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DNR fisheries biologists Rhett Wisener and Doug Keller net and measure striped bass at Cecil M. Harden Lake.
Hoosier yellow bass
Yellow bass are the smallest true bass, rarely exceeding three quarters of a pound. Many anglers consider them bait stealing pests, but they can save a fishing trip with kids. I remember spending many boyhood hours with fellow urchins catching hundreds of yellow bass from Monroe Lake. They provided lots of scrappy action on a paper-route budget.
Yellow bass also have made Indiana a powerful piscatorial player in the world record books. Indiana anglers twice held the yellow bass world crown. For many years, a 2-pound, 4-ounce Monroe Lake specimen was the world's largest officially documented yellow bass. It recently was topped by fish from Tennessee and Oklahoma.
But last Nov. 4, Jim Raymer of Greenfield, Ind. hauled in a 2-pound, 15-ounce yellow bass while fishing for crappie at Morse Reservoir in Hamilton County. Raymer's fish not only clobbered the existing Indiana yellow bass size record, his catch also shattered the existing 2-pound, 9-ounce world record.
Local bait shops and district fisheries biologists are good sources for local true bass fishing tips. Phone numbers for biologists as well as true bass fishing regulations and public fishing access sites are in the free DNR Fishing Guide, available in most tackle or bait stores, or by calling 317-232-4080.
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