Re-stocking effort at West Boggs Lake done to improve future fishing by anglers

On Nov. 6, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Fish and Wildlife Division returned to the lake in Martin and Daviess counties to begin restocking the 622-acre lake. 

About 10 fisheries employees, many of them from the East Fork Fishery at Montgomery, unloaded about 25,000 fingerling bass, measuring 3 to 5 inches. Dylan Sickles, property manager at East Fork Fishery, said that there would be about 90,000 fingerlings in the lake by early November.

But the pride of the restocking was 345 largemouth bass that were salvaged from the lake during bass tournaments before the fish kill. A total of 700 bass were salvaged; the rest will be returned to the lake later this fall. 

Standing on the bank beside Stoll’s Lakeview Restaurant to watch was Dennis Willis, who lives on the lake and frequently fishes there. He is also a member of the Country Bass Busters of Madison County, a bass-fishing group based in Anderson. 

“At one point, some of the best bass fishing in the world was right here,” said Willis, who moved to West Boggs from Anderson when he retired. “It was nothing for guys to get a 6- or 7-pound bass out of here.”

“Dave (Kittaka, fisheries biologist) said they pulled one out that weighed 8.8 pounds,” he said.

In addition to bass, the Department of Natural Resources will restock the lake with 266,500 bluegill and 155,500 redear sunfish. Depending upon the availability of channel catfish at the state fisheries, the agency will stock 124,400 of them in the spring. Black crappie (124,400) will be stocked in the fall of 2015.

“Our goal is to have 124,000 bass in the lake, which is 200 bass per acre,” said Kittaka, who supervised the renovation project. 

Renovating a lake is quite often a last resort, when othermanagement techniques, such as restocking, have not been effective. In the case of West Boggs Lake, the explosion of gizzard shad resulted in stunted bluegill growth, which then led to a decline in the bass population. Planning for the renovation began in 2011, following a fish survey that showed depleted numbers of bass and bluegill.

Electrofishing is how the state biologists survey the fish population. The water is charged with electricity to stun the fish temporarily. DNR staff then catch the fish with nets and place them in a fish livewell on a boat. Data is recorded to determine the catch-rate per hour.

During a survey in 2000, the catch-rate at West Boggs Lake was 300 bass per hour. In 2004, it was 225 per hours and in 2013, it had dropped to less than 50 bass per hour.

The fishing economy

Gizzard shad were introduced illegally to the lake in about 2000 or 2001, Kittaka said. A Department of Natural Resources survey in 2004 showed that 16 percent of the lake was populated with shad. 

According to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, bass will eat shad instead of bluegill, so the result is bluegill are able to reproduce unchecked. This results in more bluegill but because of competition with the shad for food, (bluegill and shad eat plankton) bluegill growth is stunted. The bass population also slows because of increased food competition. Ultimately, the bass population can’t sustain itself. 

For Mike Axsom, superintendent of Daviess-Martin Joint County Parks and Recreation, which manages West Boggs Park, seeing the natural resources department truck arrive with thousands of young bass signals a return to great bass fishing and an increase in visitors to the lake.

“We anticipate 2015 to not be a great fishing year, but by 2016, people will realize you can catch fish here,” he said. “By 2017, the bass will be like teenagers — they’ll bite on anything.”

This marks the second lake renovation Axsom has been part of at West Boggs. The first was in 1994. It is nothing to look forward to but is necessary to restore the lake, provide recreation and ultimately, protect an economy that is fueled by West Boggs Park.

“After the 1994 renovation, a person could catch 500 bass in one day,” he said. “Boggs experienced a five-year boom of big bass after the renovation.” 

Then the shad were introduced. The shad weren’t noticed right away, but in a few years, their presence was felt. As the big bass declined, so did fishing trips to the lake.

“We bring in revenue,” Axsom said, talking about the lake and park. “So if it hurts us, it hurts the community.”

Kittaka said the Indiana Department of Natural Resources applies a formula to measure the economic benefit of fishing trips. It includes an average cost of a fishing license, gas, meal, snacks and lodging.

“In 1999, West Boggs recorded 30,778 fishing trips,” he said. 

Using the formula of $36 per fishing trip, West Boggs was generating $1.1 million in 1999, five years after the last lake renovation.

In 2004, a few years after gizzard shad were present, fishing visits dropped to 14,000 and, in 2010, with the population imbalance clearly affecting the quality of fishing, fishing visits sank to 5,214.

Kittaka said a new rate formula was used in 2010 to reflect price increases. “The revenue was less than $300,000 generated by Boggs for that summer,” he said. 

“That’s the benefit,” he said in discussing the need for the renovation. “A million dollars a year is lost when we don’t fix that hatchery.”

Safety concerns

The project was not without some controversy. Initially, bass fisherman were upset because the fish kill would kill everything, even the bass, in the lake. Later, residents near West Boggs Park voiced their concerns over the safety of rotenone, a pesticide that was applied aerially. Fishing tournaments salvaged 700 bass from the lake. DNR officials attended public meetings to explain how rotenone would be applied and that it breaks down quickly and would not pose a health threat.

A drawdown at the lake took its surface to about 175 acres.  

Kittaka said application standards were strictly adhered to. A chemist from the State Chemist Office at Purdue University was at West Boggs Lake the day rotenone was applied. 

“The chemist documented weather conditions and said you couldn’t ask for better conditions,” Kittaka said.  

“The half life of rotenone that we used is 0.5 days at 75 degrees,” Kittaka said. “It breaks down quicker, the warmer water. For instance, at 35 degrees, the half life is 3.5 days. Rotenone also binds up in the sediment. The following weekend after the application, it rained 4 inches over the course of several days. Incoming water not only diluted the lake water but it brought in muddy runoff from the exposed lake bed and the surrounding watershed. This also helped in the detoxification of the lake water.”

Followup testing was done to check for toxicity before restocking began. 

Fifteen days after the fish kill, live fish were placed in baskets in the lake.

“All fish were alive on day 16,” Kittaka said. “We did another live fish test on day 19,  and all were alive on day 20.”

The alternative to leave the lake alone wasn’t much of an option.

“If we had done nothing, Boggs would have a high population of bluegill,” Kittaka said. “No one wants to clean a bunch of 4- and 5-inch bluegill and attendance was already showing the same thing.

“Our mission is to manage the natural resources with the best scientific knowledge we have for the benefit of the economy and the people.” 

For Willis, the fisherman, he can’t wait to see West Boggs Lake return to its former glory.

“So many people got their personal best out of here,” he said. “This renovation means everything to Boggs. It means families can come back to fish.”