James D. Hedrick

Long-Term Response of a Largemouth Bass Population to a Protected Slot Limit Regulation in a West Virginia Small Impoundment

SEAFWA Journal Volume 10, March 2023

The largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) population in South Mill Creek Lake, a centrarchid-dominated, eutrophic small impoundment in West Virginia, was managed under a 305-mm minimum-length limit until 2007. Under this regulation the population was typified by consistently low proportional size distribution (PSD) values, low quality-length CPUE, excessive juvenile recruitment, and poor length structure. Therefore, in 2007 a protected slot limit (PSL) regulation (305–406 mm) was implemented to shift the size structure of the fishery. Spring (May) boat...

Evaluation of a New Sediment Sampling Device

A two-part sediment sampler (stationary base and removable trap) was designed for a long-term study of stream sedimentation associated with highway construction. Before the long-term study, a laboratory study in an experimental flume examined efficacies of our sampler and two other sediment samplers: a modified core sampler and Whitlock-Vibert boxes. Based on the flume experiment, the efficacy of our sediment sampler was consistent with that of core and Whitlock-Vibert samplers. The advantage of our two-part sediment sampler design is that it allows for repeated removal of sediment samples...