1996 BAIT Report
B.A.I.T.
Bass Anglers Information Team
1996 Annual Report
by
Stanley F. Cook and James J. McHugh
Alabama Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries
INTRODUCTION
The printing of the 1996 B.A.I.T. annual report marks the eleventh year of the B.A.I.T. program. The objective of the program since its inception has been to gather information on bass populations by combining the efforts of bass club members and state fisheries scientists. The B.A.I.T. program summarizes catch data already being collected by participating clubs on reservoir bass populations. These results are used by state fisheries scientists in combination with data from other sources as a basis for fisheries management decisions. Bass anglers use the report to establish future tournament sites or to locate a reservoir that provides a particular type of fishing action.
Through 1996, we have summarized 4,641 tournament reports. More than 150 clubs participated through the first eleven years of the program. B.A.I.T. team anglers have spent 1,178,078 hours collecting data for this program. They have contributed data from 282,171 bass that weighed 472,581 pounds.
METHODS
Every year we attempt to maintain the support of the previous year's clubs and to enlist the support of new clubs through news releases and letters. Participating club officers or tournament directors are sent the previous year' s annual report, with tournament report postcards to be completed following each tournament. Clubs are assigned individual numbers to insure confidentiality. As tournament cards are received, they are checked for accuracy and entered into a computer database. Club officers are contacted when data are suspected to be erroneous. We compile and analyze the data following receipt of December tournament reports. Statewide tournament results are sorted by reservoir and by club.
To rank reservoirs, five "fishing quality" indicators were used: percent of successful anglers (percent of anglers with one or more bass at weigh-in), bass average weight, number of bass per angler-day, pounds of bass per angler-day, and hours required to catch a bass five pounds or larger. Since the length of a fishing day varies between tournaments, an angler-day is defined as 10 hours of fishing effort. A minimum of five tournaments for an individual reservoir is considered necessary for minimum confidence in each reservoir dataset. Reservoirs with five or more tournament reports are ranked for each of the quality indicators. Values are assigned to each rank and an overall rank is determined for each reservoir by summing the values of the five quality indicators. This ranking system is intended to be a quick reference for club tournament site selection. It does not constitute a "best and worst" list of Alabama reservoirs and should not be interpreted that way.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Bass clubs submitted 493 tournament reports during 1996, down slightly from last year's 530 reports. Club representatives did an excellent job filling out the cards and few reports were rejected due to incomplete or erroneous information. Fifty-eight clubs or tournament organizations provided data in 1996. One-hundred-and-eighty-one reports from Alabama waters were received from Dr. Carl Quertermus of West Georgia College, who summarizes tournament data from the Georgia B.A.S.S. Federation. Without his support and the support of the Georgia Federation, several northeast Alabama reservoirs would not have been well represented in the quality indicator rankings (Table 2). Once again we must stress that reports from more locations increase the capability of the summaries to reflect actual fish population conditions and not just a good or poor day's fishing by one or two clubs.
In 1996, tournament reports were received for 30 bodies of water that were fished 130,930 hours. B.A.I.T. anglers caught 29,477 bass (12 inches and larger) that weighed 52,079 pounds (Table 1). A total of 494 bass five pounds and larger were reported for an overall catch rate of one 5 pound or larger bass for every 265 hours of fishing (virtually unchanged from last year's 267 hours). The number of bass over 8.0 pounds declined from 18 in 1995 to 11 in 1996 (Table 5). The largest bass weighed 9.66 pounds and was caught in Bankhead Reservoir on the Warrior River. Although Bankhead usually is rated in the middle of the group, as it was in 1996, it reported more bass (73) 5 pounds and larger to B.A.I.T. than any other reservoir. The Uniroyal Goodrich Bass Anglers of Opelika repeated their 1995 feat of placing two fish on our big bass list ('Table 5). in 1995 their two big fish were caught in West Point, a reservoir well known for big bass. But in 1996 they decided to do it the hard way, catching one big bass in Harris and the other in Martin.
Statewide catch rates in 1996 for number and pounds of fish were similar to rates recorded since 1993 (Figure 1). Thirteen lakes improved ill overall fishing success, eleven lakes recorded declines and six lakes remained about the same (Appendix A). Except for Demopolis Reservoir, declines were probably caused by natural fluctuations in bass abundance and size structure.
Of the fifty-eight clubs or tournament organizations that submitted data during 1996, 30 submitted five or more tournament reports, down from last year at 32. Thirteen clubs submitted 10 or more reports, down slightly from last yearns 16 (Table 3). livery year, lack of full reporting by some clubs remains a limiting factor in this program. Nineteen contributors submitted only one report. All club representatives should understand that every tournament report is important if this program is to continue to he successful. A list of clubs contributing tournament results for the l 996 B.A.I.'I'. report is presented in Table 4.
