WEBSTER NORTH WEBSTER – long but we occasionally catch some over 46 A fish-tagging study being done by the inches long during our hatchery egg-taking DNR Division of Fish & Wildlife is shedding operations in spring,” Pearson said. “What new light on how fast muskies grow in Lake we want to know is how much a muskie grows Webster. each year and how its growth rate in Webster The results could affect the number of compares to other lakes.” muskies stocked in the popular 774-acre lake To study muskie growth, Pearson has in northern tagged more than Kosciusko County.

1,300 muskies with The results will also tiny PIT (passive help DNR fisheries i n t e g r a t e d biologists detertransponder) tags mine if the 36-inch since 2005. Each minimum size limit fish is measured should be before the tag is increased. inserted into muscle “Based on what tissue along the we know already, dorsal fin. The tag Lake Webster has has a unique numerione of the densest cal code that’s read populations of with a special elecFishing guide Chae Dolson caught this healthy 44- tronic scanner. By muskies in the Midwest,” said Jed 1/2” Kosciusko County muskie on March 19. Photo noting changes in Pearson, DNR fish- courtesy of www.websterlakeguideservice.com. size from when a eries biologist for muskie is first the area. “That’s because we stock fingerling tagged compared to when it is recaptured, muskies each year in the lake at the rate of biologists get an accurate account of how five per acre.” much the fish grew.

Other states typically stock one or two “Although we’re just now getting longmuskies per acre and sometimes do so every term data on growth, we’ve already seen a big other year. difference between male and female muskies,” “What we don’t know is whether the high Pearson said. density of muskies is affecting their growth,” Most male muskies stop growing after Pearson said. “A lake can hold only so many they reach 36 inches long. In contrast, fish. When fish densities get too high, there females continue to grow about 1-2 inches per may not be enough food to go around.” year after they reach 36 inches. Biologists According to Pearson, some anglers call this “sexual dimorphic growth.” They claim the average size of muskies in Lake think it is an evolutionary adaptation in how Webster is declining and fewer trophy-size a fish uses energy and helps the species surmuskies, those more than 46 inches long, are vive and reproduce. The difference has manbeing caught. agement implications.

Although length data recorded each “This means we may want to ignore the spring from adult muskies captured during males. For management decisions, we plan to egg-taking operations do not back the claim, focus on how big the females grow,” Pearson DNR biologists are taking a closer look at said. “As long as female muskies get bigger at muskie growth in Lake Webster. normal rates, we don’t think there is growth “Adult muskies average around 36 inches problem.”

Mya Smith of Granger took her first ever turkey during the opening hours of this year’s youth turkey hunting season on April 23. Indiana’s regular spring turkey hunting season began April 27 and runs through May 15. See pages 7 and 10 inside for turkey hunting tips and info!

TURKEY UPDATE: Indiana’s spring turkey season always opens the first Wednesday after April 20, so this year’s April 27 opening date is the latest possible. The last time the season opened on the 27th was in 2005, and Indiana hunters posted a record harvest that year. Another harvest record was set last season when Indiana hunters took 13,742 turkeys.

Heavy rains almost certainly kept some hunters from the field on opening weekend this year. How this season’s late start and wet weather will affect this year’s harvest remains to be seen.

BLUEGILL FISHING GOOD AS EVER IN NORTHERN INDIANA LAKES

SPRINGTIME SMALLIES PAGE 11

GONE AFIELD PAGE 16

COLUMBIA CITY – Bluegills are the most abundant and sought-after fish in northern Indiana natural lakes, according to DNR Division of Fish & Wildlife statistics.

But perhaps most important to anglers, they are catching as many, if not more, big bluegills now as they did years ago, despite claims that bluegill fishing quality has declined.

“Bluegill fishing in our lakes is as good as we’ve ever seen it,” said Jed Pearson, who at age 60 is the oldest fisheries biologist still on the water for the DNR. Pearson, who grew up on

Skinner Lake near Albion in the 1950s and 1960s, has monitored fish populations at hundreds of lakes since the 1970s. His data, along with those from other biologists, show angler catches of 7inch and larger bluegills have remained steady since the 1980s.

“Years ago anglers caught 7inch and larger bluegills at an average rate of one per 98 minutes of bluegill fishing.

Now they catch them at a slightly faster rate o f one

Pearson’s data show that catch rates for 8” and larger bluegills have doubled since the 1980’s on many northern Indiana lakes. Josh Lantz photo.

per 77 minutes,” Pearson said.

“Although that represents a 27percent increase, the trend is technically not different.”

That is because angler catch rates vary widely by lake.

Pearson also has data that show average catch rates of 8-

COMPLIMENTS OF:

inch and larger bluegills doubled from the early 1980s through 2010. That trend, while positive, is also not technically significant.

“Statistically, we can’t say

Continued on Pg. 14

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INDIANA OUTDOOR NEWS ®

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INDIANA OUTDOOR NEWS ®

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Lake Barkley: World Class Angling Close to Home Economical Trip is a Great Option for Trophy Crappie and Bass

JOSHLANTZ I love springtime. I am always amazed by the interesting bird migrations, the willful rebirth of buds, sprouts and leaves, and by the fascinating rituals surrounding the procreation of our various fish and wildlife species.

For a student of springtime, it is always interesting to take note of how the weather impacts these happenings -- especially this year.

My usual springtime column is written near the end of March for publication in April, but other than the migrating sandhill cranes and waterfowl, March showed few other signs of springtime this year. April brought more of the same. The steelhead run was late. So were the morels.

The water remained cold. And even as I write this on April 28, I’m still waiting for the buds to open on the trees.

I look forward to fishing the largemouth bass spawn each spring. In northern Indiana, this typically takes place after the steelhead run is over -- sometime around the full moon in late April or early May. Of course, the weather plays a significant role in determining when bass will spawn.

I checked my fishing logs from last year and saw that the water temperatures on one shallow, LaPorte County lake I regularly fish reached the mid-seventies by the end of April. That was remarkably warm. This year is the polar opposite. Let’s hope May brings more stable weather so our green friends can get their job done.

Barkley Bound I won’t be denied my spring bass fishing. So if it isn’t happening here, I’m going to sniff it out wherever I can. This year, I chose to spend a few days in late April fishing western Kentucky’s storied Lake Barkley.

A freak storm had dumped an inch of sticky snow when I pulled out of my driveway on April18th.

But things changed quickly as I headed south. It was 60 degrees by the time I reached Indianapolis -- 74 when I crossed the Ohio.

I’d never fished Lake Barkley before, so I was glad I’d be meeting up with some friends who had.

The water temps were in the midsixties, and both the bass and crappie were on the bite. The timing was perfect and we had a wonderful time.

I spent two-and-a-half days fishing out of Eddy Creek Marina Resort near Eddyville. It was precisely what I needed -- truly world-class fishing just a gas tank away from northern Indiana.

I’m headed back to Barkley this summer. You should too.

If you go. . .

Eddy Creek Marina Resort (www.eddycreek.com, 800626-2300) near Eddyville is a full service marina and resort with an awesome little restaurant called Echo Charlie’s. The rooms were clean, comfortable and affordable and you can’t beat the on-the-water location.

Owner Mandy Carney and her staff are super people. Next time, I’m taking my family and staying in one of their awesome cabins.

I fished out of my own boat, but employed a local guide on the first day. Call Ronnie Critcheloe, owner of The Cabin Bait and Tackle in Kuttawa (www.thecabinbaitandtackle.com, 270-3886440).

Rodney Brown is another great guide for bass or crappie (270-388-2359).

For more info, contact the Lake Barkley Tourist Commission at 800-355-3885, or online at www.lakebarkley.org.

The Perfect Fishing Shoes?

I’ve spent my whole life searching for them. So have you. I’ve gotten close, but most fishing footwear has a tragic flaw.

Fishing shoes get wet from sweat and rain. Moisture keeps bacteria alive, and bacteria cause odor. Consequently, odor causes our former favorite fishing shoes to be deposited in the trash can by our family members -- oftentimes with some kind of embarrassing intervention.

