Stephen P. Filipek

The Effect of the Lake Chicot Renovation Project on the Fishery of a Mississippi River Oxbow Lake

A renovation project on Lake Chicot, a 1,417-ha Arkansas oxbow lake, was undertaken to improve water quality and fisheries productivity negatively impacted by surrounding agricultural land and ensuing drainage. A 1920s levee and drainage project that added 90,653-ha of catchment area to the inflow of Lake Chicot also increased agricultural acreage from 10% to 80% of the lake's watershed. This resulted in a substantial increase in turbidity in the lake (from 40 to 400 NTU), negatively affecting the sportfish populations, especially the largemouth bass. In the late 1980s, the Army Corps of...

Size and Age Structure of a Single School of Striped Bass in Lake Greeson, Arkansas

A school of 206 striped bass, Marone saxatilis, were sampled using rotenone in a deep, southwest Arkansas reservoir. Fish averaged 439 mm TL and 823 g in weight, ranging in size from 321 to 525 mm TL and 33.5-1,389 g. K factors were extremely low, ranging from 0.82 to 1.18. Two hundred four of the striped bass were age II+ (1981 year class), while only 2 were age I+. Several possible reasons are considered as the causative agent in the formation of this large school.

The Food Habits of Adult Striped Bass from Lake Hamilton, Arkansas, Before and During an Extreme Drawdown

Adult striped bass (Morone saxatilis) ranging in size from 483 to 940 mm TL in a west central Arkansas reservoir (3,000 ha) fed predominantly on gizzard shad (Dorosoma cepedianum) and threadfin shad (D. petenense) throughout a 2-year study. Heavy feeding on threadfin shad occurred 1 winter due to colder than normal water temperatures which rendered threadfin shad sluggish and more susceptible to predation. Other species of fish and invertebrates comprised only a minor portion of food items regardless of time of year. An increasing trend in larger size shad consumed by larger striped bass...

An Extreme Drawdown on a Heavily Populated Lake: The Public Relations Aspect

The various benefits from a correctly timed drawdown on reservoir fisheries have been well documented; however, little has been written on the public relations aspect. An extreme (2.7 m -9 foot) drawdown on the most heavily populated lake in Arkansas is discussed, focusing on the procedures and problems involved with "selling" such a management technique to the public. By discussing the public relations work involved with the project, the problems that can arise and recommendations based on this experience, it is hoped that other management biologists planning similar operations will...