The Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) East Fork State Fish Hatchery recently completed annual striped bass and hybrid striped bass stockings. More than 78,000 striped bass fingerlings and 146,000 hybrid striped bass fingerlings were added to 12 lakes around the state. The stocked fish averaged 1–2 inches in length.

The breakdown of stockings of striped and hybrid striped bass by lake, with the respective counties listed in parentheses, was as follows: Worster Lake (St. Joseph) – 3,270 hybrids, Cedar Lake (Lake) – 7,810 hybrids, Lake Shafer (White) – 12,910 hybrids, Nyona Lake (Fulton) – 1,040 hybrids, Lake Freeman (Carroll and White) – 15,470 hybrids, Clare Lake (Huntington) – 420 hybrids, Shadyside Park Lake (Madison) – 1,000 hybrids, M. Harden Lake (Parke) – 20,600 striped bass, Brookville Lake (Union and Franklin) – 46,667 striped bass, Lake (Monroe and Brown) – 53,750 hybrids, Hardy Lake (Scott) – 1,000 striped bass and 7,000 hybrids and Patoka Lake (Dubois, Crawford, and Orange) – 10,000 striped bass and 44,000 hybrids.

Indiana anglers can look forward to continued quality striped and hybrid striped bass fishing opportunities in the coming years as a result of the stockings. To learn more about striped and hybrid striped bass fishing, visit bit.ly/striped-hybrid-bass-fishing.

New accessible trail at McCormick’s Creek State Park

Echo Canyon Trail, an addition to McCormick’s Creek State Park’s trail system, is now open for guests to enjoy. The new trail, which is adjacent to the park’s Centennial Shelter, is a short loop with a natural, firm and stable surface, and gradual slopes, allowing guests with limited mobility to enjoy views of Echo Canyon. The loop provides an accessible path along Echo Canyon with two accessible overlooks featuring excellent views of McCormick’s Creek Falls. A short branch of the trail, Redbud Connector, connects the loop to Redbud Shelter and the park’s Nature Center.

Funding for the project was provided as a part of the legislative appropriation of deferred maintenance dollars for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Additional support came from the Owen County Community Foundation-McCormick’s Creek State Park Fund.

“This trail provides a great opportunity for everyone to enjoy the sights and sounds of the canyon at our first state park,” said Indiana State Parks director Terry Coleman. “We are grateful for the funding to complete this project and for the work our Indiana State Parks team did with the Indiana Department of Administration and Spectrum Trail Design to make it a reality.”

The addition of the Redbud Connector increases the total number of miles now open for hiking at McCormick’s Creek from 7.1 to approximately 7.5 miles, more than double what was available immediately after the March 2023 tornado.

Closures remain on trails 5, 6, 7, and 10. Trail 8 remains partially closed. Crews continue to work on clearing them. For safety, guests should respect closure signs and not use the trails.

For more information on McCormick’s Creek’s other features, please visit on.IN.gov/mccormickscreek. For updates on the tornado recovery efforts please visit on.IN.gov/mccormicks-recovery.

Crawfish frog recovery at Angel Mounds

This spring, DNR herpetologists began a multi-year project to recover state-endangered crawfish frogs at Angel Mounds State Historic Site in Evansville. A large crawfish frog population historically occurred at Angel Mounds, but the frogs died out during the 1980s from unknown causes. A habitat suitability study funded by the Indianapolis Zoo recently determined Angel Mounds continues to harbor quality grassland habitat and high densities of crayfish burrows – a critical habitat feature for this burrow-dwelling frog.

During March and April, DNR herpetologists collected crawfish frog egg masses from a large Greene County population and relocated them to Angel Mounds to re-establish the frogs on site. Eggs were placed within protective cages in the original crawfish frog breeding pond until the eggs hatched about two weeks later. Herpetologists are monitoring wetland levels and the tadpoles’ development until the tadpoles metamorphose into small frogs, which typically happens in June and July.

After metamorphosing and leaving the pond, the young crawfish frogs take up residence in a small burrow built by a species of terrestrial burrowing crayfish. Crawfish frogs spend much of their lives at their burrows, resting on the surface near the entrance, or down inside it where they are protected from predators and weather extremes. While the burrows may be located several hundred meters from surface water, they run deep enough to reach the water table, giving the frogs access to moisture during hot summer months.

Crawfish frogs take two to three years to reach sexual maturity, meaning the frogs moved to Angel Mounds this spring will not return to the pond from where they hatched to mate until 2026. During this two-year waiting period, the frogs will mature and reach up to 4 inches in body length, making them one of the state’s largest frogs. In the meantime, the DNR plans to move additional egg masses to supplement the local population during the spring of 2025.

Crawfish frog recovery at Angel Mounds has involved a multi-partner collaboration with the DNR Division of Fish & Wildlife, Indiana State Museum, site director Mike Linderman, and Evansville resident Mike Lodato, who documented the Angel Mounds crawfish frog population crash in the 1980s. DNR herpetologists are currently working under a conservation grant from the Indianapolis Zoo to identify other recovery sites for this rare species in Southwest Indiana.

Readers can contact the author by writing to this publication or e-mail Jack at jackspaulding1971@outlook.com

Spaulding’s books, “The Best Of Spaulding Outdoors” and “The Coon Hunter And The Kid,” are available from Amazon.com as a paperback or Kindle download.