Lake Hartwell Fish Attractors - Habitat Enhancement

In South Carolina, a significant habitat enhancement project on Lake Hartwell attracts anglers from across the region.

Largemouth Bass

In 2014, after a feasibility study and funding procurement, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) began Lake Hartwell habitat enhancement efforts.

The Lake Hartwell enhancement efforts have two main objectives:

1) provide cover for various sizes of fish; and

2) fish concentration sites for anglers.

Through 2021, SCDNR has enhanced eight areas with about 105 concrete culverts/structures, 1,300 stumps, 560 tons of broken concrete slabs, 180 tons of riprap, five tons of pea gravel, 120 PVC artificial fish attractors, 150 bamboo fish attractors, 815 trees cut/cabled from the shoreline and 1,200 maidencane plants.

Lake Hartwell is listed as a Top 100 Bass Lake in America. The lake has hosted the Bassmaster Classic three times: 2018, 2015 and 2008. The 2018 Classic, with fishing on Hartwell and weigh-ins and Expo in Greenville, set a record attendance of 143,323. It’s been topped twice since.

source: South Carolina Department of Natural Resources

Toledo Bend Reservoir - Best Bass Lake 2016

Bassmaster Magazine recently named Toledo Bend Reservoir the "Best Bass Lake" in the nation for the second year in a row.

This is the first time a fishery has held Bassmaster's number one spot for more than one year.

Since 2012, the magazine has published the annual 100 best bass lakes in the country; Toledo Bend Reservoir has placed within the top 15 every year.

The Toledo Bend Lake Association provides replicas to sportsmen who land bass 10 pounds or larger and release the fish back into the lake alive. Replicas are awarded every June.

In 2015, the fishery produced 81 verified fish over 10 pounds. During the 2016 lunker year, running from June 2015 through May 2016, the number of replicas awarded nearly doubled to 139 double-digit bass.

Toledo Bend Lake straddles the Louisiana and Texas border, and lake management is the responsibility of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

These agencies, in addition to various local organizations, have released more than 28 million Florida-strain largemouth fingerlings into the reservoir.

source: Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries

Lake Mattamuskeet Fish Habitat

A wide range of habitat enhancement, fisheries research, and other projects on Lake Mattamuskeet could improve fishing on the lake for largemouth bass and other species.

A multi-year habitat enhancement project on Lake Mattamuskeet is set to begin in 2016. Partners in the project include the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and UNC-Chapel Hill researchers.

The research project will focus on maintaining submerged aquatic vegetation in the east basin of the lake and examining the potential to increase coverage of aquatic vegetation in the west basin.

Previously, the N.C Wildlife Commission conducted annual electrofishing and trap netting surveys in the main lake and surrounding canals to describe abundance, size, condition, and growth of largemouth bass, black crappie, and other sportfish.

A tagging program evaluated adult largemouth bass movement within and between lake and canal habitats.

Lake Mattamuskeet was stocked with 45,000 largemouth bass fingerlings in 2014 and 70,000 in 2015 as part of a multi-year largemouth bass enhancement study.

Numerous angler surveys found that blue crab, channel catfish, black crappie, white perch, and largemouth bass were the top five species targeted.

Fisheries management plans for 2016 include an additional stocking of 50,000 largemouth bass fingerlings as well as the implementation of a largemouth bass movement project to track the movements of individual adult fish as they move in and out the canals.

Located within Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge, Lake Mattamuskeet is North Carolina’s largest natural lake (40,100 acres). Lake Mattamuskeet fish include both freshwater and estuarine species because of the drainage canals that connect the lake to Pamlico Sound.

source: North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission

Delaware Largemouth Bass Stocking

Approximately 4,700 largemouth bass fingerlings were stocked in Records Pond near Laurel, Delaware during 2013. DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife undertook the stocking project to help restore the pond’s largemouth bass population.

In the fall of 2012, an unknown number of largemouth bass were washed downstream when the water level was lowered to protect the pond dam in preparation for Hurricane Sandy.

Spring surveys of the pond found low numbers of largemouth bass, so the Division of Fish and Wildlife is requesting that anglers practice catch-and-release through 2014 to allow the population time to re-establish.

