The Fishery in Lake Wappapello, A Flood-Control Reservoir on the St. Francis River, Missouri

Abstract

Abstract Lake Wappapello, an impoundment on the St. Francis River in southeastern Missouri, was created in 1941 by the Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army, as part of the flood-control program for the lower Mississippi River. At conservation-pool level (355 feet, Mean Gulf Level) the reservoir has a surface area of approximately 6,000 acres and more than 50 percent of the lake is less than 5 feet deep. At times of high water the area may be expanded to 23,100 acres. Prompted by the decline in fishing success, particularly for black bass, the Missouri Conservation Commission launched a series of investigations in 1948. The results of 4 years of fish-population surveys made by means of nets, seines, and rotenone are presented. White crappie and carp consistently were the most abundant species in the nets. These fish constituted, respectively, 52 and 20 percent by number of the total net catch. Rotenone sampling in two small coves in 1951 indicated that the backwater areas support an average standing crop of 273 p...