By JACK SPAULDING
Spaulding Outdoors 

A new Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) partnership will build fish habitat in reservoirs where natural structure is lacking. The Reservoir Aquatic Habitat Enhancement Program (RAHEP) will start in the winter of 2016 with improvements at Sullivan Lake, a 451-acre reservoir in Sullivan County.

Partners in the program include Jones and Sons Concrete, Bass Unlimited, Sullivan County Parks and Sullivan County Jail. Inmates from the Sullivan County Jail will cut lumber for fish cribs. The structures are made from green poplar and look like a small log cabin, creating refuge for fish. Inmates will work with Sullivan County Parks and Lake staff personnel during winter to prepare materials and assist with the building.

Other structures will include brush piles, Georgia Cubes (a PVC cube with corrugated pipe wound inside) and black bass nesting platforms. Jones and Sons in Bloomfield has donated 200 concrete blocks. Bass Unlimited, a nonprofit angling group based in Terre Haute, has pledged materials and volunteers to help with structure construction. "Because Bass Unlimited is funded by anglers and conservationists, it is a natural fit to partner with Indiana DNR and assist in this type of project," President Wil Newlin said.

He believes the new program will enhance aquatic biodiversity and therefore improve recreational fishing experiences, which is part of the Bass Unlimited mission. Sullivan Lake was chosen as the program’s first lake because it holds little aquatic vegetation and has been awarded a grant for shoreline stabilization project through the Indiana Lakes and Rivers Enhancement Program.

"There are a lot of positive things going on at Sullivan Lake, and these improvements will make fishing better," said Sandy Clark-Kolaks, DNR southern fisheries research biologist. "We hope to put more than 100 structures into Sullivan Lake in 2016, and it will take many hands to build them all."

Most of Indiana’s reservoirs were built in the 1950s and ’60s. Over the years, the trees, logs and roots providing cover for fish have degraded and decomposed. On a date yet to be determined, anglers and the general public may help on the project on a workday in the spring of 2016. Volunteers will likely help assemble structures from ready materials.

Raccoon State Recreation Area (SRA) will host a trapper education course on Nov. 7-8. The course is taught by members of the Indiana State Trappers Assoc. (ISTA) and DNR Law Enforcement’s conservation officers.

The course will take place at the property office from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. both days, and students must attend both days. The Indiana Trapper Education and Safety course will prepare students for safe and successful furbearer trapping experiences.

The course provides information about trap selection, preparation and maintenance, furbearer biology, scouting for furbearer signs and fur handling. Rules and regulations, safety, sportsmanship, ethics and making successful trap sets for land and water will also be covered. The course will offer demonstrations and hands-on experiences. Lunch will be provided by the ISTA both days. Registration is online at https://register-ed.com/events/view/68282?

For more information, call Stu Grell of the ISTA at 765-572-2207. Raccoon SRA is located at 1588 S. Raccoon Parkway, Rockville, IN 47872.

Reynolds Creek Gamebird Habitat Area in Porter County has two units available for waterfowl hunting. The units will be included in the daily draw at the Kingsbury Fish & Wildlife Area check station at 4:30 a.m. Central Time.

There will be one party (2-3 hunters per party) per unit, with hunts offered on Sundays and Wednesdays only. Shooting times will be one-half hour before sunrise to 1 p.m. In addition to all state and federal regulations, hunters are limited to 25 shot-shells per hunter per day.

For details, call the Kingsbury office at 219-393-3612. Office hours are Monday-Friday, 7:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Central.