Download January- June 2016 Fish Population Sampling

January- June 2016
We hope 2016 is going well for you and that
you’re enjoying being outdoors as much as
you can stand. After all, it has gotten hot!
Since the December, we have spent a great
deal of time working on annual fisheries
management reports and sampling several of
the area lakes. We sampled the Channel
Catfish populations in Lake Greeson, Terre
Noire and South Fork (formerly Grandview
#2 and #1, respectively) using tandem-baited
hoop-nets. We prepared the Lake Greeson
Nursery Pond for a crop of Black-nose
Crappie and assisted District 8 (Hot Springs)
gill-netting Hybrid Striped Bass on DeGray
Lake. We have also completed a year of
creel survey work on Dierks Lake and started
creel survey work on Lake Greeson.
It is hot outside. Please drink plenty of fluids
and use sun-screen while you’re out fishing
and be careful out there!
Fish Population Sampling
Electrofishing
Electrofishing on Gillham revealed good
numbers (101.4 fish per hour) of Largemouth
Bass and a size structure that could stand
improvement. It did produce a few large fish
that anyone would have been proud to catch.
De Queen Largemouth Bass were plentiful
and we were kept busy dipping fish.
However, as is usually the case, large
numbers and good size don’t go together.
There are rare exceptions but not this time.
Bois d’Arc had the best size structure of any
lake we sampled. If you were after a trophysize Largemouth Bass, you would have a
pretty good chance on Bois d’Arc this year.
The numbers, however, are not great. We
collected 61.57 Largemouth Bass per hour on
Bois d’Arc compare to 121.9 per hour on
DeQueen.
Terre Noire’s numbers were good at 110.48
per hour and with the exception of no trophy
size bass, the size structure was pretty decent.
We’ll have to wait to see if some of the larger
fish push into the trophy size range.
Lake Greeson produces good numbers of
Largemouth Bass and this year was maybe a
little off at 97.5 per hour. The size structure
could stand some improvement as well.
Maybe some of the Greeson anglers should
start frying a few of the bass they catch
instead of releasing them.
Tandem-Baited Hoop-Netting
Fish Stockings in District 7
Tandem-baited hoop-nets are designed to
sample the Channel Catfish population of a
lake. This spring, we sampled the
populations in Lake Greeson, South Fork
Lake and Terre Noire. Quite unlike Bois
d’Arc Lake and for sure unlike Lake Erling,
these three lakes were not over run with
Channel Catfish.
In fact, if we were going to go somewhere
and fish for Channel Catfish, we’d still
choose Bois d’Arc Lake. We caught a few at
all three lakes but not in any great numbers.
The best of the three was Terre Noire and
most of the one hundred or so catfish came
from the same set. For the sake of
comparison, the catch rate for Terre Noire
was 33 Channel Catfish per net series. On
South Fork, the catch rate was 5 Channel
Catfish per net series, and Greeson’s catch
rate was only 1.94 Channel Catfish per net
series.
The following fish stockings (excluding trout
at the Narrows and Albert Pike) have
occurred since January:
Lake
Species
Size Number
Terre Noire- Threadfin Shad Adult
500
South Fork- Threadfin Shad Adult
1,000
Mercer Bayou- Bluegill
Adult 1,717
Greeson - Walleye
Fingerling 31,310
Millwood – Florida Bass Fingerling 165,580
Bois d’Arc – Florida Bass Fingerling 44,100
Gill-Netting
We spent some time on DeGray assisting
District 8 with some gill-netting for Hybrid
Striped Bass. This was an effort to estimate
just how large the Hybrid Striped Bass
population is on DeGray. In “round one”,
341 Hybrids were caught, tagged with a
numbered tag and then released. “Round
two” was an effort to see how many of the
tagged fish were later re-captured in gill-nets.
A total of 698 Hybrid Striped Bass were
caught in round two and only one of these
fish was a tagged fish from round one. This
is an indicator of an abundant population.
Boat Stocking Fingerling Florida Bass in
Millwood
Unlike most species, we stock Florida Bass
from a boat in small batches, near cover. By
stocking these fingerling Florida Bass by
boat, we can put most of them directly into
cover such as weed beds or floating mats of
alligatorweed or some other aquatic
vegetation. Not only does this afford the
little bass a measure of protection, it also
provides them a source of forage because this
type of cover is usually teeming with aquatic
bug life, small crustaceans and newly hatched
minnows.
