Estimating Black Bass Harvest Utilizing a Tag Reward Study on Three Indiana River: West Fork White River, St. Joseph River, and Eel River

Indiana has historically managed stream black bass with a 12 inch minimum size limit. In 2012, a new statewide  regulation went into effect with a 12  to 15 inches slot limit, and a bag limit of no more than 2 out of 5 being greater than 15 inches.  In an attempt to investigate fishing harvest a tag reward study was implemented on three large Indiana streams. Black bass  tagged with Monel metal jaw tags.  Black bass were tagged across a large spatial area and size distribution to ensure nonbiased catch probability. Between the three rivers 403 black bass were tagged in the  fall of 2013. Several Indiana angling groups donated $2500 to be used for tag rewards. Tags returns were much lower than expected .  Based on the limited results from this project, other agencies, previous work, and modeling indications are that harvest of black bass on these three rivers are low. Based on our research and work done in other Midwestern states harvest is a very small driver in black bass population dynamics.