A friend of mine recently recommended a Croc-like yet slightly more manly set of fishing kicks branded by Shimano as the Evair EVASH-BW Marine/Fishing Shoe. Sweet mother of Mary, these things are comfortable.

The ultra lightweight EVASH weighs less than 9 oz. per shoe, and the EVA material is 100% waterproof -- even the removable insole, which means they won’t absorb water, bacteria or odors.

They didn’t cut corners on the non-marking soles either. They are siped like the finest boat shoes.

Pick up a pair on amazon.com for around $49. You (and your family) will thank me.

PRADCO’s Lawrence Taylor with a pre-spawn Lake Barkley largie taken on a YUM Dinger. Learn more about YUM’s revolutionary F2 line of soft plastics at www.lurenet.com.

Trophy Guided Bass Fishing in Northern Indiana • Trophy largemouth bass on a private, well-managed 140-acre lake in LaPorte County, Indiana.

• All forms of light tackle welcome.

• Less than 3 hours from Indianapolis, 2 hours from Fort Wayne, 30 minutes from South Bend.

• All equipment provided.

• Catch & release only, please.

• Over ten years experience as a professional, licensed fishing guide.

• Affordable rates!

• May -June is the best fishing of the year!

• Call now for the best dates!

WWW.GOFISHN.COM/JOSHLANTZ

219-728-8996

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INDIANA OUTDOOR NEWS ®

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Walleyes slated for St. Joe but more needed

LOUIESTOUT The St. Joseph River will get more walleyes stocked this year but the number remains in question.

So far, the Indiana DNR is committed to 7,000 of the 6-to 8inch fish and the Michiana Walleye Association (MWA) has drummed up enough cash to buy another 2,000.

The DNR, which prefers to stock 10 fish per acre, estimates there are 1,000 acres of water between the Elkhart dam and the Twin Branch dam where the fish are planted. The 9,000 fish already purchased leaves the DNR/MWA walleye partnership effort 1,000 fish short of its goal.

There's still time, however.

The MWA is calling upon local clubs, businesses and individuals to donate cash and help bring the stocking to a more bountiful level. The fish cost about $1.50 each.

“We had to submit our order this month to make sure we got on the list, so we spent what we had available,” said MWA official Rick Nichols. “We can order

more, and we sure hope we can collect enough funds to get to the 10,000 number.”

The fish are purchased from a Wisconsin hatchery that has provided them since the DNR stopped getting fingerling walleyes in a trade with Michigan.

“The 9,000 will certainly make a difference, but, of course, more would be ideal,” says river biologist Neil Ledet.

On the bright side, the larger fish being stocked survive far better than the dinky fingerlings the DNR used to stock. In 2009, the partnership planted 15,000 of the fish and the survival was impressive.

However, there was no stocking in 2010, and there likely won't be any in 2012, either.

Biologists have decided to experiment with an every-other-year stocking based on other states' work that shows skipping a year often leads to higher survival and better growth of the fish that are planted.

The DNR's contribution comes from funds it receives from AEP for river fishery projects.

With tight DNR budgets, there is no other money available for walleyes.

“That's what makes these partnerships with local clubs and anglers so valuable,” said Ledet.

“It's a partnership we value and

one that is producing positive results.”

The St. Joe walleye project has yielded a respectable fishery over the years. Anglers who know how and where to fish for them do well. Although most of the fish that get caught are small and “keepers” average 15 to 17 inches, there are some 5 to 10 pounders caught each year.

Of course, not all of the fish stay in the pool between Elkhart and Twin Branch. Some wash over the dam and those survivors help contribute to a walleye fishery between Mishawaka and South Bend. Several fish are caught there each year as well as above Twin Branch.

Ledet is optimistic that the

larger fish being stocked will continue to yield good catches.

“We tend to get about 10 times better survival from the 6 to 8 inchers than we do the less expensive, 2-inchers,” he noted.

However, MWA officials fear the fishery could suffer with a drop below the magic 10,000 mark of stocked fish.

“We put $3,000 of our club money in this year and wish we could have put more,” said Nichols. “We really hope the public and local businesses con-

tribute to the cause and help us purchase additional fish.”

You can help by contacting Nichols (219) 712-1369 or emailing him at rick@performancep.com or fund-raising chairman Barry Ukele (574) 274-7472

Michiana woman wins national archery title Lora Smith has won three national titles, but none were more exciting than the one she captured recently at the National Field Archery Championship in Louisville.

Smith tied with another woman in the Indoor Senior Female Competition and had to go into the shoot-off.

She squared four of five arrows in the “X” of the bull's-eye from 20 yards away as her competitor hit only three.

“That was the most exciting competition I've ever participated in,” says Smith, who won national Indoor and Outdoor titles in 2008.

She scored 299 and 298 out of a perfect 300 in two days of shooting leading up to the shoot-off.

When Smith isn't target shooting at the South Bend Izaak Walton League, where she practices three to five times a week, she's working as a nurse at Lakeland Hospital in St. Joseph, Mich. near her home.

Smith hopes to add another Senior Outdoor Title in July at the National Championships in South Dakota.

She picked up the archery hobby about 20 years ago when her husband John introduced her to bow hunting. She has killed her fair share of deer since, with a nice eight-pointer as her best so far.

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INDIANA OUTDOOR NEWS ®

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DNR to treat four northeastern lakes for invasive plants

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Hearings set for coyote, fox training grounds

The Department of Natural Resources aims to take down some bad plants in Meserve Lake, Lake George, Wall Lake, and Lake Wawasee this summer with the help of federal funds.

The effort will be funded by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, which makes available federal grant money to help Great Lakes states prevent the introduction or spread of invasive species.

A large portion of the grant will go toward eradicating two of the state’s most recently detected aquatic invasives, parrot feather and starry stonewort. Funds will be used to contract private certified applicators to do the treatments under the direction of DNR biologists.

Parrot feather is native of South America. The plant was discovered in northeast Indiana at Meserve in Steuben County in 2006. The plant resembles its close relative, the better known Eurasian watermilfoil. Like its cousin, parrot feather can harm fish populations and interfere with recreational activities.

“Currently Meserve Lake is the only natural lake in Indiana with a population of parrot feather and our primary goal is to make sure it doesn’t spread,” said Rod Edgell, biologist with the DNR Lake and River Enhancement Program (LARE).

LARE-funded treatments on parrot feather began in 2008. Last summer only one small parrot feather plant was observed in Meserve, indicating the goal of eradication may be close.

LARE-funded treatments to control starry stonewort began in 2009 at Lake George in Steuben County and at Lake Wawasee in Kosciusko County. This unique type of algae has also been confirmed at Wall Lake in LaGrange County.

Starry stonewort is native of parts of Europe and Asia, and is a relative of Indiana native species chara. Both species resemble a rooted plant; however, unlike the smaller chara, starry stonewort can grow more than 5 feet tall in water as deep as 25 feet.

Multiple treatments for starry stonewort were completed last summer on Wall, Wawasee and George. The results haven’t been as positive as for parrot feather. The larger size and heavy use of Wawasee and George complicate finding the plant and keeping it isolated.

“Starry stonewort has proven to be a tough plant to control,” Edgell said.

Local residents and visitors can help prevent the spread of invasive species, which can be transported on boats and trailers to other lakes and rivers. Boaters should clean off boats, boat motors and trailers before leaving any lake. For Starry stonewort has been found in Lake more information on other aquatic invasive species and how Wawasee, Lake George & Wall Lake. Photo courtesy of USGS. to prevent their spread see InvasiveSpecies.IN.gov.

DNR REPORT -USFWS Photo The Natural Resources Commission will conduct two public hearings on proposed changes regarding field trial permits and the chasing of fox and coyotes with dogs in an enclosure.

The proposed rule language and frequently asked questions and answers can be found at: w w w. i n . g o v / d n r / f i s h wild/2362.htm.

