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Brent - thanks for the fishing report. We've been aware of white bass in Wawasee ever since the winter of 2003 when ice fishermen first started reporting them. We caught three in a fish population survey in 2005 and 18 in 2008. Here is our assessment of their current population status:"Although 18 white bass (2/gill net lift, 1/h electrofishing) were captured in 2008, they appear to still be present at numbers too low to negatively impact the native sport fishery as few changes have occurred since 2004. Furthermore, they appear to be present at similar densities as other nearby natural lakes where they are present and not considered to be at nuisance levels. For example, they were captured at a rate of one per gill net lift and one per hour of electrofishing at Lake Tippecanoe (1995). Similar catch rates have been observed at the Barbee Lakes (1997), Silver Lake (2006), Winona Lake (2007), and Pike Lake (2009). Though there may be long-term consequences to the native fish community if white bass abundance were to increase in the future, they currently provide more diversity for sport fishing and should be seen as an additional fishing resource for anglers at Lake Wawasee."I'm also pasting in a news release we issued back in 2003 when they first appeared.Thanks,Jed Pearson fisheries biologistIndiana Divisionof Fish and WildlifeLake Wawasee invaded by white bassSYRACUSE - Lake Wawasee, northern Indiana's largest natural lake, just got a little more crowded. White bass, a fish found more often in southern Indiana reservoirs, have shown up in angler catches at Wawasee for the first time this past winter, prompting concerns that they could have adverse effects on the lake's ecology. Ice-fishermen reportedly caught several 7½-inch white bass in channels at the south end of the lake. The fish were all young individuals, probably one year old, indicating adult white bass have apparently spawned there previously. There are no records that white bass were present in the lake, according to Jed Pearson, Division of Fish and Wildlife biologist. Pearson doesn't know how the white bass got into Wawasee but suspects some anglers may have caught them at other lakes and transported them to Wawasee. Catching fish from one lake and stocking them into another lake without a permit from the Division of Fish and Wildlife is illegal. "White bass are present in nearby Lake Tippecanoe and the Barbee Lakes, so someone may have caught them there and taken them to Wawasee," says Pearson. "No permit was or would have been issued for the stocking." Pearson says white bass do not occur naturally in Indiana lakes that drain into Lake Michigan, including Wawasee, but are present in several lakes that drain into the Tippecanoe and Wabash rivers. Although Pearson says white bass are popular sport fish and normally reach lengths up to 16 inches, they are predatory fish that will feed on small fish. If their population expands, they may eat enough small perch, bluegills, crappies, largemouth bass, or other sport fish to affect fishing at Lake Wawasee. "We're not sure what the long-term consequences might be," says Pearson. "It probably depends on what level of abundance they ultimately achieve." Normally white bass feed mainly on gizzard shad, a forage fish of little interest to anglers. They usually have little impact on lake ecology where shad are present. But Wawasee does not contain gizzard shad, so Pearson says white bass may compete more seriously with other sport fish in the lake. "Lake Wawasee already has a lot of predator fish, including largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and northern pike, so food could get a little scarce if white bass become abundant," says Pearson. "Hopefully many of these same predators will help keep the white bass population in check," he says.
I was hoping for a nice Perch or Walleye but it still put up a hell of a fight. Just a little east & south of where we have been fishing.
Almost forgot, are they edible?
Fry the fish and then throw them away and eat the frying pan
Agreed... Just my opinion.
Once you get a population you will have a ton of them.Catches like in the picture below are common up here on the Fox Chain in northern IL. (not my picture, pulled it from my other ice fishing site) People chase and target the white bass specifically.(Image removed from quote.)Fortunately, it is just a natural part of the fishery here, so the BIG populations of gills, crappie, perch, walleye, bass, and pike haven't been hurt. It is a chain with a few lakes, 7000+ acres, Fox River flows in up north, and flows out south in the main lake I fish.
I fished that chain a few times when I lived up there. Never did very good, but did not try to hard either. That is alot of fertilizer there, unless they eat them! LOL!
