West Boggs Update.

As everybody knows, for the 3rd time, our DNR has drained and restocked to get rid of the gizzard shad that take over the lake and they do this by draining and poisoning the lake to supposedly kill everything fishy in it knowing the poison won’t penetrate the deep water that is left in the lake when drained. Last week I saw numerous schools of shad (thousands) busting the top of the water in the 2” range all over the north end as well as middle. Can I say job well done DNR in spending all that money now three times? :banghead

Unbelievable. Have they ever tried stocking wipers or any other predators there?

It’s a 625 acre lake and you can catch a few nice bluegill and crappie as they were still alive in the deep holes when,they drained the lake and survived just like the shad, when they poisoned it out 2 yrs ago and restocked. Bassfishermen are pounding it on weekends cause they can catch tons of 13 inch bass but few to no keepers yet as limit is 14” size limit. What I am not seeing or hearing about is small crappie or small gills that they stocked being caught in numbers of any. Kinda weird as not catching any numbers of small fish myself. Lake is so gin clear, makes it also difficult sometimes. Waste of time to long line with jigs or crankbaits and best way to fish it is casting the bank and cover. I am not going to waste my time on it the rest of this year. But in no way did DNR accomplish getting rid of the shad as that was their goal again for the 3rd time. And every time the shad took the lake over, they always blamed some idiotic bass fisherman for stocking the shad. :Rofl Time will tell how it all works out, but it doesn’t look good to me or other locals that have fished it that are complaining also. Too much fishing pressure this early in the game also. They should have closed it for 3 yrs to fishing after restocking. You know how Indiana is. Underpaid biologists that end up working in other states creates a quality brain drain as well as experienced minds on making qualified decisions on what is best for the fishery sometimes.

I caught some nice crappie and bluegills up there Saturday long lining. Looked like to me in areas lake turning over. Never saw any shad. But it was windy. And I was down south and west of the lake.

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Originally Posted by indianachinker

I caught some nice crappie and bluegills up there Saturday long lining. Looked like to me in areas lake turning over. Never saw any shad. But it was windy. And I was down south and west of the lake.

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We saw em at north end and in front of dam on main lake. Great to hear from you Indianachinker. There is some nice ones in the lake. Have you caught many small fish yet tho?

Been there twice this year no small fish. Except bass.

I have no idea why we are not catching small fish as The fish we are catching is not the stocked fish that DNR dumped in. Should catch a few small fish. Next year, you will catch a bunch of bass over 14” as they are growing fast.

I went out to WB play with new HDS not long after it reopened. I saw some fish on stumps and dug out a crappie rod. I was surprised to see crappie that big so soon and also the number of fish caught by others. Won't be long before the bass grow up. Lot of baby bluegill being taken to the cleaning station.

It’s only been 2 yrs since they stocked bass/ gills then crappies in oct. and the big fish everybody is catching dnr tells everybody that those are the survivors of the poisoning out. But what tweaks my mind is, how many nice crappie and gills did survive with the amounts everybody is catching as they are catching some nice fish on occasion. DNR is totally amazed how fast the bass have grown and the amount of nutrients are in the lake to support the fisherie and have no clue as to the whys. Big plus for Boggs. Hate to see the shad already back so fish it while it’s prime.

I thought they netted adult fish as they drew the lake down prior to poisoning and held those fish in rearing ponds at the hatchery at Glendale. They were supposedly put back in Boggs as it refilled. If so those are likely the adult fish you're finding.

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Originally Posted by Duckmann

I thought they netted adult fish as they drew the lake down prior to poisoning and held those fish in rearing ponds at the hatchery at Glendale. They were supposedly put back in Boggs as it refilled. If so those are likely the adult fish you're finding.

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They called on the bass clubs to fish and catch bass of which dnr kept. Then they shocked and netted all they could. Then as the lake was drawn down they saved a few more including large catfish. When the downdraw created a muddy mess they quit. But, they could not drain the lake entirely and so they spread and released the poison. We have been told by DNR the poison didn’t penetrate the deep water and knew they didn’t kill everything out. I have built 2 lakes and built them with advise from DNR and the local DNR biologist and studied their pamphlets and recommendations when building and stocking the lakes. Everything I was taught was to creat a balanced fisherie by stocking all the same size fry. What DNR did on the restocking was countermanding everything they tell you as they released all those adult fish at the same time the blue gill, bass, and catfish fry then waited until Oct to release the crappie fry. They released bass up to 8 lbs, cats 30-40 lbs and every size imaginable as well as all those fry. I guess they call that now “a balanced stocking”. It will be good fishing if everybody gives it a chance and will be good for a while. But...there is already all year this year, a ton of fishing pressure so who knows?