Individuals can provide comments at one of the public hearings scheduled as follows: Tuesday, May 10 at McCormick’s Creek State Park, Canyon Inn, Sycamore Room, Spencer (Owen County), 6 p.m. (EDT); and Wednesday, May 11 at Webster Recreation Center, Plymouth Park & Recreation Department, 110 Webster Ave., Plymouth (Marshall County), 6 p.m. (EDT).

Written comments regarding these proposed changes can be submitted to the NRC at http://www.IN.gov/nrc/2377.htm by clicking on "Comment on Proposed Rule" next to the “coyote/fox dog training grounds rule amendments.” The deadline for submitting comments is Wednesday, May 18.

Comments can also be mailed to Natural Resources Commission, Indiana Government Center North, 100 North Senate Ave., Room N501, Indianapolis, IN 46204.

All comments sent to the NRC regarding these proposed rule changes will be provided to its members and DNR staff and will be publicly disclosed and searchable on the Internet and in a paper docket as part of the final report.

Congress passes legislation to return certain wolf populations to state wildlife managers

Hovey and Dogwood lakes open to more boaters

WASHINGTON, D.C. -The United States Congress passed legislation today to remove certain populations of gray wolves from the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and return management of fully recovered wolf populations back to state wildlife managers.

As part of the FY 2011 budget agreement reached last Friday and passed today, the rider introduced

by Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus (CSC) member Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho and CSC Senate Co-Chair, Sen. Jon Tester of Montana, directs the Secretary of the Interior to reissue the latest (2009) ruling declaring the wolf recovered and to return wolf management to state agencies in Montana and Idaho, as well as portions of Utah, Washington and Oregon. Additionally, the provision precludes further lawsuits and preserves the decision made by Wyoming U.S. District Judge Johnson in November 2010, that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) wrongfully rejected Wyoming’s wolf management plan.

“Rep. Simpson and Sen. Tester, as well as others in the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus, are to be congratulated for their leadership in this historic move towards delisting of wolves and rightfully returning the species management to professional state wildlife managers,” said Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation President Jeff Crane.

“We will continue to support efforts in Congress and work with Administration to return all recovered wolf populations to the states.”

“I am confident that this language gets us closer to our ultimate goal, which is seeing the entire Northern Rocky Mountain wolf population taken off the endangered species list and managed exclusively by the states,” said Rep. Simpson. “Not only do wolf populations in the west far exceed recovery goals, but without proper management they have become so robust that they are adversely impacting other wildlife populations in the region and are spilling into other states not in the original recovery area. This

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language takes an important first step by allowing for a wolf hunt this year in Idaho and Montana and allowing Wyoming to move closer to developing an approved state management plan.”

“This is more than a victory for Montana,” said Tester. “It’s a win for rural America, for jobs, and for our wildlife—and it’s what’s right for the wolves themselves. This was never going to get done with partisan games or grandstanding. We fixed this problem with Montana values— by putting aside our differences and working together on a responsible, common sense plan.”

The Congressional mandate applies to only a part of the area where wolves have exceeded recovery goals.

Wyoming’s wolves remain under federal ESA protection. Only parts of Washington, Oregon, and Utah are included in the delisting although wolves are moving into other parts of those states.

The Western Great Lakes area is excluded from the provision, where a fourth round of rulemaking is expected to begin soon.

DNR REPORT -More boaters can use Hovey Lake and Dogwood Lake now. The horsepower limit on the size of outboard motor permitted has been removed. Now, boaters with 10-horsepower motors and larger are allowed on the two lakes, located in Hovey Lake (Posey County) and Glendale (Daviess County) fish & wildlife areas, respectively.

A speed limit of 10 mph will now be enforced instead. The purpose of the change is to allow more anglers the opportunity to enjoy these popular fisheries. As always, boaters should use caution and go slower under certain conditions because of water hazards like submerged tree stumps.

Boaters should not power-load boats, a practice that damages ramps.

After boating on Hovey and Dogwood, as on all water bodies, boaters should remove plants, mud and other debris from their watercraft after they take it from the water. This helps prevent transferring aquatic invasive species to other water bodies.

® Volume 2011 • Number 5 Publisher: Brian E. Smith Assistant Publisher: Mark C. Smith Editor-in-Chief: Joshua D. Lantz Sportsmen’s Rights Editor: Rick Story Field Editor: John Martino, Central Indiana Field Photographer: Bill Konway Graphic Design: graphics@ION4U.net Office Manager: Shannon E. Smith Advertising Sales: (877) 251-2112 E-Mail: contact@ION4U.net Web Site: www.IndianaOutdoorNews.net Business & Publication Office: Mailing Address: P.O. Box 69, Granger, Indiana 46530 Phone: (877) 251-2112 • Fax: (800) 496-8075 INDIANA OUTDOOR NEWS® is the official publication of Raghorn Incorporated, and is published monthly at the address listed above. For home delivery and subscription rates, look for the subscription card in this publication. Editorial contributions may be submitted to the above address. No material can be returned unless accompanied by a stamped, self addressed envelope.

Photographs are accepted and greatly appreciated. All materials submitted become the property of Raghorn Incorporated and are subject to editing to meet the objectives of this publication. The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the individual authors, not the editors, staff or any other representative of RAGHORN’S INDIANA OUTDOOR NEWS or Raghorn, Inc. “Raghorn’s Indiana Outdoor News” is a registered Trademark of Raghorn Incorporated. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this publication may be used or copied without prior written consent of Raghorn Inc. Violation of copyright laws will be prosecuted.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to RAGHORN’S INDIANA OUTDOOR NEWS, P.O. Box 69, Granger, Indiana 46530.

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JIMBIDDLE I sure am glad April is over and done with. Most of the month felt like March all over again. I guess I’m still waiting for spring. Last year I think it was on a Tuesday and I missed it.

We don’t seem to have springs anymore. It just goes from winter to summer. One day it will be forty-six degrees and the next, bingo, it’s eighty.

Oh, well. I guess adversity makes us strong and after this past winter we should all be really tough.

Despite the cold, I found several brown morels last month and the yellows started popping at the end of the month. I do enjoy my mushroom hunting.

As the gas prices creep higher and higher, you will probably be fishing closer and closer to home. That’s okay. Less travel time means more fishing time.

However, if you insist on going to a different area , the following information may help you decide where to go.

Lake Michigan Ed McCain at Mik-Lurch Tackle in Hammond tells me the

fishing is great and getting better every day. Lake Michigan is producing some great coho and king salmon action near shore -especially between Michigan City and Hammond. Get those cohos and kings with Rattlin’ Thinfins, trolling spoons or dodgers and flies. The perch action is good north of Gary light. Ed says the smallmouth bass in the lake are hitting on poor boys or twister tails (use dark colors). Wolf lake is a hotspot for walleye. Try drift

fishing with a leech and night crawler over the deep holes. If you want pan fish head for the back area of Willow Slough.

Lake Maxinkuckee in Culver is another good spot to go for walleye. Head to Mik-Lurch Tackle on May 14 as they are having a customer appreciation day with seminars, a free fish fry and some huge savings on equipment. At 4pm Capt. Ralph Stiger will head out for some salmon trolling.

I’ll see you there.

North Central Indiana Larrry Stover at Ye Old Tackle Box in North Webster says there’s big time crappie action and the bluegill bite just keeps getting better. Larry expects the largemouth bass fishing to

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improve this month.

Northwest Indiana Penny Boisvert at Greenwood Bait Shop in English Lake says the Kankakee River is high, but they are still catching crappies with jigs and a yellow mister twister. You can take bass with night crawlers or medium roaches. Catfish continue to bite on night crawlers. Hey, if you haven’t stopped in at Greenwood Bait shop you don’t know what you’re missing. It’s unique and quite interesting!

Don’t forget to pick up some bait while you’re there.

