A total of 3,174 native fish of 29 species was tagged and released in Bayou D'Arbonne during the spring and summer of 1963. The distance and direction of movement of captured fish were recorded before inundation and ag,ain ,after the flooding of the 15,000-acre impoundment, D'Arbonne Lake, in January 1964. Of the 57 tagged fish returned before inundation, 54 were recaptured in the same locaJtion. One fish moved upstream for a distance of 3.3 miles and two fish moved downstream for ,an ,average distance of 6.8 miles. After the lake was filled, the fish exhibited extensive movements and only 11 percent of the returns occurred in release areas. Thirty-three of the 84 fish recaptured in the lake moved toward the headwaters while 35 fish moved toward the spillway. A total of 4.4 percent of the n,ative fish tagged were recovered. Tagged hatchery reared bluegill, Lepomis macrochirus; largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides; channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus; ,and black crappie, Pomoxis nigromaculatus numbering 9,173 individuals were stocked in D'Arbonne Lake. The direction and distance of movement of these fish were also recorded. Sixty-one hatchery reared fish (0.7 percent) were recovered from the lake. Largemouth bass showed an upstream movement while 50 to 54 percent of the bluegill and channel catfish showed no movement. No tagged black crappIe were recovered. A determination of the number of fish release sites necessary for stocking large impoundments was a primary objective.
