Indiana Smallmouth Anglers Catch Bass For Prizes

I’m gonna catch some bass, put twenty dollars in my pocket…

Hey Indiana smalljaw anglers, its time to fish the West Fork White River, Eel River and St. Joseph River looking for bass with a jaw tag form the Indiana DNR.

The Indiana Department of Natural Resources is tagging 500 legal-sized black bass on three rivers in central and northern Indiana as part of a new research project. “Black bass” includes largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass.

Anglers who catch a tagged bass can earn gift cards to Bass Pro Shop for $5, $10 or $25 by reporting their catches and returning tags to DNR researchers.

DNR biologists are tagging black bass in the West Fork White River (Madison, Hamilton and Marion counties), Eel River (Wabash, Miami and Cass counties), and St. Joseph River (St. Joseph and Elkhart counties) during late summer and fall.  Source

If you catch a bass with one of these tags, you must remove the tag and return it to the DNR. You can release or harvest the fish but to redeem the tag for a gift card to Bass Pro shops, you’ll need to do the following:

To report tagged catches, anglers must call the phone number listed on the tag (812) 287-8300 and provide the following information:

– tag number
– whether the fish was kept or released
– date of catch
– total length of fish
– approximate location of catch Source

The goal of this project is to learn about angler and fish behavior in these rivers to better manage this awesome natural resource. Since there are so many great smallmouth bass fishing opportunities in Indiana, you can get out there and have some fun, catch some smallies and possibly get a nice gift card to add some more gear to your arsenal.

If you need any gear for your ventures, please check out our partner, Tackle Warehouse.