Mike Waller from A.L. Bait & Tackle in North Judson reports Bruce Lake is a hotspot for crappies. Mike says the Tippecanoe River at the north end of Winamac is a great spot for smallmouth and catfish. Mike says to use night crawlers and you’ll catch your limit.

Saint Joseph River Dick Parker at Parker’s Central Bait & Tackle in Mishawaka tells me the catfish

are hitting on stink baits all along the river. Smallmouth are hitting on tubes and the crappie action is good with minnows. If you want some bluegills, try drowning a red wiggler.

Central Indiana Ed McCalla at the Bait Barn in Indianapolis says crappie, bluegill and catfish are hitting in the pools along Fall Creek and the White River. White bass action is good on Eagle Creek using kelly fin tails, especially the purple ones with the pink tail. Ed says to be careful as the rivers and creeks are running swift and high!

East Central Indiana Ed Gipson from Peacepipe Bait & Tackle at Andrews tells me the crappies are hitting on minnows and the bluegill action is starting to pick up. Ed says the Mississinewa and Huntington Reservoirs are good bets for walleye this month and suggest you use twister tails, night crawlers or rooster tails.

West Central Indiana Terry Raines from Twin Lakes Fish & Game in Monticello reports good white bass action using small deer hair jigs tipped with a minnow or twister tails. Terry says the largemouth bass are hitting on slow moving tubes, worms and jigs. The crappie and bluegill are coming on strong too.

Southwest Indiana Dedra Hawkings at The Fishin Shedd in Bloomington says the fishing is good down her way.

Catch yourself some bluegill and crappie around the

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flooded brush areas on Lake Monroe using wigglers, minnows or grubs. The largemouth are hitting on worms, spinner baits or zoom worms around the drop offs. Barbara says the catfish are hitting well on chicken livers.

Southeast Indiana Tag Nobbe from Brookville Lake Guide Services in Brookville says you can take some walleye with a jig and a night crawler or a slow wobbling crank bait. Tag says the white bass are hitting in the river

above the dam. Largemouth and smallmouth bass are active near the banks. Crappie action is pretty good. If you want to catch, come on down!

Well, that’s about it for May. Surely with all this information you can catch some fish and if you don’t I’m not responsible! I just realized this column starts my fifth year with Indiana Outdoor News. Wow, I guess I’ve been responsible for a lot of fish being caught, right? Hey, good luck to you and remember what OL’ JB always says, “when fish are in school, they sometimes take debate.” See you next month.

May, 2 0 11 Edition

TURKEY HUNTING The key to late-season turkey hunting is knowing where the hens are, because the gobblers won't be far away, according to John LaGrand, owner of Mountain Screamer Game Calls.

“During the spring mating season, all hens will eventually get bred and go to set their eggs”, LaGrand said.

“The hen's whole job in the spring mating ritual is to lay her eggs and hatch her young. As she's breeding, she'll go lay an egg every day. She'll get to the point where all she does is set her eggs. Ol' Harold is going to go from having eight or nine hens with him to being by himself.”

At this time, the hunter should remember that a hen needs three things to raise a brood -food, water and cover, LaGrand said.

“Look for brushy areas close to water. I've seen turkeys nest all around a mudhole in the middle of a log road that would hold water for two months.”

The toms know where the hens are setting, LaGrand said. In the late season, they will gobble to calls, but won't come.

“He just acts like he's going somewhere. He is! He's going to where all those hens are sitting, to make sure they don't need to get bred again, because skunks, possums, raccoons, dogs, cats and other creatures will eat turkey eggs. If they lose their nests, those hens will have to get bred again in order to set. Ol' Harold is going to make himself as accessible as he can to those hens.”

Several gobblers may be vis-

INDIANA OUTDOOR NEWS ®

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Late Season Turkey Hunting iting nesting areas, including subordinate gobblers, LaGrand said.

“They won't gobble much.

You'll set up in an area like that and be blind-calling, and he'll just pop up out there. He may not gobble until he gets within 50 yards of you.”

It's always a good idea to carry more than one call, but it's especially important late in the season, LaGrand said.

“I've hunted some heavily pressured areas in southern Missouri where a gobbler would literally run from you if you didn't have the right call. That's why I always carry a variety of calls.

Just like humans, each turkey sounds a little different. Each hen has a little different pitch and rasp in her voice. Some are louder than others. The toms know what those hens in the area sound like.

One may not answer a diaphragm call, but he may run over a friction call, because it sounds like the boss hen he's been spending time with.”

LaGrand said it usually isn’t the amount of calling that runs turkeys off, it's the quality.

“When I'm sitting, I'm always purring and clucking. A gobbler expects to hear that. I'm not going to blow his ear drums out and call as loud as I can nonstop, because turkeys don't do that.”

Avoid monotone calling, LaGrand advised.

“Don't sound like a robot.

Turkeys are birds, and birds have songs. All those yelps, cackles, cutts and gobbles make a song.

You need to work on your cadence. Everything has a cadence. Even a gobble has a cadence. A gobble is nothing but 13 yelps. It's always between 11 and 13 yelps.

“The most overused call that's often done the worst is the cutting of an excited hen turkey. I hear it every year, and it sounds like a gray squirrel or a fox squir-

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By John Meacham with John LaGrand

rel, or anything but a wild turkey, because it has no cadence. It doesn't have to sound great, because hens sound terrible 90 percent of the time, but they have cadence.

It has a rythym. It's a song.”

Practice calling a lot, but not in the turkey woods, LaGrand said.

“Don't call to the turkeys you're going to hunt. Call in your

garage or your house or in your car on the way home. Work on your cadences and practice with different calls.”

For information about Mountain Screamer Game Calls, visit www.mountainscreamer.com. For information about John Meacham's books and CDs, visit www.storiesbyjohn.com.

The Top Ten Reasons to be glad you shot a jake Well, you did it. You said you wouldn't -- not in a million years -- but you did, anyway.

“Big boss gobbler or bust!”

That was your vow, you said, and you meant it, too. But you got an itchy trigger finger, and you shot a jake. One of those little fellers with the long feathers in the center of its tail fan. A baby bird that hadn't even celebrated its second birthday yet.

Now, you have to explain it.

What are you going to tell your buddies -- especially the ones you riduculed for shooting a jake last year?

To that end, here are the top 10 reasons to be glad you shot a jake.

10. Now that your hunt is over, you can finally get started on all those chores you've been so eager to do!

9. You thought it was a giant mosquito and shot it in self-defense!

8. When you relive the shot in your mind, you won't feel so bad

5. You can tell your loudmouthed brother-in-law, who wouldn't know a wild turkey from a redheaded woodpecker, that a jake is much better eating than a gobbler, but he can't come to Sunday dinner because there wouldn't be enough meat to go around!

4. That Dreaded Other Hunter who beat you to your ace-in-the-hole spot on the last morning of the season will never know whether you shot a jake or a limbhanger!

3. Better yet, the DOH won't shoot your jake next year, when it would have been a two-year-old! when you realize how close you came to missing!

7. You won't be tempted to spend a young fortune on a full-body mount, when you don't even have room on your wall for another tail fan!

6. You're half a mile from your truck, and a jake weighs at least five pounds less than a big tom!

2. If God had wanted you to shoot a gobbler, He'd have sent you a gobbler! His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven! Amen!

1. There's no catch and release in hunting, so you might as well be a good sport about it!

For information about John Meacham's books and CDs, visit www.storiesbyjohn.com.

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INDIANA OUTDOOR NEWS ®

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May, 2 0 11 Edition

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PANFISH All structure considered, nothing attracts and holds crappies like submerged brush.

Come to think of it, I've stripped crappies off about every sunken, inanimate object known to man. The peppercorn-patterned-panfish are preprogrammed to cling to cover. Rocks, docks, tires, weeds, bridge pilings, sunken vessels, humps, even that floating water trampoline down the lake - crappies lean on 'em all like lampposts. Despite their willingness to saddle-up to cover of all sorts, though, without argument, crappies consider sunken brush their dream house.

Wood has a way with crappies.

