Ohio River Largemouth
Bass Research:
Task 1: Adult Radio Telemetry (Habitat Use)

Submitted to:
West Virginia Department of Natural Resources
Division of Wildlife

Submitted by:
Jason Freund and Kyle J. Hartman
West Virginia University
322 Percival Hall
P.O. Box 6125
Morgantown WV 265060-6125

Summary

This report summarizes research activities conducted on the Belleville Pool of the Ohio River from 1 January 1999 through 31 April 1999. A total of 10 days were spent tracking radio tagged fish and taking water quality measurements within the Belleville Pool. In addition to these efforts, electrofishing effort was expended but is not included in this report. However, electrofishing effort within the Belleville Pool is summarized in the first quarter report for juvenile bass habitat use (Table 3; Hoffman and Hartman 1999). During the first quarter, one fish was implanted with a transmitter with the frequency of 49.014 on 30 April 1999. In addition to activities on the Ohio River, preliminary results of this study were presented at two American Fisheries Society Meetings during the first quarter of 1999.

Objectives

1. Determine largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) overwintering habitat selection and movements within the Belleville Pool of the Ohio River.
2. Determine seasonal water quality differences between major Ohio River habitat types (embayments, tributaries, and main channel) and correlate water quality information to fish habitat preferences.
3. Determine pre- and post-spawn movements of largemouth bass and spawning habitat preferences.

Summary of First Quarter Activities

Portions of this research project were presented at two American Fisheries Society meetings in February and March. On 25 February through 28 February, Jason Freund attended the Southern Division American Fisheries Society Mid-Year Meeting in Chattanooga, Tennessee. During this meeting, he presented a paper introducing the preliminary results of this research examining the habitat use and movements of wild and stocked fish within the Belleville Pool (Freund and Hartman 1999a). The following week, Jason Freund attended the Tri-State American Fisheries Society Meeting in Ashland, Kentucky on 3 March and 4 March 1999. Here, a paper was presented on preliminary research on overwintering habitat selection of largemouth bass in the Belleville Pool of the Ohio River (Freund and Hartman 1999b).

In addition to radio tracking efforts, investigators electrofished the Belleville Pool to obtain bass for the adult and juvenile largemouth bass research projects. On 30 March 1999, a largemouth bass was implanted with a transmitter with a frequency of 49.014. The fish was captured within Lee Creek during research efforts conducted on the juvenile largemouth bass habitat project. Additional fish of the proper size were captured, but water temperatures during the capture period were too low to ensure adequate survival of the fish (John Pitlo, Iowa DNR, personal communication). Low survival rates of fish during cold weather do not warrant the risk of losing an expensive radio tag. Electrofishing effort has and will be increased during the pre-spawn period coinciding with adequate water temperatures (60° F, 15.6° C) ensuring higher survival rates of experimental fish. For reference, Table 1 provides a summary of radio transmitters used during this study.

A total of eighteen fish have been implanted with radio tags as of 31 March 1999. Of these, twelve fish (ten wild, two hatchery-reared) were located a total of sixty-nine (69) times during the ten days of radio tracking conducted during the first quarter of 1999 (Table 2). Three fish were located on all ten dates while two stocked fish were located twice within this time period. High water in early January, coinciding with a large snowmelt and several large February and March snowstorms reduced our efforts within these months.

Future Investigations

While mid-June will mark the end of the first years data collection examining habitat usage of overwintering and spawning largemouth bass, the investigators will seek to examine several other questions during the summer and fall months. A question that has concerned many anglers and biologists is what do the bass do during the summer? Most fishermen have assumed that largemouth bass move from the embayments, the major overwintering and spawning areas, to the main river during the summer months. However, based on limited data from the summer of 1998, several fish utilized embayments throughout the summer months. Additionally, water temperatures in the embayments were cooler on average than the main river and dissolved oxygen was sufficient for largemouth bass during the entire summer. Therefore, it is necessary to further investigate post-spawn dispersal and summer habitat selection. In another sub-study, the fish with the largest transmitters (which are continuously on) will be tracked for 24-hour periods to determine if time of day influences their movements. In addition, preliminary evidence suggests that there are two "populations" of bass within the Belleville Pool, those that are "home-bodies" and the "wanderers". This hypothesis is supported by literature investigating other systems. Limited evidence in this study speculates that fish that do not move as much and have smaller home ranges are more susceptible to angling. Evidence of this is seen in the four fish obtained from tournaments. One fish (49.111) was creeled by an angler less than two weeks after it was implanted with a radio transmitter. Another tournament caught fish (49.034) was likely creeled less than two weeks after its release in Worthington Creek, a Little Kanawha River tributary (see 1998 Fourth Quarter Report for details). In addition to field research, overwintering and spawning radio telemetry data will be analyzed and locations triangulated by the start of the fall 1999 semester.

Bibliography

Freund, J.G. and K.J. Hartman. 199a. Evaluation of a pilot largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) stocking program using radio telemetry. 27 February 1999. 1999 Southern Division of the American Fisheries Society Mid-Year Meeting, Chattanooga TN.

Freund, J.G. and K.J. Hartman. 199b. Overwintering habitat selection by largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) in the Ohio River utilizing radio telemetry. 4 March 1999. 1999 Tri-State American Fisheries Society Meeting. Ashland KY.

Hoffman, E. and K.J. Hartman. 1999. 1999 First Quarter Report: Ohio River largemouth bass research: juvenile habitat selection. Submitted to West Virginia Department of Natural Resources. Charleston WV.