Bluegill and golden shiners were stocked last fall in an effort to boost the pond’s fish community and provide forage for predatory fish such as bass and crappie.

source: Delaware DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife

North Carolina "Keep Bass Alive" Cards

The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission recently announced the availability of a “Keeping Bass Alive” card, suitable for downloading and printing. The new document provides tips for both recreational and tournament anglers.

The card can be downloaded at: http://www.ncwildlife.org/Portals/0/News/documents/Keep_Bass_Alive_Card.pdf

More information on keeping bass alive, including the B.A.S.S.-produced publication, “Keeping Bass Alive: A Guidebook for Tournament Bass Anglers and Organizers,” is available on the Commission’s website, www.ncwildlife.org/fishing.

source: North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission

Lake Norman Hybrid Bass

In North Carolina, Lake Norman has experienced an increase in spotted bass populations. According to the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, introductions of spotted bass into the 32,475 acre reservoir may have been undertaken by well-intentioned anglers who want to "improve the bass fishery." Fishery managers discourage such measures, noting that introductions of non-native fish into waters where they are not found can have unintended effects.

According to biologists, spotted bass often compete with other black basses and alter their genetics when they interbreed. In some areas, spotted bass can replace a largemouth bass fishery. Kin Hodges, a biologist with the Commission’s Division of Inland Fisheries, warned against private introductions of fish into state waters, saying:

"... we run the risk of seeing diminished black bass fisheries in the future unless anglers quit moving spotted bass into new lakes where they frequently have negative impacts on the existing populations of largemouth or smallmouth bass."

According to the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, the stocking of fish in public waters of North Carolina without a valid stocking permit is illegal.

source: N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission

Middle River Largemouth Bass Tagging Program

Anglers fishing on the Middle River in Maryland should be on the lookout for tagged largemouth bass. In the fall of 2011, Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Inland Fisheries biologists along with volunteers from the Maryland Bass Federation Nation released 250 largemouth bass in Middle River as part of the state's bass fishing enhancement program.

DNR staff inserted red identification tags into 200 of the fish as part of a study to find out if the bass remain in the river. Any angler who catches a tagged fish and provides the date and location along with the tag number to DNR will earn a collectable Largemouth Bass Program Volunteer hat. The DNR Bass Program return address is printed on the tag along with the four-digit code. Anglers may also call Joe Love with the information at 410-260-8257.

This is the third consecutive year that DNR has released adult, 4- to 12-inch largemouth bass in Middle River. This year, approximately twenty percent of the fish came from the State’s Joseph Manning Hatchery in the Cedarville State Forest near Brandywine. The rest of the fish came from a Maryland-certified commercial hatchery in Arkansas.

For more information on the program, visit dnr.maryland.gov/fisheries/bass/

Spring Bass Fishing Techniques

spring largemouth bass

During spring, anglers enjoy excellent fishing for members of the black bass family. Black bass, including largemouth, smallmouth, spotted bass and other species feed aggressively in spring, in preparation for spawning.

In parts of North America, bass adapt their feeding patterns in spring, as forage species become available. In some habitats, fish species migrate into spring habitats almost overnight, causing bass to follow.

In spawning areas, bass may eat the spawning species, or feed on minnows or other fish that arrive to feast on fish eggs. Bass in these areas are in ambush mode, and will attack small spinnerbaits, jigs, soft plastics, or other lures that imitate minnows and other small fish.

Bass can act strangely during the spring. For example, bass are sometimes seen very close to the water's edge, preying on sunfish, crayfish and other species that hide among shoreline vegetation, tree branches or other obstructions. These fish can be targeted with senko type worms, top water plugs or other shallow water lures.

In shallow areas bordered by drop offs, lily pads (spadderdock) begin to appear and bass quickly begin patrolling these areas. As lily pad beds expand, micro-communities thrive. The lily pad community food chain begins tiny insects and invertebrates, followed by minnows, sunfish, perch, frogs and other forage species. As the season progresses these areas become important feeding areas for largemouth and other bass species.

Fishing these areas requires weedless lures which imitate natural inhabitants. Good choices for fishing around lily pads include senko worms, texas worm rigs, buzz baits, soft plastic frogs and weedless spoons.