Journal of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies

Aquatic weed control has in recent years developed into one of the most important phases of farm pond management in Georgia. Properly constructed ponds with adequate fertilization which were chemically treated four years ago show no reinfestation at this time. On the other hand, in experimental ponds which were not properly fertilized the results of chemical weed control were of extremely short duration. The more frequently used herbicides, Sodium arsenite, 2,4-D (ester and amines), 2,4-D-2,4,5-T combinations, and Copper sulphate are considered with regard to methods of application, cost of treatments, effectiveness on different plant species and duration of successful weed elimination. Sodium arsenite was found universally effective in the control of most submerged aquatic plant species. However, its toxicity to warm blooded animals and the caution necessary in its application and handling restrict its use to experienced technicians.

In June, 1956, albino channel catfish (Ictalurus Lacustris) were observed to occur in possibly two spawns from wild colored parents. These albino channel catfish have been named "Golden Channel Catfish." By stocking the golden channel catfish fingerlings in large water areas, sufficient growth was obtained so that several of the fish became sexually mature at the age of two years and a weight of about two pounds. Three spawns were obtained from these two-year-old golden channel catfish in the spring of 1958, and all the young were golden (albino) in color. The golden channel catfish seems to be equal in ruggedness to the wild colored individuals and possesses superior eye appeal both alive and dressed. The strain of fish envolved has a domesticated history exceeding ten years.

This study revealed that walleye, Stizostedion vitreum vitreum (Mitchell), can be jar-hatched, stocked, and a portion raised to fingerling size, for an annual outlay of $1,000.00 or less. Early returns indicate that walleye can be inexpensively established by stocking fry in either old or new lakes. The method used was to stock the fish in intermittent rows from a boat. Both openwater stocking and shoreline stocking were practiced successfully. Two ponds were utilized for experimental walleye production in 1958. Walleye were produced at the rate of 21,255 fingerling walleye 1 1/2 to 2 inches in length per acre in one experimental pond and 10,333 in another pond, without re-sorting to feeding with minnows. This seemed to indicate that walleye lend themselves to pond culture as far south as Kentucky. The experimental evidence concurred with the findings of Dobie (1956) in Minnesota and indicated that production was augmented by the use of organic fertilizers.

In order to test the relative success of various stocking rates of largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides (Lacepede)-bluegill, Lepomis macrochirus Rafinesque, combinations and largemouth bass-shellcracker, Lepomis microlophus (Gunther), in farm ponds in Kentucky, 574 ponds. were stocked with these fishes in the following combinations and rates: fry bass: fingerling bluegill 30 :400, 50 :500, 80 :500 and 100 :500 per acre; fry bass: adult bluegill 100 :30, 100 :50 and 100: 70 per acre; fry bass: fingerling shellcracker 50 :300 and 50 :600 per acre; fry bass; fingerling shellcracker + mosquito fish, Gambusia affinis (Baird and Girard), 50 :300 + 400 and 50 :600 + 400 per acre. In each year from 1952 through 1956, a series of ponds was stocked. No pond was stocked more than once nor with more than one rate. Bass-bluegill combinations were stocked in each of the first four years, the shel1cracker combinations in 1953, 1955 and 1956.

Norris Reservoir, the first TVA tributary reservoir, completed in 1936, has a spillway surface area of 34,200 acres. Earliest fish inventory records in the basin indicate 17 indigenous families of fishes represented by 40 genera and 65 species. Four families, Petromyzonidae, Anguillidae, Cyprinodontidae, and Cottidae, were unable to cope with the reservoir environment. Several genera and species of Cyprinidae and Percidae likewise did not survive. Game and commercial species generally have prospered in the reservoir. A 14-year creel census on Norris shows considerable annual variation in catch but no trend to support the historical idea that reservoirs become "biological deserts." Harvesting or fishing mortality studies over a 14-year period show an average tag return ratio of 17.2 percent. Year to year variation from the mean indicates that the obvious increase in fishing pressure since 1940 has not increased the relative rate of harvest.