Results of Stocking Catchable-sized Warmwater Fishes in a Lake with an Established Fish Population

Abstract

Three stockings of marked, catchable-sized, warmwater fishes were made in a 30-acre lake. Creel censuses were then conducted to determine the percent recapture of these fish and their contribution to the anglersˈ catches. The percent returns from the spring stockings during the year in which the fish were stocked were similar for the three principal kinds of fishes, namely: crappies, 32.0 percent; bullheads, 28.3 percent; and bluegill, 26.1 percent. Further returns from these stockings during the following year averaged only 2.5 percent. As compared to returns from the spring stockings, very poor returns resulted from a fall stocking subjected to fishing the following season. The overall return in this case was only 8.6 percent. The contribution each kind of fish made to the anglersˈ catch of that fish varied with the density of the native population. Stocked crappies contributed 35.6 percent to the catch and bullheads 43.3 percent, while stocked bluegill contributed only 1.5 percent. There was an unexpected increase in the catch of native fish in the year in which the stockings were made. The catch of native fish was 2,325 fish during the year prior to the stockings, 4,602 during the year of the stockings, and 2,835 during the year after.