R. Scott Hale

Fisheries managers need to minimize sampling effort required to provide statistically reliable data for cost effective monitoring and assessment. Shoreline electrofishing methods used to estimate abundance and size structure of largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) and bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) may be affected by seasonal variability of littoral habitat use by these species. A fixed standard of 3 15-minute electrofishing samples did not provide CPUE estimates that we considered precise enough to consistently use for management decisions on 4 50- to 119-ha Kentucky impoundments. Due...

The spawning season and length at maturity were determined for female blue catfish in Kentucky Lake, Kentucky-Tennessee, where this species is commercially harvested. A gonosomatic index (GSI) was determined from 581 females of 3 length categories: 400-499 mm, 500-599 mm, 2:600 mm. The mean GSI for fish in the largest length category peaked at 3.72% during 1 May-15 May, when water temperature was 20.5° C, and rapidly dropped to 0.21% during 1 June-15 June. Spawning activity in 1986 peaked between 15 May and 15 June. Contributions to reproduction by fish <600 mm were clearly minimal....