By Louie Stout

DNR Report Highlights Michiana Tournament Angler Successes

Photo by Andy Buss

Southwest Michigan and northern Indiana are no strangers to the popularity of bass tournaments.

As reported here last week, both state DNRs require tournament directors report their events through a registration program.

(See: Regulation Reveals How Popular Bass Tournaments Are)

A closer look at statistics garnered by the state agencies offers some insight as to the amount of tournament activities and the fish the groups are catching in Michiana.

In northern Indiana, Wawasee, Syracuse and Sylvan lakes are the only lakes tournament directors are required to report, and that’s only if the field size 15 boats or more.

It’s important to note that tournaments require bass be kept alive and released after they have been weighed and recorded.

Statistics provided by Indiana only lists 2016 results as 2017 still haven’t been tabulated. Michigan’s results cover the 2017 season and are more comprehensive that Indiana’s.

Here are some of the highlights of tournaments reported:

Indiana

Wawasee/Syracuse: There were 13 tournaments reported in 2016 with an average of 39 anglers per event. They weighed in 938 bass for an average of 1.99 pounds while big bass averaged 4.71 pounds.

Sylvan: In 2016, there were six events that averaged 27 anglers who weighed in 288 bass for an average of 2.11 pounds with big bass averaging 4.20 pounds.
Michigan

Here are the 2017 statistics we obtained for Juno, Eagle and Diamond lakes, popular southwest Michigan lakes among Michiana bass anglers:

Diamond: There were 17 reports filed, averaging 13 boats and 25 anglers. They caught, weighed and released 598 fish that averaged 1.57 pounds and big bass for each event averaged 2.88 pounds. The biggest bass caught in a tournament that year weighed 4.77 pounds.

The size of the tournaments was the state average while the size of fish was below the state average.

Juno Chain: Six tournaments were reported that averaged 15 boats, 30 anglers who caught and released 430 bass and four were smallmouth. The fish averaged 1.49 pounds while the big bass at each event averaged 3.61 pounds and the biggest bass of the year topped 4.60 pounds. The size of tournaments held there was slightly above the state average while the size of fish was below average.

Eagle Lake: Only three tournaments were reported. They averaged 10 boats and 21 anglers who caught 131 bass that averaged 1.91 pounds. Of those fish caught, 17 were smallmouth.

The biggest bass averaged 2.89 pounds while the largest bass weighed in during the season was a 3.68 pounder.

State officials note that the number of events, bass caught and size of bass were below the state average.