Appendix 12a. Clarks Hill Reservoir, Georgia (courtesy of E. Bettross, Georgia Department of Natural Resources)
Clarks Hill Lake is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) impoundment situated on the Savannah River, Georgia and South Carolina. The lake and dam were authorized for hydropower, flood control, water supply, water quality, recreation, and fish and wildlife management. Hydroelectric production at Clarks Hill is a peaking operation.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Surface area: 71,000 acres
Mean depth: 35 feet
Maximum depth: 150 feet
Shoreline: 1,050 miles
Transparency: varies, 2-15 feet depending on season and location (winter rain washes suspended
clay into the feeder creeks)
Conductivity: 40-100 uS/cm
VEGETATION
Very little vegetation was present until October 1995 when monoecious hydrilla was found in the lake. Hydrilla has since spread to cover an estimated 1,000-1,200 acres. Monoecious hydrilla is less noxious than dioecious hydrilla. Monoecious hydrilla dies back in the winter, spreads by trailing along the bottom, and tops out in late summer (August through October). Hydrilla is expected to impact no more than 21,000 acres in Clarks Hill Lake as it continues to spread. The COE treats recreation areas with herbicides to keep boat ramps and other facilities open.
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, and combine to maintain 30 brushpile fish attractors.
FISH COMMUNITY
1998 cove rotenone sample yielded 159 lbs/acre
Redear sunfish: excellent fishery, best in the state, numerous 6-10 inch fish
Bluegill: stunted, few over 6 inches
Warmouth: rare, some with good size
Green sunfish: rare
Redbreast sunfish: rare
Largemouth bass: High catch rates, Wr typically near 90, PSD varies (30-55), not many trophy
fish
Black crappie: excellent fishery, best in the state, average 0.75 lb, many > 2.0 lb
Chain pickerel: rare
Striped bass: stocked annually, average 6-7 lb, several 30 lb+ fish caught every year
Hybrid striped bass: stocked annually, avg 3-4 lb
White bass: becoming rare
White perch: first reported in 1989, now common
Channel catfish: common
Flathead catfish: somewhat rare, former holder of state record
Bullheads: rare
Yellow perch: rare
Prey base:
primary = threadfin shad, blueback herring, gizzard shad
secondary = various minnows and shiners
Common carp: rare
Gar: common
Spotted sucker: common
Silver redhorse: rare
Appendix 12b. Lake Meredith, Texas (courtesy of B. Van Zee, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department)
Physical and historical data
Controlling authority: Canadian River Municipal Water Authority
Constructed: 1965
Water Uses: municipal and industrial water supply, recreation
Surface area at conservation pool: 16,505 acres
Current acreage: 12,000
Nearest major metropolitan area and distance: Amarillo - 35 miles
Reservoir description: Mainstream
River: Canadian
Mean depth (ft): 30
Maximum depth (ft): 127.0
Shoreline development index: 5.05
Watershed: 6,018 square miles
Secchi disc transparency range: 2-8 ft
Conductivity: 2,150 uS/cm
Access:
Boat: adequate - seven ramps
Bank: adequate - nine areas
Handicap: adequate – four ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessible piers
Habitat survey of the littoral zone and physical habitat types, Meredith Reservoir, Texas. A linear shoreline distance (miles) is given for each habitat type found. Percent indicated is percent of total shoreline distance or percent of total reservoir surface acres. Habitat surveys are conducted in August when the vegetation growth is at its peak. The Eurasian watermilfoil and cattails die during the winter months.
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Shoreline Distance
Habitat Type Miles Percent Acres Percent
Water's edge Concrete 0.2 0.3
Rip rap 1.0 1.7
Gravel 3.2 5.5
Nondescript (mud/silt) 3.8 6.6
Flooded terrestrial vegetation 14.9 25.7
Boulder 15.2 26.3
Rock 19.6 33.8
Vegetation Eurasian watermilfoil* 21 0.2
Cattail 243 2.0
Total 264
Near Shore Boat docks, piers, marinas 0.3 0.7
Dead trees and stumps 0.3 0.7
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* There is probably more Eurasian milfoil present than is recorded on this table. The milfoil extends out
from shore and grows in water that is too deep to accurately graph and map it.
Species presence and a general abundance categorization (high, medium, and low) for Meredith
Reservoir, Texas. The abundance categorization is based upon the species relative abundance in
Meredith and their catch rates compared to other reservoirs in West Texas.
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Species High Medium Low
Gizzard shad X
Common carp X
Inland silverside X
River carpsucker X
Blue catfish X
Black bullhead X
Channel catfish X
Flathead catfish X
White bass X
Green sunfish X
Warmouth X
Bluegill X
Longear sunfish X
Smallmouth bass X
Largemouth bass X
White crappie X
Black crappie X
Yellow perch X
Walleye X
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Harvest regulations for Meredith Reservoir.
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Species Bag Limit Minimum Length Limit
Bass, Largemouth* 5 14 inches
Bass, Smallmouth* 3 12 ‑ 15 protected slot length limit
Bass, White 25 10
Catfish, flathead 5 18
Catfish, Blue and channel 25 12
Crappie 25 10
Walleye** 5 16
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*No more than 5 black bass per day in the aggregate.
