Robert E. Stevens

One million acres of water in inland reservoirs currently contain fishable populations of striped bass. Fingerling production in 1974 was in excessof 10.5 million fish and this equals the total fingerling introductions between 1965 and 1973. Major efforts are in progress in estuaries to reestablish striped bass populations and to mitigate losses of fish due to power plant operation. Improved fertilization techniques in ponds should serve to increase fingerling production in the future. The use of hybrids is slowly gaining favor, both in reservoirs and in small impoundments. Reservoir...

During the 1964 striped bass spawning season, 383 female striped bass were treated with hormones at the Moncks Corner Striped Bass Hatchery and 337 (88%) were induced to ovulate as a result of the treatment. Three hundred and seventeen of the successful females were spawned in the hatchery for a yied of 322 million eggs and a hatch of 100 million fry. Chorionic gonadotropin was the most successful hormone used. Approximately 60 million fry were stocked in the Wateree Reservoir, a 13,710 acre impoundment, and early seining results indicate a significant survival.

A total of 429 female striped bass were treated with hormones during the spring spawning seasons of 1962 and 1963. Of this number, 118 (26.6%) were induced to ovulate while held captive. One hundred of the ovulated :fish were treated with chorionic gonadotropin while used alone or in combination with other preparations. Eighteen of the ovulated fish were treated with follicle stimulating hormone while used alone or in combination with preparations other than chorionic gonadotropin. Fry production amounted to 2.6 million in 1962 and 13.8 million in 1963. All of the fry were stocked in...

Of 162 female striped bass treated with hormones during the 1962 spawning season, 44 (27.2%) were induced to ovulate. Of several preparations used, chorionic gonadotropin proved to be very effective while follicle stimulating hormone was slightly effective. Of 36 million striped bass eggs put into the hatchery only 7.3 percent hatched. The cause of mortality is 1argely unknown.

The reservoir has a surface acreage of 160,500 and contains two rather dissimilar lakes, Lake Moultrie and Lake Marion. Channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) are virtually unknown in Lake Marion, exist in relatively small numbers in Lake Moultrie, and are abundant in the tailrace sanctuary. White catfish (Ictalurus cattts) are present in large numbers in both lakes and the tailrace sanctuary. The channel catfish of Lake Moultrie and the tailrace sanctuary grow larger and faster, live longer and are in better condition than any channel catfish described in the literature. They,...

The reservoir has a surface acreage of 160,500 and contains two rather dissimilar lakes; namely, Lake Moultrie and Lake Marion. A four-year continuous creel census indicated that three-fourths of the catch of crappies was made in Lake Marion. Four distinct growth rates were encountered in a growth study of each species in each lake. A food habit study of 149 full crappie stomachs showed insects to occur 77.1% of the time and fish 55.7% of the time. A world record black crappie (Pomoxis nigro-maculatus) was caught in Lake Moultrie on March 15, 1957.

The continued spawning success of striped bass, Roccus saxatilis, within the reservoir during the past three years, in spite of greatly reduced lock operations, is evidence which heavily supports the resident hypothesis. Striped bass feed heavily upon mayfly nymphs during the spring months, but take clupeoid fish almost entirely for the remainder of the year. The results of a three-year creel census ending August 31, 1957, shows that the number of striped bass caught and the percent of the total catch which striped bass represents has approximately doubled for the past two years....