MORE FISH FOR INDIAN LAKE!
High School Helps Restore Fish Habitat at Indian Lake as Part of the Blackbird Basin More Fish Project

COLUMBUS, OH – Upper Valley Joint Vocation School’s (UVJVS) Environmental Occupations Class is helping to improve fishing at Indian Lake’s Blackbird Basin (also known locally as Lucy’s Pond).  The Blackbird Basin More Fish Project is a large scale conservation partnering project between the Ohio Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (B.A.S.S.) Federation Nation (OBFN), UVJVS, Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Parks and Recreation, and ODNR Division of Wildlife. 

Blackbird Basin is a protected 23-acre bay on the west shoreline that provides critical habitat for bass, crappie, sunfish, catfish and other wildlife.  The effort is part of the second and final phase of the project to preserve and improve this crucial habitat.  The first phase was completed in 2009 when over 3,000 feet of riprap rock was placed to prevent erosion along the basin’s shoreline that borders the open waters of Indian Lake.

The Environmental Occupations Class has been learning about bass populations, life history, spawning and habitat requirements for the past two years in order to restore fish habitat in Blackbird Basin.  Their research culminated in the hands-on construction of Spawning, Attraction, and Fry Enhancement Structures (SAFES) that combine nesting and fish attracting habitat.  The structures can be used by bass and other gamefish for spawning in the spring and as cover the rest of the year.  The class will finish their conservation assignment by placing the SAFES in Blackbird Basin on September 10.
 
“With UVJVS involved in enhancing the bay’s habitat, the project is providing hands-on education to youth that represent our conservation future,” said Rich Carter, Fish Management Supervisor for the Division of Wildlife District 1.  “The bass anglers of the OBFN have given something back to the resource with the Blackbird Basin More Fish Project.  They helped save and restore the basin, and in doing so have preserved this precious fish and wildlife resource for future generations to enjoy”.

The OBFN received a $57,000 More Fish Partnership Fund grant from the national B.A.S.S. Federation Nation and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to complete both phases of the project.  The grant money was donated to the ONDR Divisions of Wildlife and Parks & Recreation who are providing matching dollars and/or labor to complete the project.  The donation is the largest ever given by an angling group to the ODNR. 

Read more about the project!

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