More tournament reports were received from West Point (50) than from any other location. Guntersville (41) and Weiss (38) followed in second and third. Bankhead, Eufaula, Harris, Lay, Logan Martin, Martin, Millers Ferry and Neely l Henry each had 20 or more tournament reports (Table 1). Distribution of tournament reports across reservoirs improved in 1996. Eleven lakes were represented by 20 or more reports in 1996, whereas, only 10 were represented in 1995. A good distribution of reports provides more representative catch statistics from which meaningful summaries can be prepared.
Of the 30 reservoirs from which reports were received, 23 (77%) had five or more tournament reports (Table 1). The following comments deal with these 23 reservoirs, which are ranked by quality indicators in Table 2. The percent of successful anglers (those with one or more fish) ranged from 41 at Eufaula to 90 at Weiss. The average weight of bass caught ranged from 1.27 at Harris (13-16 inch slot limit) to 3.02 at Eufaula (16-inch size limit). The statewide average weight was 1.81 pounds; approximately the same since 1989. Catch rates expressed as bass per angler-day ranged from 0.94 at Eufaula to 3.50 at Millers Ferry. Catch rate as pounds per angler-day ranged from 2.76 at Warrior to 6.10 at Jordan.
Overall, Weiss accumulated more quality-indicator points than any other reservoir in Alabama, replacing Jones Bluff from last year. Millers Ferry placed second and Jordan came in third. Readers should note that the primary intent of Table 2 is not to determine the overall "best" reservoir, but to characterize the fishery of each reservoir. For example, look at the rankings for Bankhead. It produces high numbers of large bass but relatively low pounds per angler-day. Pounds per angler-day is the most important quality indicator at tournament weigh-ins. Is Bankhead a lake to consider fishing in 1997? It depends on your point of view. If you seek big fish, you should certainly consider Bankhead near the top of your list. However, it may not be the lake to fish if you seek good numbers of fish or a high percent success.
As more bass populations are managed with length limits in our state, the effects of these restrictions on harvest are expressed in the results of the B.A.I.T. report. Length limits are imposed to increase the number of fish below a minimum length or within a specified length range (slot limit). Because all minimum lengths and length ranges will be above the 12-inch limit fished in most tournaments, they will reduce the total harvest in numbers and pounds. However, those fish weighed in will be larger (longer) by virtue of the minimum length or slot limit. In the B.A.I.T report, length limit lakes will always rank high for average weight and near the bottom for percent success, bass per anglerday, and pounds per angler-day. For instance, bass per angler-day averages 2.25 statewide but is roughly half of that at West Point, Guntersville and Eufaula. Average weight, statewide in 1996 was 1.77 pounds for all 30 reservoirs but at Wilson, Demopolis, Guntersville, West Point and Eufaula average weight was well over 2.0 pounds. The average weight of bass 12 inches and longer has not increased in these populations. The average weights are higher only because the fish weighed in are longer.
Length limits remained in effect during 1996 on Eufaula and West Point (16-inch minimum), Wilson and Guntersville (15-inch minimum), Demopolis (14-inch minimum) Pickwick (14-inch minimum on smallmouth), and Harris and Smith (13 to 16-inch slot). All quality indicators were relatively stable at Guntersville during the third year of the 15inch minimum length limit. Quality indicators have stabilized at Eufaula following the installation of the 16-inch limit. Wilson showed a positive response to the length limit, in that bass and pounds per angler-day improved in 1996. Demopolis revealed characteristic signs after the first year of a 14-inch length limit. Bass per angler-day declined, average weight increased and pounds per angler-day remained stable. Quality indicators improved at Harris during the third year of the slot, this is the first year indicators have shown a positive response. Smith' s bass population showed improvements in bass and pounds per angler-day while average weight decreased. This is expected during the early years of a slot limit.
Graphs in Appendix A provide you with a historical record of how your favorite waters have performed in the B.A.I.T. program since 1986. A few words of caution, these graphs are not restricted to bodies of water with five or more tournaments. Data points for some years may be represented by only one tournament or completely absent in some cases. However, those situations are restricted to those water bodies that generally have not been included in the quality indicator rankings. Secondly, when comparing water bodies, be aware that the scale on the vertical axes have maximum ranges that vary. You can use these graphs to predict 1997 fishing by looking for trends. For instance, Bankhead, Harris, Jordan, Logan Martin, Pickwick, Smith, Weiss and Wilson showed improvements in fishing quality indicators in 1996. Noticeable declines in fishing quality were seen at Harding, Little Bear, Tuscaloosa and Warrior.
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