Smallmouth Bass Populations Research Articles

The Smallmouth Bass Fishery of South Bay, Lake Huron

The smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieui) population of South Bay, Lake Huron and the sport fishery imposed on it have been studied by means of marking and creel census carried out during the years 1947 to 1952 inclusive. Population estimates of legal-sized bass (over 10 inches–fork length), based on the recovery of marked fish, show a decrease from 5,900 fish in 1947 to 2,900 in 1949 with an increase again to 5,700 in 1952. The number of bass caught per 100 rod-hours in these years was 89, 51 and 87, respectively. The recovery of the population from its low in 1949 was due solely to the 1947 year-class which dominated the fishery in 1950, 1951 and 1952, contributing 34%, 71% and 67%, respectively, of the anglers' catch in these years. Analysis of scale samples of the anglers' catch shows considerable variation in year-class strength. In contrast to the 3,500 fish contributed to the anglers' creel by the 1947 year-class, the 1945 year-class contributed only 400 fish.South Bay bass enter the sport fishery in small numbers at age III and 70% of the anglers' catch consisted of age-III to age-V fish. Sixty per cent of the legal-sized population of bass present in South Bay in one year are taken by anglers in the succeeding 4–5 years at the present exploitation.A large percentage of the bass population is located in the Inner Basin of South Bay where they are dispersed in varying concentrations along the shoreline. During the five-year study 3,331 bass were tagged and, although the loss of tags was high, 692 were recaptured by trap nets in the same season they were released. Eighty-five per cent of these were taken within two miles of their release point. Of 60 bass recaptured a year after tagging, 43 (72%) were taken within two miles of their release point. Only five per cent of all recorded recaptures were caught over five miles from their release point. Larger bass tended to range farther than small bass.

POPULATION PHENOMENA IN CERTAIN GAME FISHES OF LAKE SIMCOE, ONTARIO, AND SOME EFFECTS UPON ANGLING RETURNS. PART I. THE SMALLMOUTH BASS, MICROPTERUS DOLOMIEU LACÉPÈDE

The varying susceptibility and availability of game fish populations to angling methods is seldom approached by modern scientific procedure, despite the fact that angling returns are generally accepted as reliable indices of population densities. Lake Simcoe—Ontario's fourth largest lake—afforded an excellent opportunity to study a situation of long standing wherein a great abundance of smallmouth bass had long yielded generally poor angling returns.Results from a scientific investigation, conducted mostly during the summer of 1940, were as follows:(1) A somewhat radical angling method was developed which yields greatly increased and highly satisfactory returns from the bass population.(2) The discovery that shifts in habitat—both diurnal and otherwise—by particular age groups of the smallmouth bass population had a significant effect upon angling returns.(3) The discovery that the smallmouth bass population of the lake was heterogeneous in character, i.e. that bass from one section of the lake had a significantly more rapid rate of growth than bass from another section, and that this influenced the quality of catch.(4) The conclusion that the smallmouth bass problem of Lake Simcoe cannot be solved by stocking; but rather by the dissemination of knowledge on improved methods of utilization.