Frankly, the accommodations provided by timber are just too perfect for a crappie to resist. Take security, for example.

Crappies, especially the younger guns, are easy pickings for predators. Crappies aren't the fleetest swimming or most acrobatic fish. Submerged wood offers instant protection for fumble-finned, juvenile crappies.

Baitfish take to timber for the same reason - safety. Super schooling baitfish like shiners and shad aren't often buried in the branches, but they use the wood for reference. Crappies do, however, bump right into edible young-of-the-year panfish, darters, and other miscellaneous loner baitfish.

The wood also loads up with invertebrates, such as dragonfly and damselfly nymphs. The rich, decaying debris at the base of a brushpile houses bloodworms and mayfly larva as well. Quite literally, sunken timber is its own independent ecosystem, replete with a fortifying food chain that ends in the maws of carnivorous crappies.

But as with everything in life, there are winners and losers. Winners in this case being brushpiles blessed with premium physical features. Density is number one. Picture a snarled pile of branches and twigs bulldozed to the edge of a freshly clear-cut woods. That's the good stuff, all latticed with openings, branches sticking out like a pincushion. With that said, however, a single Christmas tree at the end of the dock gets the job done in an area otherwise devoid of brush. Moral of the story is to focus on the best brush available.

Not all types of trees are created equal, though. Pines, firs, cedars and spruce offer the most grid-work and nastiest cover.

Cedars are my favorites, as they decay the slowest, yielding better housing conditions for the longest time.

I'll take this opportunity to address legalities as they relate to brush building.

In several states, such as my native Minnesota, it's illegal to manufacture brushpiles. You're left to use what nature

An underwater camera, such as this color MarCum vs625sd, gives you a fish's eye view of submerged brush. The camera reveals everything from the thickness of the timber to available forage to whether or not crappies are occupying the cover. Photo by Bill Lindner Photography.

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Timber Calls, Crappies Fall provides through storm damage, eager beavers, and flooding. Oftentimes, though, in states where private citizens cannot sink timber, the fisheries department does so to create productive panfish habitat.

Recently, I meandered south to fish Lake Norfork (www.arkansas.com) in Arkansas and Kentucky's Lake Barkley (www.lakebarkley.com), two bucket list destinations for whopper crappies, black and white. Both bodies of water are infested with brushpiles, some naturally occurring, many installed by anglers - doing so is permissible in both states. What I found, even with the manmade brushpiles, though, was that some are excellent, some okay, and others empty lots. Again, the thickest brush won the war.

The more productive piles on both Norfork and Barkley were strategically planted, too. Invariably, wooded areas that were wind protected - nestled in cuts or creek channels - held the most fish.

Deeper was better, too, especially if there were multiple sequential brushpiles that ran from deepwater right up to shore.

Oftentimes brushpiles on the bank double as spawning habitat, making the entire zone potent all year long.

Ta c k l i n g t h e Timber Time to pluck woodland crappies. And for as easy as they are to dupe at times, crappies can lock those fat lips in a nanosecond. My first choice is to attack vertically, creeping overtop the brush and working an up-and-down presentation.

Weapon number one is the Puppet Minnow

by Northland Fishing Tackle. The heavyfor-its-size horizontal swimming jig is the spitting image of a real baitfish.

Jigging the smallest size they make, the lure's rear fins get it darting on the upstroke and curling back downward on the drop. Larger, aggressive crappies find the profile and fleeing action irresistible.

Now you can't always camp over crappies, though, even when the brush is 15, 20, or 25 feet down. The shadowy boat scatters the fish or sends them into the core of the pile. Those instances call for pitching light hair-jigs, sometimes fished naked, other times tagged with livebait or soft plastics - experimentation being at play.

Northland's feathery Bug-A-Boo, a decadent marabou jig is cast just beyond the timber and gingerly worked back to the boat. Casts are long. Jigging action is subtle, actually more of a lift-and¬ -let-fall motion, swimming the jig above the brush. Yes, you will get snagged. Plan on it. But often the brush is rotted to the point where a little pressure springs the hook loose. Also, after a few break-offs in the brush you'll learn the proper droptime, one that gets the jig in the money spot but not fouled.

Bending the hook-point inward ever so slightly helps limit snags as well. It lets the jig bounce off branches without piercing them. You can get the same effect by rigging a small, soft plastic curly-tail Texas-style, like you do for bass with worms and lizards. Livebait, too, can be used to shield the tip of the hook. Either gob on a wad of waxworms, maggots, or creatively penetrate a minnow so the hook point doesn't see the light of day.

It's elementary, but still deadly: a basic slip-bobber or fixed cork teamed with a plain hook and livebait. Usually, I'll establish the depth of the brush tops and set a crappie minnow or runt shiner up a few feet. No bites, it's time to drop the bait deeper, eventually penetrating the jungle canopy. Still nothing? Pick a new brushpile.

“Slip-dragging” is a primo technique for hanging livebait from a float while simultaneously blanketing water. Simply slow-troll over the brushpile and deploy the first float. Move, or “slip” a few yards and drop another line from the opposite end of the boat. Do it a couple more times while zigzagging across the structure.

Soon, you've covered a wide swath, minnows dangling seductively at all points of the compass. With some wind, drift your lines across the brushpile. Flat calm and

By Brian “Bro” Brosdahl Mastodon sized crappies find comfort midst thick underwater woods. The author and his co-angler Calvin Vick caught this beast over a 10-foot deep brushpile on a cold autumn day when fish on other nearby lakes, devoid of brush, held crappies in over 30-feet of water. Photo courtesy of www.frabill.com use the MinnKota electric trolling motor to keep your bait traversing the structure.

Heavy winds, and you're better off anchoring and casting to the brushpile.

Lively, lightly nipped minnows make a difference, too, as they summon strikes.

Frabill's rectangular shaped, super-stable 1404 aerated bait container can literally keep a scoop of crappie minnows happy for 48 hours on a single set of batteries.

A couple of closing suggestions relative to gear selection. Typically, I spool with 3- or 4-lb. BIONIC Panfish Line. But when there's wood involved, I ratchet up

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to 5- or 6-lb. BIONIC. The heavier line affords more oomph when I do get hungup. And if you're serious about fishing in the sticks, again, snagging is just part of the deal.

Rod selection is a no-brainer. St. Croix's 6' 6” Premier medium-light is the crappie's pajamas for beating the bushes.

Brush up on your brush finding skills and tactical approach to fishing wood and you'll have a foundational play in the playbook for about any lake, reservoir or river you come across, no matter the time of year.

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May, 2 0 11 Edition

How to Swat Turkeys not Bugs

BABEWINKELMAN Have you ever had a gobbler approach in stealth mode?

Without making a gobble or even the sound of a footstep? I have, many times. But the one bird that stands out in my memory the most was an Eastern that was easily the biggest turkey I’ve ever seen in my life. I can’t even guess how heavy he was, and his beard was as thick as my wrist and practically dragged on the ground.

He came in just outside of my peripheral vision. And like I said, he didn’t make a sound. Ten more steps and he would have popped out right in front of me. But he didn’t, because of a mosquito.

A mosquito you ask? How can a winged creature that small have any kind of effect on a winged creature the size of a mature Tom? I’ll tell you how: The voracious little blood-sucking bandit had rudely attached himself to my neck, just as the unseen turkey was approaching. I could feel its little syringe going in, and I tried not to flinch because it’s always so important to sit like a statue

when turkey hunting. But the discomfort of that tiny torture machine was too much for me to take, so WHAP! I got him with my right hand. Of course, I also spooked King Kong Tom with my movement. I have never hated a mosquito more than that one, and I never saw that bird again.

Well, there are lessons learned on every hunt and that day I learned (the hard way) to always be prepared with the right gear.

My ThermaCELL appliance always goes into my hunting pack now -- whether I’m hunting in the spring or fall.

Now, let’s talk about swatting TURKEYS! I want to give you two sure-fire tips that will help you bring home more poultry, whether you’re hunting with a shotgun or a bow.

