Larry R. Aggus

The technique of sampling fish in coves by the application of rotenone ("covesampling") was evaluated in Barkley Lake, Kentucky, 26-28 September 1978. In 85 ha Crooked Creek Bay (which was subdivided into 24 coves and other subareas), 776 kg/ ha of fish were recovered; the total adjusted for non-recovery of marked fish was 865 kg/ ha. The numbers and biomass of fish in various coves within the Bay did not closely approximate the standing crop in the total area. Most major species of fish were either overrepresented or underrepresented in the cove samples. Larger coves (mean area, 4.9 ha)...

The fishery for rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) in the Bull Shoals tailwater has developed as a seasonal boat fishery which in peak years provides more than 250,000 angler days of fishing, and a catch of more than 750,000 trout. Use was concentrated along the upstream one-third (48 km) of the tailwater in 1971-73, where about 60 percent ot the total fisherman effort, 50 percent of the catch, and 75 peroent of the total guided fishing occurred. Since many anglers traveled long distances, rented boats and motors, and employed guides to fish the tailwater, the economic value of the fishery...

Relations between environmental variables and fish standing crops were examined in 1972-73 as part of a Predator-Stocking-Evaluation of reservoirs, sponsored by the Reservoir Committee, Southern Division of the American Fisheries Society. High volumes of flow and increased water exchange rates in 1973 were associated with increases in fish standing crops and changes in the size structure of fish assemblages in some study reservoirs. Reservoirs with higher inherent water exchange rates also supported larger standing crops than those with lower exchange rates. However, highly variable...

We estimated populations of largemouth bass (Micropter salmoides) 12 inches tong or longer in total length by mark and recapture, using angling tournament catches on 28,200-acre Beaver Lake in 1974, and tournament catches and a supplemental creel census on 45,440-acre Bull Shoals Lake in 1975. Population estimates were 55,450 in Beaver Lake and 30,800 in Bull Shoals Lake. These estimates were in good agreement with those based on mark-recapture samples taken each spring by electrofishing near shore, and were correlated with harvest when applied to the lower reaches ofeach lake. Lakewide...

Stomachs from angler-harvested specimens of 259 largemouth bass, Mieropterus salmoides, 263 spotted bass, M. punctulatus, and 256 smallmouth bass, M. dolomieui were collected from the mid-lake region of Bull Shoals Reservoir during March 1971 - February 1972. Stomach contents were compared on the basis of frequency of occurrence, weight, and seasonal distribution of food items. Black basses were piscivorous in feeding habits during the summer and early autumn, with young of the year shad contributing substantially to the diets. Utilization of young shad by adult basses followed shad...