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On the water with...Dwayne E. Cooper |
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Table of Contents Learning to find water on my own Information on the 99' fishkill on the White River Have fun...but don't get your feet wet!
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White River 2000...The results are in folks... Even after the White River endured one of the worst fish kills in our nation's history, some fish did manage to survive.
First trip out after the 99' fishkill... I remember quite well my first trip on the White River/Broad Ripple this year. My wife and I decided to check out this section of the river (56th Street to 82nd Street) and our expectations were not very optimistic...as we both knew that the fish kill strongly affected this section of the river. The first fish was a small but very beautiful 8 inch largemouth bass that was caught on a small crankbait down by the dam on the lower end. I gave it a kiss and gently put it back in the water. Soon thereafter, we picked up a fish or two here and there and in approximately four hours time, we managed to catch 15 or so bass, including two very nice 3 to 3 1/2 pound fish. Three or four other fish were in the 2 pound class. The fish seemed to be very spread out on good-looking pieces of structure and were not strongly related to any specific pattern. Later trips on the White River... Although I didn't make it out to the river this year as often as I would like, I was pleasantly surprised by the number of fish that we caught. When the water stabilized and cleared up, we had some excellent trips for smallmouth this year. However, the largemouth population most definitely continued on a decline from previous years. Although I didn't get absolute verification, I am also pretty sure that the White River has been infected with zebra mussels...as I saw many boulders that were loaded with some form of small mussels. This would explain the much clearer than average water conditions that we had this year. Now before you jump to conclusions that all is fine with the White River...I want you to understand some important points that you really do need to consider. First, people who are more experienced on a body of water often catch more fish. I feel quite confident that nobody knows the White River better than myself. Second, better fishermen usually catch more fish. And without sounding too bragadocious about it, I am very confident that the results I see on the White River are on the very upper part of the scale as to what the White River can produce. Third, fishing conditions often dictate how many fish can be caught on a given day. Although I don't have the spare time that I used to, I do try to fish the river in better fishing conditions. The obvious point I'm trying to make here is that the average fisherman should not expect to catch 15 bass in four hours or come even close to that on the White River on the average day. I don't know if there is an acceptable fish catch ratio, but I think a good standard is a fish catch ratio that keeps the average fisherman from becoming totally bored. And, I don't know if there is an ideal fish catch ratio, but I think a good standard is a fish catch ratio that keeps the average fisherman happy. In fact, the fish clearly are not there like they used to be... In the past, the Broad Ripple section of the White River has typically been a very good fishery. However, the fishing has never been as good as the lower section of the White River (16th Street to Keystone/56th street). On the Broad Ripple pool, most four hour days for myself in the past would produce 20 or so bass. While I have had quite a few days on this section that were remarkably productive...this section has never produced the 100+ fish days that was often prevalent on the lower section of the White River in the late 80s and early 90s. The fish you can expect to find on the White River... Although roughfish, notably carp, are the most dominant force in the White River, the predominate gamefish has always been the bluegill, the largemouth bass and a variety of catfish (channel, blue, flathead, yellow bullhead). Too closely behind these fish have been a pesky population of white bass. Unfortunately, white bass are "hyperactive eating mechanisms" that can strongly diminish important food sources from the other more popular gamefish. The quantity and quality of the crappie population is smaller than ideal...but they are there. I have always been amazed that I haven't identified a stronger population of crappie in the river...but then again...I rarely fish for crappie on the river and there are so many bluegill that compete with the crappie for that minnow/jig...that I usually concentrate on the nice bluegill population. The smallmouth population has always been good. However, I strongly suspect that their numbers are more fragile than what many might expect. This species can be easy to catch once you understand how they relate to the different structures in the river. A three pound smallmouth on the river is not unusual. Four pounders are rare. Five pounders are very rare, but are definitely there. And since I've caught 2 smallmouth over six pounds on the White River in the last 12 years, I think there is hope that a bigger smallie could be caught. Broad Ripple has always contained a good population of kentucky spotted bass. While the bite for the spots seem to often disappear in the warmer weather months, these fish have always been more active in the colder months. I've been lucky enough to have several 50 plus days as late as December fishing for these fish on the river. I think it is common knowledge to many fishermen, that the spot is often a very particular fish. I have also caught a few hybrid stripers and sauger from the river. I don't know where the hybrids came from...but while the hybrid has much stronger value as a game fish than the white bass...they are also "hyperactive eating mechanisms" that will diminish the few important food sources from the other more popular gamefish in the river. I don't know much about the sauger and I have never intentionally fished for them. While I really don't know what their population is in the river, I would strongly suspect that the river has many more of them than most fisherman would suspect. My conclusion: The White River is one tough river and the survivor rate below I-465 is encouraging... I firmly believed that some bass had a chance of surviving in the Broad Ripple pool because, unlike the northern stretches of the White River, this pool contained several stretches of deeper water. An additional plus is the fact that this pool contains several pits (off the river) that also have deeper water. If, as many people believe, oxygen depletion was the cause of the 99' fishkill, the fish that resided in deeper water had a better chance of finding survivable oxygen levels. Interestingly enough, when the fishkill and oxygen depletion occurred in December 1999, I noticed that an unbelievable number of fish were visibly moving downstream on the river at an incredible rate. This was extremely strange as usually fish strongly prefer to move upstream against the flow of the river. Strangely enough, "while the populations in the lower pools also took a significant hit as a result of the 99' fishkill, the lower pools on the White River did benefit somewhat from the fish movements that occurred during the 99' fishkill" as it is my belief that some of the fish that I caught this year on the White River at 16th street in downtown Indianapolis used to be residents of the Strawtown and Noblesville pools. Maybe there is some hope that some of these tough residents of the White River will manage to find a way to survive the millenium... |
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