Effect of Aquatic Plant Control on the Microdistribution and Population Characteristics of Largemouth Bass

Abstract

Abstract Aquatic plants have been controlled in a series of relatively small public-use areas in Guntersville Reservoir on the Tennessee River in northern Alabama. We investigated the effects of herbicide use (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, diquat dibromide, copper-ethylenediamine complex) and vegetation reduction on movements and population characteristics of largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides at six sites (5–10 hectares) in this 27,479-hectare impoundment. Fish were sampled by electrofishing, and relative vegetation density was monitored periodically through a 100-d period in late summer and fall of 1989. The locations and movements of 29 largemouth bass were monitored at four study sites with radiotelemetry. Three sites were treated with herbicides applied from airboats, and three control sites were traversed by airboats to simulate herbicide application. Largemouth bass catch rates (catch/ 1,000 s of electrofishing) did not change in response to herbicide treatment; mean total length of largemouth...