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By Louie Stout

St. Joseph River bass to be studied, tagged.St. Joseph River bass to be studied, tagged.A major study of St. Joseph River bass kicks off this week and the Indiana DNR needs your help.

Biologists will be sampling bass from Bristol, Ind. to the Michigan state line and some 150 will be tagged with small metal clips to their jaws.

Anglers who catch those tagged bass can earn Bass Pro Shops gift cards valued from $5 to $25. The gift cards were purchased from contributions made by several fishing and conservation clubs. Locally, the St. Joseph River Valley Fly Fishers were a contributor.

The study is part of a state-wide assessment of river bass populations in which the DNR will tag 500 fish on the West Fork White River (Madison, Hamilton and Marion counties), Eel River (Wabash, Miami and Cass counties), and St. Joseph River (St. Joseph and Elkhart counties) throughout this summer and fall.

Information derived by angler reports of tagged fish will help it compile statistical information.

The work is part of a state study to determine the affect of the new slot limit in effect on several Hoosier rivers and streams. Under the new regulation, bass must be less than 12 inches long or more than 15 inches to be kept, with not more than two being greater than 15 inches long.

This study’s results will be compared to a similar one scheduled in 2017 to determine what impact the slot limit has on the bass fisheries in those rivers.

River biologist Neil Ledet said his crew will begin work on the St. Joe this week, operating an electro-shocking boat to capture bass for measurements, scale samples and weights. Scale samples will be studied later to determine ages and year classes to help the DNR determine growth rates.

Before they are released, bass will be tagged with a jaw tag stamped with a DNR phone number and serial number. When an angler catches a fish, he will need to remove the tag and report it to the DNR. Fish can either be released or harvested, but tags must be returned to the DNR to receive a reward. Tags can be removed with pliers without harming the fish.

The DNR will want to know the tag number, whether the fish was kept or released, date of the catch, length of the fish and approximate location of the catch.

Ledet said the focus of the study is on smallmouth bass although largemouth also will be part of the survey. His crew has established sample stations in each section of the river but won’t be sampling the entire stretches.

For more information, contact Sandy Clark-Kolaks at (812) 287-8300 or sclark-kolaks@dnr.IN.gov.

JBLP

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