**Regulation changed from 16‑inch minimum and 5 fish bag, to 5‑fish bag with no more than two walleye under 16 inches on September 1, 1999.
Appendix 12c. Enemy Swim Lake, South Dakota (courtesy of M. Hubers, South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks)
This is a natural lake of glacial origin located in northeastern South Dakota. The lake is owned by the state of South Dakota and managed by the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks (SDGFP). The Sisseston-Wahpeton Dakota Nation owns a substantial portion of the shoreline. The remainder is private lake lots, and SDGFP owns and maintains two lake access areas.
Lake characteristics:
Surface area: 2,146 acres
Shoreline length: 11.8 miles
Watershed: 22,310 acres; 70% cropland, 15% pasture, 5% woodland, 10% other
Watershed/lake area ratio: 10
Shoreline development index: 1.81
Maximum depth: 26 ft
Mean depth: 16 ft
Water conductivity: 900 uS/cm
Secchi transparency: 1.1-2.9 m
Typically does not thermally stratify during summer
Estimated human population within 65-mile radius: 149,500
Vegetation:
Submergent aquatic vegetation is quite extensive throughout the lake, covering approximately 20% of the lake surface area at peak coverage in mid-summer. Identified plants include Ceratophyllum, Myriophyllum, six species of Potamogeton, and Najas are present. Emergent vegetation is in the form of bulrush (Scirpus) and cattail (Typha).
Fish community:
Walleye, yellow perch, bluegill, northern pike, largemouth bass, black crappie, smallmouth bass, white bass, black bullhead, pumpkinseed, white sucker, common carp, logperch, johnny darter, spottail shiner, rock bass, orangespotted sunfish, and fathead minnow. The walleye population receives supplemental stocking; all other species are maintained by natural recruitment.
Appendix 12d. Seminoe Reservoir, Central Wyoming (courtesy of R. Whaley, Wyoming Game and Fish Department)
Seminoe Reservoir, formed by a 206 foot‑high dam completed in 1939, is the most upstream impoundment on the North Platte River. The unregulated North Platte and Medicine Bow Rivers are the main tributaries to the reservoir. Several small tributaries contribute small amounts of water during runoff periods. The maximum surface area of the reservoir is 20,300 acres with a mean depth at full pool of 50.2 feet. Large water level fluctuations are common with a mean annual fluctuation of 31.8 feet. Seminoe Reservoir fills rapidly during spring runoff, usually reaches its maximum storage in July, then is drawn down gradually to minimum storage levels in April. Over the past 30 years the mean surface area of the reservoir has varied from 7,500 to 19,400 acres.
Fisheries Management History of Seminoe Reservoir:
Since it first filled Seminoe Reservoir was managed as a trout fishery by stocking fingerling fish. Rainbow trout have long been the mainstay, but cutthroat trout were also stocked. Trout management in the North Platte drainage would forever be changed with the first documented catch of walleye in Seminoe Reservoir in 1961. After that time, walleye numbers increased rapidly and by 1968, exploratory gill netting confirmed a well established walleye population in the Red Hills, Sailor Creek, and Coal Creek Bay portions of the reservoir.
Through the 1960s and 1970s, Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) continued to stock fingerling trout into Seminoe Reservoir, but fishery biologists began to question what impacts walleye were having on stocked trout. An extensive study was initiated in 1974 to examine the success of trout stocked into Seminoe Reservoir. Through the next five years the majority of the 500,000 to 800,000 rainbow trout fingerlings stocked annually were marked with fluorescent dye to later identify their size and date of stocking. In 1978 WGFD completed a seven month creel survey of Seminoe Reservoir that estimated 11,287 anglers fished 34,654 hours, but harvested only 1,753 trout. The results of this survey are important because, prior to 1978, Seminoe Reservoir had been stocked exclusively with rainbow trout fingerlings. Loss of trout to walleye predation was identified as the major cause for the decline of the trout fishery.
From 1979‑1982, biologists continued to dye mark trout, but began requesting fish for stocking at larger sizes including sub‑catchable and catchable size trout. Gill netting through this interval suggested the vast majority of netted trout were stocked as catchables, and the decision was made to stock Seminoe with 200,000 trout at 5.5 per pound. In 1984, a seven month creel survey assessed how this change in trout stocking impacted the quality of the Seminoe Reservoir trout fishery. This survey estimated 21,736 anglers fished 93,058 hours and harvested 23,959 trout. The size structure of the Seminoe Reservoir walleye population has been carefully monitored since 1984, and as the population average size increased, stocking requests were modified to 110,000 rainbow and cutthroat trout at 3.0 per pound.
In the late 1980's emerald shiners were introduced to provide alternate forage for walleye. Presently the number of shiners inhabiting the reservoir during fall sampling varies greatly, depending on natural recruitment since the first introductions. The reservoir fish community also consists of white suckers and longnose suckers in moderate numbers and very few common carp. Some brown trout drift into the reservoir from the rivers above.