For shotgun hunting, it is 100% critical to pattern your turkey gun before you go hunting -- with the choke you’re going to use in the field. Some hunters like to use anatomical turkey targets when patterning. And they’re great for the job. But a sheet of cardboard with a snuff-can-sized circle drawn on it will do just as well. Because all you’re trying to determine is whether the payload is landing where you aim it; and that a lethal dose of BBs are hitting inside the strike zone at your gun’s effective range for turkeys.

Knowing your gun’s patterning performance ensures two things. First, that you’ll make humane, lights-out shots. We owe this to the birds we hunt. And second, it will arm you with confidence in your shooting skills and equipment -- which is so vitally important.

For bowhunting, know where the vital organs reside in a turkey.

That might sound silly, but it’s not where people instinctively assume they’re located.

Rookie turkey bowhunters regularly shoot too high and too far forward on turkeys -- into the meat of the chest. You will not kill a gobbler with that shot. The vitals in a turkey are quite low and

located about where the drumstick muscles meet the body.

Here’s what you do to get a study in turkey anatomy. Go to the grocery store, buy a turkey and study how it’s built and where the organ cavity is located.

Engrain it in your memory, so when the moment of truth comes and you’re putting that pin on your bird, you put it where it belongs. After your anatomy lesson, eat the bird. It’s a win-win.

I hope these little lessons pay dividends for you this season, and I hope you swat a giant gobbler. Who knows, maybe you’ll get the one that mosquito cost me.

Good Hunting!

Inexperienced bowhunters often shoot too far forward. A turkey’s vitals are actually farther back.

Photo by Ryan Groceman.

Turkey Tips from ION Publisher, Brian Smith. . .

TIP 1: When a boss tom is with a hen, you can forget about calling him away from her. Your only hope is to bring the hen to you. If you are sucessful, you can bet he’ll follow. Listen to the hen’s vocalizations and mimic her aggresively. If she purrs you purr. If she yelps 4 times you yelp 4 times.

You just may make that old hen so mad so she’ll come over to investigate -- while leading the tom right to you.

TIP 2: If you’re hunting a boss tom, try the so-called “dirty bird” set-up by mounting a male turkey decoy on top of a hen decoy to simulate breeding. But use a jake, not a tom. When the ol’ boss sees what he thinks is a jake breeding a hen in his territory, it’s all over but the trigger squeeze!

ION publisher, Brian Smith poses with the western Kentucky tom he took last month while hunting with Winghaven Lodge near Marion, KY (www.winghavenlodge.com). He was using his new “sport-n-wood” Corian Double Sided Crystal/Slate call.

“I was able to sound like 3 different birds with this call and, well... here’s proof that it works!” - Brian Smith

May, 2 0 11 Edition

BASS Mike Weinkauf is vice president of Field Logic, a company that manufactures and markets innovative products to the hunting industry. To hear him tell it, that explains his addiction to sight-fishing early in the season for smallmouth bass.

“If you enjoy hunting at all, fishing for smallmouth bass is as close to hunting as you can ever get with a pole in your hand,” he said. “With good polarized sunglasses, you're stalking them.

You're sneaking around on the water up on the bow of the boat trying to get on top of them. It adds a whole new element of excitement.

“Once you identify the magical depth for pre-spawn or spawn, you're on their turf. You can literally find the exact fish you want to catch.”

Weinkauf doesn't mind at all when people think it strange why a guy who grew up in walleye country would rather fish for bass. He just looks at the only fish he has mounted on his wall in Duluth Minn., a 7-pound, 3ounce smallmouth, and describes the species' over-developed tenacity.

“The reason I like to smallmouth fish is they are very aggressive fish.

I like them because they are extremely acrobatic. Most of the time you catch a fish, you don't have an idea what you have hooked until it's in the net. With a smallmouth, you might not even know you have it hooked before it jumps out of the water. That's when it gets fun.

That's when the whole boat starts yelling.”

When water temperature reaches 50-55 degrees, they gath-

INDIANA OUTDOOR NEWS ®

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Take Aim for Smallies er to spawn on sandy, gravelly hard-bottom shoreline-related structures like reefs and points.

Spawning usually occurs about 60 degrees. They'll stay in the same areas after spawning if they have the right combination of food and shelter and/or deep water for security.

With the cold, wet spring Indiana has had this year, don’t assume the smallies are already done spawning. In Indiana’s waters of southern Lake Michigan, the smalmouth spawn routinely stretches into June.

Smallmouth aren't hard to find early in the season. One key is warm water. Check bays on the sun-drenched northwest side of the natural lake you're on, Weinkauf said.

Bays also offer protection from the wind that can rough up the surface so you can't see what's below, and that spoils the hunt, he said. Bays with feeder creeks and rivers will warm faster, too.

The best bottom content is often sand with a few rocks mixed in.

Use a side imaging Humminbird to locate the cover.

“That's where they will congregate to do their business,” Weinkauf said.

Some often-overlooked fish also locate on mud bottoms with the odd boulder or isolated rock pile. Then, it's simply a matter of sight-fishing the shallows. Keep moving until fish are found.

“From my experience,” he says, “once you find one, you've found the mother lode. You'll find a lot of them.”

Mark your map, set a GPS point, do whatever you have to so you can find your way back.

“They're there year in and

year out. They'll be coming back non-stop.”

Light to medium spinning gear, such as a St. Croix Legend Xtreme, is perfect for the challenge.

“Using light tackle is fun for shallow smallies because they're a lot of fun. From a freshwater fish standpoint, they're as strong as they get pound for pound.”

He uses soft plastic baits when he can. Four-inch ribbon tails or creepy crawly plastics with lots of wiggly feet are normally best. Slide down to 3-inch when fishing is tough. Tube jigs, Senkos and Jerk Shads work, too.

Color choice is more for the fisherman than the fish. Pick something that contrasts with the bottom so bait control is easy. Dark bottom, bright color. Light bottom, dark color. Sometimes the bait will reach the bottom, sometimes it won't. There are times when a smallmouth can pick up the bait, move it and drop it before an angler can react. Being able to see it allows a quick hookset.

“The first time you feel a bump or that you see a smallmouth bass take it, set the hook.

This is not Lindy Rigging for walleyes. If you wait, the fish is gone,” he said.

Jigs like the Lindy X-Change Jig weighing 1/16th of an ounce to 1/8th of an ounce are normally enough to take the bait down in windless conditions. Weinkauf's tackle box has a lot of 3/32ndounce jigs.

Sometimes in very cold water or super-calm conditions, Weinkauf will use a hook with no weight at all so the bait falls slowly right in the faces and

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By Ted Takasaki & Scott Richardson

Sight fishing for big smallmouth bass is as close to hunting as you can get with a rod in your hands, says expert angler Mike Weinkauf. Here, Hall of Famer Ted Takasaki holds up a true brute, taken using Weinkauf's system. stays.

Before you go to the lake, practice casting at a bucket in the backyard until you get good at hitting it. Small areas can hold many fish, he said.

Even smallmouth bass can be extremely finicky sometimes.

That's when Weinkauf switches to leeches.

“At that point when the leech starts doing its thing, they have a real hard time resisting.”

Stay in the same areas, but upsize baits as water temperature

rises toward summer. Four-inch plastics and even larger will work. Smallmouth are also willing to chase, so try spinnerbaits, shallow-running crankbaits or top-waters.

Also, begin targeting weeds as well as sand and mud with rocks and reefs as well as shoreline structures.

Smallmouth often hang out in the same spots as walleyes that time of year.

Go hunting from your boat this season. You just might bag a trophy smallmouth.

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INDIANA OUTDOOR NEWS ®

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May, 2 0 11 Edition

Keep a Fishing Log and Learn

BILLTAKACS Keep a fishing log and through your own studies learn the habits and behavior of the fish in your own particular waters.

