Joseph E. Kraai

Lake Tanglewood, Texas, is a eutrophic reservoir with an excessively abundant gizzard shad Dorosoma cepedianum population comprised of primarily large individuals (>180 mm total length [TL]). Fingerling (40 mm TL) hybrid striped bass (Morone saxatilis x M. chrysops) were stocked at high rates in 1992 (490/ha) and 1993 (245/ha) to restructure the gizzard shad population. Small gizzard shad (<180 mm TL) declined in abundance 1 year after hybrid striped bass were introduced, presumably as a result of hybrid striped bass predation. With reduced recruitment, large gizzard shad abundance...

Management of largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides), smallmouth bass (M. dolomieu), and walleye (Stizostedion vitreum) fisheries in Meredith Reservoir has a long history of challenges addressed by fisheries managers including dramatic water level changes and habitat loss, changes in sampling gear and sampling protocols, changing angler concerns, and limited information. Management philosophy changed from a period of liberal harvest regulations designed to promote maximum harvest to one of more restrictive regulations designed to optimize both fish populations and angler success. As data...

Buffalo Springs Reservoir is highly eutrophic with a dense population of large gizzard shad (Dorosoma cepedianum) and limited production of young gizzard shad. Fingerling (40 mm total length) striped bass (Morone saxatilis) were stocked into Buffalo Springs Reservoir in 1992 and 1993 at a rate of 550/ha to restructure the gizzard shad population. Three to 4 years after these stockings, density of large gizzard shad declined and a strong gizzard shad year class was produced. White crappie (Pomoxis annularis) recruitment paralleled gizzard shad recruitment. White crappie growth declined...

The minimum length limit for smallmouth bass Micropterus dolomieu in Meredith Reservoir, Texas, was increased from 254- to 305-mm TL in 1986 and to 356 mm TL in 1988. Population assessments indicated these limits contributed to an abundance of 178- to 280-mm bass which displayed low condition indices and slow growth. Angler catch rates of smallmouth bass increased but harvest rates and yield decreased following implementation of length limits. A 305- to 381-mm slot length limit was recommended to improve population structure and increase growth, condition, and harvest.

Nineteen adult walleyes were implanted with ultrasonic transmitters and tracked for 2 years at Meredith Reservoir, Texas, to determine specific behavioral characteristics. During the spawning period tagged walleyes established an activity pattern consisting of 3 phases: pre-staging, movement to within 5.5 km of the dam; staging, movement to within 2.2 km of the dam; and spawning on the rip-rap of the dam. Individual walleye established home range areas ranging in size from 141 to 2,517 ha. Fish were located most frequently in water ≤8 m deep within 100 m of shore. Most locations were along...

Cost:benefit of 3 walleye fisheries were evaluated in 3 Texas reservoirs. Costs to establish walleye fisheries included expenses for equipment and for labor to procure and hatch eggs, to rear fry or fingerlings, and to stock reservoirs. Benefits of walleye fisheries were determined by multiplying the monetary value of a man-hour of recreational fishing by number of manhours of walleye fishing as determined by creel surveys. At Meredith Reservoir, where low densities of fry were stocked as the lake initially filled, costto- benefit of 1:89 was achieved in 3 years. At Greenbelt Reservoir,...