Seminoe Reservoir received 120,000 catchable sized trout annually at an estimated cost to the WGFD of $144,000 in 1999. Due to the expense in maintaining the trout fishery with hatchery trout and its historical reputation as a quality trout and walleye fishery, drawing anglers from throughout southeastern Wyoming and the Denver metro area, WGFD biologists have scheduled a total of 30 worker‑days of permanent personnel and 50 worker‑days of contract seasonal employee time in 2000 to study this important fishery.
Appendix 12e. Mississippi River (Burkhardt et al. 1998)
This Mississippi River reach is an unimpounded, open-water reach located at river miles 29-80. Geographically, this river reach is located along the southern Missouri-southern Illinois border. This sampling station is just one of the six study reaches (five on the Mississippi River and one on the lower Illinois River) in which standard sampling occurs under the umbrella of the Long Term Resource Monitoring Program administered by the Environmental Management Technical Center (U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service).
For the purposes of this exercise, I selected the only river reach that was not associated with a lock and dam pool. The floodplain of this 51-mile river reach covers 105,244 ha. This floodplain is characterized by low percentages of open water (9.9%) and aquatic vegetation (0.6%), and a high percentage (71.5%) of agricultural land. Of the total aquatic area in the study reach, only 1.8% is contiguous backwater and 795 is main channel.
Open Mississippi River water stages are influenced by discharges from the upper Mississippi River, the Missouri and Illinois rivers, and to a lesser extent, the Ohio River. Water stage may fluctuate in the open river by 3-5 ft/week and more than 20 ft/year. At stages above 22 ft, successful gear sets are reduced by high water velocity and flooded riparian vegetation. At stages between 22 and 17 ft, wind dams become totally to partly submerged. Water velocity above wing dams limits the use of most sampling gear. At stages below 17 ft, closing structures emerge making it difficult to access side channels. Gear must be carried in or private landowner permission must be granted to access isolated waters.
The 1940-1996 hydrograph for this river, and the actual 1997 hydrograph are summarized on the figure below.
Fish community: A river of this size obviously contains a highly diverse fish community. Fishes collected during 1997 sampling included chestnut lamprey, shovelnose sturgeon, shovelnose X pallid sturgeon, paddlefish, spotted gar, longnose gar, shortnose gar, bowfin, goldeye, mooneye, American eel, skipjack herring, gizzard shad, central stoneroller, grass carp, red shiner, spotfin shiner, blacktail shiner, common carp, Mississippi silvery minnow, bighead carp, speckled chub, sicklefin chub, silver chub, golden shiner, emerald shiner, river shiner, bigeye shiner, silverband shiner, mimic shiner, channel shiner, bluntnose minnow, bullhead minnow, river carpsucker, quillback, blue sucker, smallmouth buffalo, bigmouth buffalo, black buffalo, river redhorse, shorthead redhorse, blue catfish, channel catfish, stonecat, freckled madtom, flathead catfish, blackstripe topminnow, western mosquitofish, brook silverside, white bass, yellow bass, striped bass, green sunfish, warmouth, orangespotted sunfish, bluegill, longear sunfish, green sunfish X bluegill, spotted bass, largemouth bass, white crappie, black crappie, western sand darter, bluntnose darter, logperch, dusky darter, river darter, sauger, and freshwater drum.
Further information on this monitoring program can be found at the following web address: (http://www.umesc.usgs.gov/data_library/fisheries/fish_page.html).
Reference
Burkhardt, R.W., M. Stopyro, E. Kramer, A. Bartels, M.C. Bowler, F.A. Cronin, D.W. Soergel, M.D. Petersen, D.P. Herzog, T.M. O’Hara, and K.S. Irons. 1998. 1997 annual status report: a summary of fish data in six reaches of the upper Mississippi River system. U.S. Geological Survey, Environmental Management Technical Center, LTRMP 98-P008, Onalaska, Wisconsin.
Gutreuter, S., R. Burkhardt, and K. Lubinski. 1995. Long term resource monitoring program procedures: fish monitoring. National Biological Service, Environmental Management Technical Center, LTRMP 95-P002-1, Onalaska, Wisconsin.
Appendix 12f. Connecticut River (courtesy of Rob Neumann)
The Fisheries Division, Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, conducts standard sampling for diadromous fishes in Connecticut River basin. The
Connecticut River is free flowing throughout Connecticut. The first dam is near Springfield, MA. Two major tributaries of the CT River in CT are the Farmington River (Rainbow Dam) and Salmon River (Leesville Dam). Fishways are located at each dam.
Fish community – Diadromous: Atlantic salmon, blueback herring, alewife, American shad,
American eel, gizzard shad, sea lamprey, rainbow smelt, striped bass, hickory shad, sea-
run brown trout
Resident and migratory: white perch, white sucker, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, white
crappie, bluegill, pumpkinseed, white catfish, channel catfish, northern pike, yellow
perch, walleye, and others.
Goal: Monitor trends in annual abundance of diadromous fishes.