Don't rely on theories or your memory - by keeping a log you'll know for sure which locations, methods, and tackle produced on each trip. It really isn't very time consuming to take five or ten minutes after each trip or the following day to record your information - but try to remember water temperature or weather conditions six months or a year later - well, good luck! Also each year it seems that more scientific information and electronic devices are available to us.

Combined with our increased knowledge of fish and fish habits and improved methods and techniques of catching them, this could tax our memories of previous years' catches quite a bit to try to recall information, which at that time may have been meaningless, but today though greater knowledge is very pertinent.

By keeping a log you will

notice some definite patterns in basic fish movement and behavior in the waters you fish. These patterns usually hold true year after year unless disturbed by natural forces or man. However, it usually takes several seasons to see what patterns exist and that is why the longer you keep a log, the more valuable it becomes.

Previous years' records can give you a probable place to start looking for fish and help you find fish early on your trips.

You can use your log for reference on exact locations of fishproducing or fish-holding areas such as stumps, drop-offs, etc. by simply listing them for each trip.

This is a handy guide for finding those “hotspots” year to year.

Certain trips bring back pleasant and happy memories.

Whether it is your first lunker bass or your best catch of deepwater salmon and trout, a log is a collector of memories and you'll find that spending an evening or two in the winter looking over past years' log books can be a pleasant and rewarding experience.

By now most of you should be sold on the idea of keeping a record of your trips. But if you are the type of person who hates to go through a lot of writing or work along these lines, then you may want to do what I do for my log. I use a regular office type

desk calendar with a full page for each day to jot down my information. These desk calendars can be purchased at any stationery store and serve the purpose very well.

They can also be conveniently placed at home or work to help remind you to log your last trip.

Taking the time to record your trip always seems much easier when the records are right in front of you and you don't have to search for a book or pad. Another advantage to the desk calendar is that it is an easy way to accumulate and condense information (to help define patterns on particular bodies of water). In January or February I usually set aside two or three evenings to shuffle through the calendar pages and make separate stacks for each lake or stream fished the past year. I then record each entry on a sheet of notebook paper labeled by fishing site, with the earliest date first, which gives me a separate record by dates for each water fished. It is much better to do this job during the “off” season because you don't have to be in a big hurry and it seems to fill in those fishless winter evenings. By yearly utilizing the records, patterns become easy to see after enough experience and information is recorded.

My own personal logs reflect quite a few changes in the categories or types of information

recorded. During that time, some items have been dropped because they have proved to be of little value in establishing patterns or a time-productivity period in various waters, while new listings have been added to fill in information gaps. The nice part about keeping a log is that it is your record and you may “customize” the categories to best fit your own fishing needs and include only those items that you feel are important to your success. Each trip I take is broken down into the following listing: LOCATION is the general area fished and the date of the trip. I also include names of any fishing

partner or partners for that trip.

WEATHER CONDITIONS such as air temperatures, cloud cover, clear skies, rain, etc. should be recorded. Radio or TV stations will help you with the daily temperatures.

WATER CONDITIONS records clear, dingy, choppy, calm, ripple, etc. Surface temperatures and thermocline depth and variance, if any, are also included in this section along with oxygen content.

LURES OR BAIT used on the trip with special note of the names of the productive lures and their color, size, and how they

Continued on Pg. 14

Notations from previous years revealed an early spring smallmouth pattern on Lake Michigan. Photo by Bill Takacs.

May, 2 0 11 Edition

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INDIANA OUTDOOR NEWS ®

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May, 2 0 11 Edition Bluegills: From Cover

Turkey season is highly anticipated by many hunters across Indiana with the same vigor as deer season. Like some deer hunters that get a case of antler envy, a few turkey hunters fall prey to beard envy and become unsportsmanlike in their conduct.

Indiana Conservation Officers Jim Hash and Gary Pennington received a tip that a property owner that bordered state forest land was baiting turkeys with the intent to hunt them.

Jim and Gary went to the property a few days before turkey season and located the feeder and bait. (By Indiana law all bait has to be removed ten days prior to hunting season.)

After turkey season started Jim and Gary returned to the property, parking a half mile away so that they would not be visible if someone was actually hunting.

“Once we got to the area we could see the feeder, and turkeys were feeding at it,” Jim said. Within moments the two ICOs heard what sounded like another turkey hen.

“It turned out it was one of the suspects calling.” As they listened, they also heard a tom turkey responding to the hunters’ calls or coming into the bait.

After a little while Jim saw two hunters dressed in camo and carrying shotguns moving quietly through the woods. The tom turkey was not responding so the hunters decided to try to find the gobbling turkey.

Beard Envy ALANGARBERS The hunters were unaware that they were being watched.

“We were about thirty yards from the feeder and they were heading along a trail over a rise,” Jim explained. The two ICOs followed the hunters but lost sight of them as they went over the hill.

One of the hunters kept making hen calls as they moved, then after a few minutes it got quiet.

Suddenly, a shotgun blast echoed through the woods. “We went on high alert because we didn’t know what he shot at or which direction he was shooting, and we were only twenty-five yards away.”

Jim and Gary cautiously headed towards the area of the shot. Unknown to the ICOs, the turkey hunters had missed the tom. As the two officers crested the rise, the turkey hunters were running away from them, one holding the shotgun up in preparation to shoot at a turkey. “We were about fifty yards behind them when the guy raised the gun to shoot again.” The hunter shot again and rolled the turkey with the blast; however the stubborn tom got up and started running again.

The two hunters started in pursuit of the turkey again. They were so engrossed in the turkey, they had no idea two conservation officers were twenty yards behind them. “They pulled up a

third time and shot, making what we assumed was a killing shot on the turkey,” Jim said. “One of the hunters yelled out to ring the turkey’s neck.” One of the hunters ran forward and stood on the turkey’s neck, ceasing the turkey’s movement. Everyone, including the ICOs, assumed the turkey had expired.

At that point the two officers made their presence known and started questioning the hunters.

The story one of the hunters told twisted and turned with him finally confessing that he was the son of the property owner. He had placed the bait, but he thought it was OK to hunt near it, just not directly over it. The other hunter was new to turkey hunting, as was evidenced by the escapades the ICOs had watched.

Gary took one of the hunters to search for the spent shotgun hulls as evidence and remaining hunting gear, while Jim stayed with the man who shot the turkey, which was still under his foot. “I had just seized his shotgun, all his ammunition, and had asked the hunter for his I.D,” Jim laughed. “As he pulled his wallet out, he lifted his foot up.” The turkey must also have been part opossum because at that point it was instantly resurrected and flew off into the woods, never to be seen again. Karma in action.

The two hunters were cited for hunting over bait. Hopefully they learned a few lessons on turkey hunting and marksmanship as well.

angler catch rates of big bluegills have gone up, but we can say they haven’t gone down,” Pearson said.

Although big bluegills are still abundant in Indiana natural lakes, numbers of small bluegills have declined.

Biologists estimate the number of bluegills in a lake based on how many they capture with electro-shocking boats. The typical catch rate is 86 bluegills per minutes of sampling. Of these, 67 percent are 3 to 6 inches long, 17 percent are 6 to 7 inches, 12 percent are 7 to 8 inches, and 4 percent are 8 inches or larger.

“We’ve seen a significant drop in catches of 3- to 6-inch bluegills over the years, down from 97 to only 27 per 15 minutes of sampling,” Pearson said.

This decrease may be related to a build-up of largemouth bass, a major predator on small bluegills. Since the 1980s bass numbers have doubled in Indiana natural lakes due to the 14-inch minimum limit on the size of bass that can be taken home by anglers.

“Our bluegill populations may be in better balance now than they were years ago,” Pearson said.

Other trends in bluegill fishing at Indiana natural lakes include a slight drop in the percentage of anglers who prefer to fish for bluegills, down from 50 percent to 40 percent. Bluegill fishing effort since the 1980s has remained steady, about 25 hours per 100 acres of water.

Fishing Log: From Pg. 12 were fished (action and speed given the lures).

