John J. Ney

We described seasonal movements of smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) in Lake Moomaw, a 1,024-ha western Virginia impoundment, using ultrasonic telemetry in combination with a mark-recapture tagging study. Documentation of lake sections occupied over the course of a 2-year period was used to assess the extent and magnitude of spring migrations of bass to the headwaters of the reservoir. Fish using the headwaters during the spring were drawn mainly from adjacent areas within 9 km of the headwaters, although fish from as far away as the dam were recovered in the headwater area. Use of...

We used a multiple linear regression approach to develop models predicting water, protein, and lipid content of bluegills (Lepomis macrochirus) under 4 measurement approaches varying in terms of time and money. Inputs were length, weight, relative weight, total body electrical conductivity, and water. Models predicting water and protein weights were very accurate (<5% mean error). No regression predicting lipid weight was accurate enough to be used as a predictor (>37% mean error). We then attempted to reduce inaccuracy by standardizing lipid weight 4 ways. No standardization...

Briery Creek Lake was stocked with both the Florida and northern subspecies of largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides floridanus and M. s. salmoides, respectively) at a ratio of 3 Florida to 1 northern bass following impoundment in 1986. Progeny of these stockings in the 1989 and 1990 year classes were sampled in October as age-0 and again the following May and electrophoretically assayed to assign phenotypes for comparison of overwinter survival, first-year growth, and relative weight. Subspecies as well as intergrade (F1 and Fx) phenotypes were present in both year classes. First-...

Alewives (Alosa pseudoharengus) and gizzard shad (Dorosoma cepedianum) were the principal prey items in the stomachs of 708 striped bass (Morone saxatilis) collected in Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia, from April to December 1983 and 1984. Alewives comprised 51% and 39% of ingested prey items by number and weight, respectively; comparable values for gizzard shad were 38% and 58%. Stomach contents differed significantly between habitats (upper and lower reservoir) and among seasons. Regression analyses between size of consumed clupeids and total length of striped bass indicated a greater...

Compatibility and complementarity of age-O alewife and gizzard shad as coexistent forage fishes were evaluated through analysis of their distribution, spawning periods, and growth rates in Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia, in 1983. Gizzard shad larvae appeared to be confined to the upper reservoir and alewife larvae to the down-lake region. Spatial segregation prevents direct trophic competition while increasing potential feeding encounters for juvenile piscivores. Gizzard shad spawning peaked in June; alewife spawning peaked in July. Age-O gizzard shad became too large for age-O and age-l...