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Kevin VanDam and his foundation were big supporters of FMD projects in 2023 .

minn kota habitat restoration

The MLF FMD does quite a bit of hands-on habitat work each season . This year was no different , with Minn Kota Habitat Restoration projects occurring while the pros competed in Stage Three at Lake Murray and General Tire Heavy Hitters at Caney Creek and Bussey Brake . The largescale projects focused on improving smaller nearby impoundments that have high recreational value .

The first project focused on South Carolina ’ s Lake Greenwood . The project originally began in 2019 , when the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources and Greenwood County Lake Management installed 300 structures on 19 sites within the 11,400-acre reservoir . Later , an additional 225 structures were provided to registered dock owners . Supported by MossBack and Mercury Marine , the MLF FMD donated 99 additional structures . BPT pros Greg Vinson , Kelly Jordon and Michael Neal helped construct and deploy the habitat at sites designated by the state , the locations of which can

PHOTO BY KANYAN KLEIN

be found on the SCDNR website .

The Louisiana project took place on Lake Claiborne , a 6,400-acre fishery currently undergoing intense management efforts . The lake had recently been restocked with 80,000 Floridastrain largemouth bass and 20,000 bluegill . Supported by Humminbird , the MLF FMD provided 80 MossBack structures to protect these newly stocked fish . Duck Dynasty star John Godwin joined volunteers Dakota Ebare , Klein and VanDam in building the habitat . That same day , they deployed the structures into small cluster sites , proving that with a motivated group of anglers , habitat restoration can be a quick process .

The contributions made during REDCREST , Heavy Hitters and Stage 3 will offer long-term benefits to those reservoirs . A new program launched in 2023 , Minn Kota Habitat Rewind , offered proof . In May , VanDam visited Alabama ’ s Duck River Reservoir , where the MLF FMD had deployed 85 fish structures in 2022 . VanDam spent a day on the water interviewing anglers , graphing the structure and , of course , catching bass . The video can be found on the MLF YouTube channel and Fisheries Management Division webpage at MajorLeagueFishing . com ( scan QR code to watch ).

Scan here to view video . state and angler partnerships

The Bass Pro Tour doesn ’ t only showcase the top anglers in the country . Since its inception , the tour has been an invaluable source of fisheries data . Across six days of competition , a BPT event can provide data equivalent to 10 years of electrofishing surveys .

The numbers are impressive . During the 2023 regular season , BPT anglers logged 13,565 scorable bass , plus an

additional 1,105 at REDCREST and 302 at Heavy Hitters . Those nearly 15,000 catches included 9,830 largemouth , 4,081 smallmouth and 1,061 Alabama / spotted bass . This data was provided to state biologists following each event . In addition , we ’ ve already logged the fish catches from the General Tire Team Series events filmed this fall and will add those to the state database once they air in 2024 .

Even more important than sheer numbers , the catch data also provides insight into advanced-size fish , which are often difficult to sample in meaningful numbers . The MLF FMD continued collecting DNA swabs from all largemouth bass weighing more than 7 pounds caught during Bass Pro Tour and Tackle Warehouse Invitationals competition . In 2023 , we totaled 62 samples from six states . That included a 7-pounder from Cayuga Lake in New York — the farthest northern fish we ’ ve ever sampled . Those samples are currently being processed at Auburn University . Once the results are in , we will publish an update online .

Our collaboration with and support of state agencies doesn ’ t end with the data we collect . Each fall , we invite biologists to attend an online day of collaboration called the MLF FMD Berkley Labs Summit . This year , the December event will showcase the findings of several research efforts . We also support the conservation efforts of anglers , such as Cliff Crochet ’ s Every Fish Matters project , and keep striving to educate the public about conservation via online content like the “ meet your biologist ” series .

Thanks to our great partners , the MLF FMD looks forward to continuing to find new ways to promote fisheries conservation in 2024 .

14 MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM | DECEMBER-JANUARY 2024