Journal of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies

Five types of fish population sampling gear were intensively fished in a 263 acre Oklahoma reservoir. The relative species compositions are compared, both between and within sampling methods and with bag seine samples taken at draining. A method using accumulative percentages for determining the length of time necessary to sample a population with specific gear to estimate species composition is described. Bated and unbaited nets had similar catch rates and species composition. Bluegill were more vulnerable to seine hauling during daylight hours than seine hauling at night. Gill nets failed to produce sufficient numbers of fish for statistical analysis, but larger mesh sizes captured flathead catfish and freshwater drum missed by most of the other types of gear. Small mesh gill nets revealed essentially the same species composition as rotenone and shocker samples. Trap nets caught white crappie in greater proportion than their numbers in the population.

Wisconsin-type trap nets were investigated to determine methods necessary to adapt this gear to TVA reservoirs, to establish the best operational procedure, and to determine the potential of this gear in an expanded commercial fishery. The study was conducted primarily in Wheeler Reservoir, Alabama. Three trap nets, modified in amount of flooring, mesh size, and floatation, were fished in combination with three lengths of lead. The lead of intermediate length was constructed of a smaller mesh size (4- instead of 5-inchl than the shorter and longer leads. Modifications which resulted in larger commercial catches were a floor constructed in both cribs and the heart, a smaller mesh size in the heart (4- instead of 5·inch), and a 400-foot lead of 4-inch mesh. The smaller mesh in the heart resulted in a larger catch of industrial size freshwater drum, while the smaller mesh in the lead resulted in a larger catch of gizzard and threadfin shad.

One by two-inch mesh wire fish traps were fished for 5,135 trap days in Old Hickory Reservoir between August 1, 1963 and June 30, 1964. Of the 2,661 fish caught, 83.2 percent were commercial fish, 16.2 percent were sport fish and 0.6 percent "other" species. Carp (Cyprinus carpio) constituted 61.6 percent of the catch. Crappie (Pomoxis sp.) made up 12.0 percent of the total catch. Deep baited sets had the highest catch rate (1.17 commercial fish per trap day) and also the highest percentage of commercial fish in the catch (98.7 percent). Unbaited traps had the lowest catch rate (0.06 commercial fish per trap day regardless of depth), with 56.5 percent and 76.9 percent of the catch consisting of sport fish in deep and shallow sets, respectively. The average size of the fish caught was small. It was concluded that wire traps could be legalized in Old Hickory Reservoir for local residents to catch fish for home consumption without adversely affecting sport fish populations.

Oklahoma commercial fishermen on Lakes Texoma, Grand, Eufaula, and Gibson were studied from July 1967 to June 1968. In each quarter samples of fish were weighed prior to cleaning, by a commercial fisherman, and immediately afterwards. Linear and curvilinear regressions are fitted to these data. Between lake and between season comparisons are made. Information is presented for smallmouth buffalo, bigmouth buffalo, flathead catfish, carp, drum, river carpsucker, and paddle fish.

The life histories of smallmouth buffalo (lctiobus bubalus) and freshwater drum (Aplodinotus grunniensl were studied during 1966-1968 in conjunction with the evaluations of commercial fishery gear on Wheeler Reservoir. In this reservoir, smallmouth buffalo grows as fast as or faster than it does in other reservoirs. They are 5 to 6 years old and 17 to 19 inches long before they are abundant in the commercial catch. Drum growth is slower in Wheeler than in other waters; they are not important commercially until they are 7 to 8 years old and 16 to 19 inches long. Asiatic clams, 1 to 2 mm in diameter, and copepods were the dominant food items for all sizes of buffalo. Drum less than 10 inches fed primarily on diptera larvae; those over 10 inches fed primarily on Asiatic clams greater than 10 mm in diameter and gizzard shad. Peak spawning periods in 1967 were mid-April for smallmouth buffalo and late-May for drum. REproduction potential of both species is high.

Tilapia aurea were introduced into Florida by the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission in 1961. Original stocking was in managed pits at Pleasant Grove Research Station. From this beginning they have spread to numerous private ponds, four creeks, two rivers and several public lakes. Enriched bodies of water are preferred habitats and native species present have not retarded establishment of T. aurea. Most of the present study was conducted on Lake Parker, a 2291 acre eutrophic lake in Polk County. Surveys of the fish population on Parker revealed seasonal congregations of T. aurea. This gregarious behavior was correlated with temperature and habitat preference. During January and February, the species was heavily congregated at an electro-power plant. Water temperatures at the plant ranged as high as 9 degrees Fahrenheit above background lake temperatures. Concentrations were also evident in areas where the lake bottom was primarily muck.

The age composition, as determined from scale impressions, of striped bass stocks in the James, York, and Rappahannock Rivers during the period June 1967 - March 1968 indicates a relative deficiency of the 1966 year class in the James River. Similar results are shown in samples from non-selective gear (pound nets, fyke nets), selective gear (gill nets, haul seines, hook-and-line), and routine surveys using a 30-foot semi-balloon trawl. The immediate effect of this apparent deficiency on a planned winter tagging program, and the more general implications for evaluation of year-class strength, are briefly discussed.

Young-of-the-year largemouth, Micropterus salmoides (Lacepede), and spotted bass, M. punctulatus (Rafinesque), were collected period!cally from Beaver Reservoir during the growing seasons of 1964 and 1965. Scales were read to insure that all bass included in the study were young-of-the-year. Counts were made of the number of bass that had eaten a particu lar class of food rather than either how many or the volume of items eaten. Qualitative analysis of stomach contents indicated that entomostracans were eaten by a high percentage of small bass and were not eaten by the larger young-of-the-year bass. More bass of all sizes contained insects than entomostracans (excluding 10 to 19 mm largemouth bass!. More largemouth and spotted bass contained insects than fishes except more of the larger young-of-the-year largemouth bass had eaten fishes than insects.