Today (Thursday, Nov. 6) over 700 largemouth bass will begin their journey back into West Boggs Lake as part of an ongoing restoration project. The fish will be launched starting at 11 a.m. from a designated site near Stoll’s Lakeview Restaurant.
“The lake was drained and the fishery was eradicated to remove problem species in preparation for restocking with a selection of species determined by biologists at IDNR to be sustainable for this water,” according to a press release from Michael Axsom, superintendent of the Daviess-Martin Joint County Parks and Recreation Department.
The fish were removed after the lake became overpopulated by gizzard shad, a non-catchable and non-edible smaller fish. According to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), gizzard shads become problematic because they are a preferred food for the bass, who in turn ignored bluegill fish that also called the lake home. The bluegill then reproduced in large quantities to create a population problem. In the West Boggs situation, the gizzard shad were the problematic species as they reproduced at such a high rate that they took over the lake.
Axsom stated some of the bass weighed between six and eight pounds and were removed beginning last spring. Many more were captured in a one-day, electro-fishing project headed by IDNR crews. The 700 plus fish that were removed from the lake were stored at an off-site location while the lake was drained in August.
He also stated in a previous Times Herald story the plan to treat the lake with a chemical eliminating the remaining fish would be performed in October over a 10-day period. The chemical broke down naturally and lost its toxicity. Once water tests determined it was safe to return the fish, the restocking plan could be executed. When that is complete, the dam gates will be closed and the lake will be allowed to refill and should reach normal levels around April.
Once spring comes, it is IDNR’s hope that more anglers will return to the area. According to the organization’s website, there were 30,788 anglers who visited West Boggs in 1999 before the gizzard shad became a problem the next year. Since then the numbers have dramatically decreased with the last recorded data showing 5,214 anglers in 2010.