DEPTH is the data regarding where the fish were located or caught and all depths fished whether productive or not. You could also note the types of bottom in those productive areas and the presence of cover. If fishing deeper structures (drop-offs, break-lines) note them here.

NUMBER AND WEIGHT OF FISH caught needs no explanation.

COMMENTS OR TRIP SUMMARY could include such details as the exact site or area fished along with a map marking the productive spots.

This is also the section to list who else may have caught fish on that particular day and the kind of water fished and what they used. Also list any noticeable pattern for that trip, if established.

If writing down the above categories on a desk calendar is too difficult or time consuming for you, there are some regular log books on the market where all you have to do is fill in the blanks for each of your trips. All subjects are outlined on each page. For some of you this may be the easier route.

If you are not as set in your ways as I am, then I'm sure you would want to use your home or office computer to set up your log. There must be some software programs out there that you can utilize for this.

At this point, if you still have any second thoughts or reservations about keeping a log, just ask yourself how seriously do you take your fishing?

Make your own luck on the water. See you next time.

May, 2 0 11 Edition

INDIANA OUTDOOR NEWS ®

Minn Kota Talon Shallow Water Anchor Boat control and positioning are everything. The quicker and more effectively you can position yourself on a bank, weedbed or flat, the better your chance of reeling in what you’re after.

Enter the all-new Talon from Minn Kota, the shallow water anchor that deploys faster and holds stronger.

Unlike other products on the market which use elaborate and unreliable hydraulics, the Talon deploys vertically using simple 12V power from your boat’s cranking battery.

“We were determined to introduce a shallow water anchor that would be far superior in performance and durability to a hydraulicdriven product,” Minn Kota Marketing Director Joe Brown said.

“With Talon, we have exceeded expectations by eliminating angler concerns about noise, deployment speed, installation and reliability. We also added significant new features to Talon resulting in unparalleled performance.”

Talon’s innovative engineering and design provide many performance advantages, leading with the fastest deployment time compared to any product in its category. The Auto Up/Down

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feature needs only a quick press of a button for fully automatic deployment.

This eliminates the need to continually press the button until the spike is completely deployed, wasting valuable fishing time. Stowing is just as easy and quick with a press of a button. Talon can be operated from the control panel or wireless remote. Two wireless remote controls come standard.

Talon assures a secure and solid position by providing the highest anchoring force on the market. The exclusive Auto-Drive feature drives the spike into the bottom with three successive hits with increased force on each hit.

Talon comes with a comprehensive 2year warranty and lifetime guarantee on the spike. It is available with either a six-foot, four-inch or eight-foot, four-inch spike and choice of a black or white motor cover. All models can be used in freshwater or saltwater and come standard with two wireless remote controls. Learn more at minnkotamotors.com.

Indiana Outdoor News editors just installed a Talon on one of our boats, and we’ll be sharing our experiences later this season.

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Hoosiers Alyson and Jack Gill harvested these 2 nice birds in Spencer Co. Kentucky on the same morning. Alyson's bird was 17-lbs. and Jack's was 23-1/2 lbs.

THIS MONTH’S WINNER!

Alan Kaffenberger with a Lake Monroe slab crappie caught with J & R Guide Service.

Bobby Nevitt with a nice 22-lb.gobbler taken on opening day 2010 in Harrison County.

Cory McClellan from Portage with his first 8-point buck with a bow.

Brandon Stanley caught this king salmon just off the pierhead while fishing out of Michigan City.

This months answers From Puzzle on Page 8

Duane Spencer shot this nice 10-pointer in Marshall Co. during the 2010 youth season.

Gone Afield monthly photo contest. . .

It’s EASY! It’s FUN! Fill out this form and send it in with your favorite outdoor photograph.

A winner will be randomly selected each month to win a great outdoor prize!

Entry Information: Person submitting the photo: Name(s) of person(s) pictured: Other information describing the photo: If I’m selected as this month’s random winner, please send my prize to:

Send your photos to: Gone Afield P.O. Box 69 Granger, IN 46530 E-mail submissions welcome at: www.contact@ION4U.net.

If mailing photos, please include a SASE if you’d like us to return them to you CONTEST RULES: Raghorn, Inc. shall retain the right to publish or not publish any images submitted in any of it’s media outlets. Winners chosen at random. Prizes are subject to change and contest may cease without notice.

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INDIANA OUTDOOR NEWS ®

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May, 2 0 11 Edition

Didy-Gems Heading Our Way

The Last Thought MIKESCHOONVELD Didy-gems have been found in Lake Superior! But before you head to the UP to start your own mining operation beware, another common name for these is rock-snot.

Didymosphenia geminata, is a species of algae and like most algae, it can be found in suitable habitats almost world wide–though historical records show it to be native only to the Earth’s northern hemisphere.

That being the case, why is finding the Didy-gems in Lake Superior newsworthy?

Mainly because, they didn’t use to be present in the biggest Great Lake (or even any of the smaller Great Lakes). They didn’t use to be very prevalent anywhere. They were just another of the estimated 30,000 species of algae in the world which can be found from the chilly Antarctic to the steam fumaroles in Yellowstone Park.

Since didy-gems are a native

species to North America, it’s not quite appropriate to call them an invasive species but in the last 30 years, they’ve started acting similar to an invasive species.

Generally, an invasive species shows up in a non-native area in small numbers and begins to colonize. Depending on the nature of the species (whether it be a plant, animal or fish) and the amount of suitable habitat, it begins to spread from the initial colony to other areas.

Sometimes the spread moves outward from the original infestation like a campfire spreading to become a wildfire which turns into a forest fire. Other times the spread of the invasive species is more a spark effect, to continue the fire analogy. Sparks from the initial fire land some distance away starting other fires and these fires produce sparks of their own and the spread continues.

No one yet knows why Didygems are becoming problematic in new areas. In most naturally occurring streams or lakes where Didy-gems have always been present, they pose few problems.

You could find some if you looked for it, but they were seldom disruptive to the ecology of the area.

In areas where they are now showing up, they are posing a threat.

Starting in the middle 1980s, that began to change.

Some scientists believe a slight change in the genetics of the Didy-gems changed them. Some theorize there’s a causal relationship between outbreaks of d-gem infestations and climate change.

The initial instances of Didygems running amok in streams occurred on Vancouver Island in the middle 1980s and the spread has been mostly a west to east phenomenon through the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan then down into the states and on eastward to the Atlantic seaboard.

One of the first problematic areas in the U.S. occurred when Didy-gems showed up and took root in Rapid Creek, a trout stream in South Dakota’s Black Hills. When it initially showed up, the search went out for a sewage outflow running unchecked. The stream looked to be loaded with long strands of decomposing toilet paper.

It didn’t take long for the Didy-gems to spread downstream, substantially changing the look and ecology of the stream. Dgem colonies (actually millions of individual plants clumped together) stuck to every rock coating the bottom with a carpet of brownish-gray. A colony looks as though it would be slimy; but in actuality, it has a wooly feel to it. As the bottom is

covered, it has a detrimental affect on natural insects and plankton in the stream, which in turn affects the fish and other animals on up the food chain. The brown trout population in Rapid Creek has dwindled, substantiall y.

If there are fingers to be pointed, most are pointing at anglers, specifically fishermen wearing felt-soled waders. The locations where the infestations have developed have all been popular trout fishing destinations frequented by wading fishermen often outfitted with felt-soled boots. Maryland, Alaska and Vermont have outlawed felt-bottom waders and other states are considering it.

Since the other Great Lakes all lie downstream of Lake Superior, it’s only a matter of time until the Didy-gems make their way and take root. Whether that natural spread will take a year or two or a decade or two remains to be seen. In the meantime, anglers can do their part by shunning felt bottom waders–especially in areas of known rocksnot infestations. Clean boots well after each use and let them dry completely before moving from one stream to the next.

The evidence is circumstantial, but probably accurate, that Didy-Gems are being spread by fishermen. Photo provided.

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