A fishing tournament hosted on Saturday, Apr. 2 by the Eastern Kentucky Tournament Trail was also the launch study into the genetics of bass in Paintsville Lake aimed at improving the quality of fish in the lake, according to a statement from EKYTT Boardmember Jason Kinner.

Kinner said representatives from Major League Fishing administered the genetic tests.

According to Kinner, there is evidence that there has long been a portion of the lake’s largemouth bass that contain genetics from Florida, which is different from that of the predominant species in our region’s lakes, the Northern Largemouth Bass and has been known to hybridize with the Florida Largemouth Bass, creating a species referred to by sport fisherman as the F1.

“A group of volunteers spent hours today diligently collecting length, girth, weight and a swab sample from the tongue of each bass weighed in today on EKYTT,” Kinner said. “Our goal was to collect 50 DNA samples today. 54 boats (more than 100 guys) showed up in 27 degree blast off temperatures. A bunch of guys who care about improving our local fishing opportunities. We sampled 97 fish. Our hope is to establish a baseline for Florida genetics already present in our local lakes. Studies continue to prove that increasing the percentage of Florida Largemouth genetics could potentially improve the quality of catch in Paintsville Lake.”

There is evidence that supports Kinner and the rest of EKYTT’s claim that the lake might already contain that DNA, according to Kinner.

“We are affecting positive change in our community, we are using science to prove our theory. We have conducted extensive research and spoken to biologists across the country,” Kinner said. “Just this week we discovered that the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Reserves had data from 1988 through 1991 and around 2000 that confirmed the existing presence of Florida genetics in resorvoirs in KY, with a higher percentage in riverine data.  We found that the state had broodstocks in hatcheries tainted with Florida Largemount Bass genetics, so we are not proposing to introduce something new, the genetics are here, we just want to jumpstart them again.”

The plan would see the lake’s existing bass population bolstered by the already hybrid F1s, which Kinner said would improve the fishing at the lake and provide a real benefit to the local economy. Kinner said the event featured 54 boats carrying more than 100 anglers and Rob McCann, an AP Environmental Science teacher from Harrison County High School came to help with the genetic testing, alongside other biologists from around the country.

McCann said the F1s they planned to introduce were more aggressive and grow faster than the Northern Largemouth variety, which was helpful in many ways, including keeping pest fish populations down and being at a fishable size much sooner.

“It grows two to two and a half pounds a year, so you’re looking at a five-pound bass in two years, which is pretty cool. I think every kid’s dream is to hook a five-pound bass,” McCann said.

According to Kinner, if the project can establish a baseline of just 5 percent of the existing bass in the lake to be Florida Largemouth Bass, then the fishery can be supplemented with those F1s to bring those genetics up to 50-percent and effect the sort of positive change EKYTT is looking for, after being told in January that introducing these types of fish wasn’t a viable plan for the lake.

“We were told in January that we could not risk introducing new genetic material in to our pure northern population,” Kinner said. “Our theory, based on the research in other states, Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina and Kansas was that we do not have a pure northern population. To the surprise of the states mentioned they found no pure northern populations in their states and we assumed the same to be true here.

“This far north we cannot stock pure Floridas — studies have shown a 48 percent mortality rate, but some make it and did to taint these populations,” Kinner said. “Largemouth Bass are the most sought after game fish in North America, currently billions of dollars are being spent in efforts across the country to grow state record and potential world record bass due to the return on investment. Currently in Eastern Kentucky, Tourism is one of the quickest ways for us to create economic impact. We have the lakes, we just need to stock the fish.  Currently American Sportfish and other hatcheries are creating an F1 which is 50 percent FLMB/50 percent NLMB.”

According to Kinner, these fish have been selectively bred for fast growth (potentially 2 pounds per year) and aggressiveness. Smith Mountain Lake is very comparable to Paintsville Lake geographically and in terms of climate.  SML is experiencing amazing results after stocking F1s and running the lake that 50/50 ratio, growth rates that are 80 percent larger. Of the 97 fish sampled Saturday at Paintsville, only one was more than four pounds — but that could change drastically with this project if successful, much as it has at Smith Mountain, where the percentage of fish exceeding that weight jumped from two percent to more than 13 percent after a similar project was done.

“If this works, it can be a gamechanger for small East KY man made impoundments,” Kinner said. “I served on a steering committee and an overwhelming majority of Johnson County residents support improvements to Paintsville Lake.”

Major League Fishing Fisheries Biologist Steven Bardin said the project was a major step forward for efforts such as these around the nation, which will see local fisherman take ownership over their conservation efforts and stewardship of their local fisheries.

“For MLF Fisheries Management Division, the Paintsville Lake DNA collection projects represents a monumental step in angler driven stewardship and conservation efforts,” Bardin said. “Small impoundments like Paintsville offer unique challenges because their size allows environmental changes to quickly impact recreational opportunity. Their size also offers unique opportunities for success as communities can scale up projects that will show a positive result. The MLF-FMD sees this project as a blue print for numerous projects across the nation.”

Kinner offered thanks for the combined help of so many local fishing enthusiasts that helped make the event possible and protect the fish that were used for the sample collection.

“Thanks to Ethan Pelphrey, Rick Daniel, Bryan Frazier and Chris Ferguson. They took every precaution to ensure fish care and handling of fish and releasing. They brought some of the Casting for Kids equipment to care for and maintain fish. Thank you guys so much,” Kinner said, also giving thanks for the help of the biologists that are throwing their hats in on the study. “I also have to give a huge shoutout to Aquatic Biologist Sarah Parvin for sharing their research and in being an inspiration by doing so. Aaron Fewell has been a stump of knowledge and we can’t thank him enough for his time and expertise. Guys like Aaron love what they do, and their passion and willingness to listen to our circumstances can never be appreciated enough. I have found biologists across the country to be an awesome group, they are energetic and willing to help.”

Kinner said that the tournament was a huge step forward for Eastern Kentucky anglers.