Lake Greeson Nursery Pond
This year, the crop in the Lake Greeson
Nursery Pond was Blacknose Crappie, a
distinct breed of Black Crappie. To grow this
crop, we closed the discharge valve to start
catching water in early December. If we
waited until the first of January, the pond
might not fill completely.
In the fall, we constructed some pallet
structures that Fathead Minnows would
spawn on or under.
On February 18, our brood Fathead Minnows
were stocked by the Joe Hogan State Fish
Hatchery. Just prior to this, we made an
application of fertilizer to get a phytoplankton “bloom” going. After all, the
minnows had to be well fed if they were
going to spawn and create food for our
crappie.
Stocking brood Fathead Minnows
On March 16, 250 adult Blacknose Crappie
arrived from the Donham State Fish
Hatchery. Aside from keeping the water
fertile, the rest of the work was left to the
minnows and the crappie. A seine- check in
mid- May revealed numerous little Blacknose
Crappie and only a few young, newly
hatched minnows. The Blacknose Crappie
didn’t disappoint us but the Fathead
Minnows could have done much better. We
did find it difficult to maintain a good phytoplankton bloom and this is a critical
component to a great crop of young predatory
game fish.
As soon as this pond drains, we will begin to
prepare for next year. This will involve a
cover crop and more than likely some lime.
Creel Surveys
We can sample the fish populations by
electrofishing, shad netting, crappie trapnetting all we want but unless we know what
anglers are catching, we’re missing part of
the puzzle. To get the full picture, we need
to talk to anglers. We’ve been doing that on
Dierks Lake for the last year before moving
to Lake Greeson in June.
If you haven’t been interviewed on Dierks or
Greeson, we ask questions designed to help
us manage the fish populations a little better.
Some questions involve angler preference
while other questions are geared toward
economics (how much did you spend to go
fishing today?). We look at the fish anglers
harvested and we ask how many and what
kind of fish were caught and released. The
last question is designed to allow your input.
It asks what you would do to improve
fishing.
If you see one of us at Lake Greeson after
you’ve returned to the ramp, we may want to
ask you a few friendly questions.
Species Profile
Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus)
same nest. The male fertilizes the eggs and
then guards the nest until the eggs hatch.
Once hatched, the fry are on their own
receiving no parental protection.
In fertile water, adult Bluegill routinely grow
to 10 inches or more and can weigh from 0.51.0 pound. They are considered excellent
table fare. A great many folks owe their love
of fishing to their first experience with
Bluegill. Ounce for ounce, there aren’t too
many fish that pull harder than a Bluegill
does.
The Bluegill is one of Arkansas’ favorite
game fishes. It has been stocked in farm
ponds, in smaller lakes, and in the largest
Corps of Engineers reservoirs. It is one of
two species commonly referred to as
“bream”. The largest populations of Bluegill
are found in clear, quiet, warm waters with at
least some aquatic vegetation and other types
of cover. They are also found in small
streams and rivers. Because they are mainly
“sight feeders”, they don’t normally tolerate
turbid water for extended periods. In fact,
they have similar habitat preferences to
Largemouth Bass and are usually found in
close proximity with them.
Braggin’ Board
It could be said that Bluegill and Largemouth
Bass have a mutually beneficial relationship.
Largemouth Bass utilize the Bluegill for food
and in turn, keep the Bluegill numbers in
check, allowing for better growth of the ones
that escape predation.
Bluegill spawn in Arkansas from April
through August when the water temperature
exceeds 68°F. Peak spawning activity occurs
in June and early July. The males fan out
nests that resemble small “craters” usually
10-12 inches in diameter, in a variety of
substrates, but preference is given to gravel
or other more solid substrates. The nests are
often closely spaced in 1-4 feet of water.
Several females will deposit eggs into the
Sierra Noey of De Queen caught this lunker
Black Bullhead from a private pond in
Sevier County last April! It weighed 2 lbs.
12 oz. Congratulations Sierra!!!
We’d love to help spread the word about
your big fish. Please send us a picture and
the details of your catch. We’ll put it in the
next newsletter !