PRESS RELEASE – June 15, 2005

OBCF & ODNR LAUNCH BASS “SHIP” ON AUGUST 27

The Ohio B.A.S.S. Chapter Federation (OBCF) and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife (DOW) recently finalized plans for the Buckeye Lake Spawning Habitat Improvement Partnership (SHIP), a large-scale conservation-partnering project between the two groups and Buckeye Lake State Park.  The pilot program will determine the feasibility of enhancing largemouth bass spawning habitat with artificial nesting boxes.  The project can be used to meet your clubs conservation and youth requirements.

Project Details

OBCF and DOW will construct One hundred artificial structures on Saturday, August 27, 2005, beginning at 8:30 a.m.  The construction phase of the project will take place at the Fairfield Beach area on Buckeye Lake (location details to follow).   The completed nesting boxes will be placed in Buckeye Lake ahead of the bass spawning season on March 4, 2006.  

Bass School! ,  August 27

In addition to the primary goal of benefiting bass fishing, another project goal is educating OBCF youth participants on the importance of habitat, conservation, and boating safety, as well as the latest in techniques to catch Ohio basses.  Youth can attend the following educational seminars at Bass School!:

·        Bass Biology and Habitat – Learn the bass life cycle and the importance of habitat to bass.

·        Watershed Protection – Learn the role of watershed protection in protecting fish populations.

·        Boating Safety – Learn safe boating operation.

·        Advanced Angling – Central Ohio BASS circuit professionals and top OBCF anglers will provide tips on improving bass angling skills.  Anglers scheduled to appear include Wes Kemper, Ray Craig, Todd Thompson and Karl Guegold, a 2003 Bassmaster Classic Contender.

The seminars will be conducted during the nesting box construction phase of the project on Saturday, August 27, 2005 starting at 9:00 a.m.   All youth participants will receive a Bass School! Certificate.

Comments and Additional Information

“OBCF was interested in developing a project that would provide a meaningful conservation experience to adult and youth members that could be used by multiple clubs,” said Rich Carter, OBCF SHIP chairperson.  “We brought the idea to Scott Hale, Fisheries Biologist and Supervisor of DOW’s Inland Fishery Research Unit.  Scott suggested that OBCF consider a spawning habitat improvement project on Buckeye Lake, where continued shoreline development has reduced the amount of spawning habitat during the past 20 years.” 

Scott Hale commented, “this project combines the experience and manpower of OBCF membership, biological insights from the DOW and cooperation of Buckeye Lake State Park to allow project partners to experiment with a large-scale habitat manipulation to improve bass fisheries.  Habitat is at the top of the list of factors critical to sustaining strong bass populations and that fact alone makes this worth a try.”

  The idea for these spawning structures was borrowed from Doug Henley, Fisheries Biologist with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources.  Henley tested the structures in a small lake and found bass receptive to them.  He then tried the structures in the Ohio River, where habitat problems have long compromised bass reproduction.  Although early reports indicate that the spawning structures may not work as well as hoped in the Ohio River, Henley’s efforts suggested that this approach may be boost bass reproduction in reservoirs where water levels are less variable.

OBCF and DOW decided to test the structures at Buckeye Lake for reasons related to the fisheries, habitat and logistics.  OBCF members reported variable fishing success over the years and believe that this might be related to spawning success.  Development of the shoreline has reduced habitat in some locations of the lake, suggesting that Buckeye Lake bass might benefit from supplemental habitat.  Another plus was the central location of lake, which allows more OBCF members to conveniently participate.

The Division of Wildlife will monitor the bass population over the next several years using standardized electrofishing surveys to assess and track the population each spring.  These results may complement tournament information that OBCF plans to keep track of during this time.

Each nesting box will be constructed using half of a plastic 35-gallon plastic drum that has the front and back walls removed to provide fish access to a gravel spawning substrate placed in the bottom of the drum. A landscape timber is inserted into the upper portion of the two remaining walls that is used for transporting the box. Each nesting box will weigh between 50 and 75 pounds once constructed.

Further Information

For further information regarding SHIP and Bass School!, please contact Rich Carter by e-mail at lrcarter@sprintmail.com or phone at (614) 481-9234.  Youth clubs wishing to be involved may contact Doug Clifford at youth@ohiobass.org or phone at (740) 342-1766.  Questions to DOW may be directed to Scott Hale at scott.hale@dnr.state.oh.us or phone at (740) 928-7034 extension 224.