Table 1. Summary of tags and frequencies used to implant adult largemouth bass with radio transmitters for use in adult largemouth bass habitat use in the Belleville Pool of the Ohio River. Here, time is military time, length (mm) TL, weight in grams.

Freq.	Date	Time	Length	Weight	Location of Capture	Habitat
49.014	3/30/99	.	.	.	Lee Creek	EMBAY
49.034	9/19/98	1630	429	1226	From Tourney at P'burg	Main River
49.054	.	.	.	.	Not yet used	Not yet used
49.075	4/23/99	.	.	605	Lee Creek	EMBAY
49.095	4/25/99	1100	415	1300	Sugar Camp Run	EMBAY
49.111	8/15/98	1630	454	.	Mustapha Illand, Ohio Shore	Main River
49.134	4/23/99	.	432	1646	Lee Creek	EMBAY
49.140	7/2/98	2230	380	851	Lee Creek, up from bridge	EMBAY
49.154	.	.	.	.	Not yet used	Not yet used
49.170	8/15/98	1630	413	.	Main River, downstream	Main River
49.194	.	.	.	.	Not yet used	Not yet used
49.201	8/15/98	1630	417	.	Ski Cove @ Hocking River	EMBAY
49.230	7/3/98	1129	476	1670	Lee Creek	EMBAY
49.337	4/26/99	900	356	.	Rock Run, by Dam	EMBAY
49.354	4/23/99	1030	361	864	Sugar Camp Run	EMBAY
49.367	4/23/99	1030	315	555	Lee Creek, Robin hood road	EMBAY
49.384	12/6/98	12:00	356	685	Swan Run	EMBAY
49.398	11 grams	.	.	.	Not yet used	Not yet used
49.413	8 grams	.	.	.	Not yet used	Not yet used
49.428	10/25/98	1600	327	520	Swan Run	EMBAY
49.444	12/6/98	12:00	308	440	Swan Run	EMBAY
49.457	10/25/98	1355	307	450	Swan Run	EMBAY
49.474	4/23/99	1030	.	455	Lee Creek	EMBAY
49.494	.	.	.	.	Not yet used	Not yet used
49.504	10/20/98	900	322	500	Stocked fish, Sprock Hatchery	Hatchery Fish
49.514	.	.	.	.	Not yet used	Not yet used
49.524	10/20/98	900	354	696	Stocked fish, Sprock Hatchery	Hatchery Fish
49.534	10/20/98	900	347	554	Stocked fish, Sprock Hatchery	Hatchery Fish
49.550	10/20/98	900	345	515	Stocked fish, Sprock Hatchery	Hatchery Fish
49.570	10/20/98	900	319	336	Stocked fish, Sprock Hatchery	Hatchery Fish
49.590	10/20/98	900	333	590	Stocked fish, Sprock Hatchery	Hatchery Fish

Table 2. History of fish tag location (by fish or frequency) for largemouth bass tracked between 17 January and 31 march 1999 in the Belleville Pool of the Ohio River.

Task 2: Juvenile Habitat Use

Submitted to:
West Virginia Department of Natural Resources
Division of Wildlife

Submitted by:
Elizabeth Hoffman and Kyle J. Hartman
West Virginia University
322 Percival Hall
P.O. Box 6125
Morgantown WV 265060-6125

Objectives

1. Determine young of year (YOY) and juvenile largemouth bass habitat selection within the Belleville Pool of the Ohio River.
2. Determine seasonal water quality differences between various habitat types (mainstem river, embayment, tributary), and correlate water quality differences with YOY and juvenile habitat preferences.

Methods

Assessment of YOY and juvenile largemouth bass habitat use in the Belleville Pool of the Ohio River continued through the first quarter. The information presented in this report is from data collected between January 25 and April 26, 1999. The three major habitat types; mainstem river, embayment, and tributary were surveyed at selected sites. Effort was made to sample evenly between the various habitats when weather conditions allowed. Field sampling occurred during both day and night hours in the first quarter period.

All fish were collected by direct current (DC) pulse electrofishing. Each survey was conducted at a constant speed for 15 minutes at selected sites. Habitat types and species collected for all surveys are given in Table 3. Surveys were conducted in each habitat type several times each month. All species captured were recorded and total lengths were taken at the completion of each electrofishing survey.

Microhabitat utilization was noted by placing a buoy at each capture site of juvenile or YOY largemouth bass. Upon completion of the 15-minute survey and measurements of any other species captured, we returned to the buoy sites to measure various water quality parameters. At each buoy location (measured by GPS) the parameters measured include time, water temperature, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, depth, conductivity, salinity, nearest habitat feature, and visible habitat type.

Total length and wet weight were recorded for each bass prior to tag implantation. After being anesthetized in a clove oil solution, fish were tagged with numbered Floy anchor tags. A small vertical incision was made slightly anterior and dorsal to the anal vent to allow insertion of the tag. Fish were recovered in an aerated tank until equilibrium and swimming ability was regained. After recovery, fish were released near the site of capture.

Progress to Date

A total of seven field days and five electrofishing hours (300 minutes) were spent attempting to capture YOY and juvenile bass in the Belleville Pool for habitat use assessment between January 25 and April 26, 1999. Electrofishing results showed little or no difference in catch between day and night and largemouth bass catch rates increased monthly in the first quarter of 1999 (Figure 1). To date a total of 51 juvenile or YOY bass have been tagged and released with no initial mortalities. During the first quarter, 35 of these tagged fish were captured during our electrofishing surveys. During the

month of January one juvenile bass was tagged in an embayment during a total of 30 minutes of electrofishing. Other species commonly captured in January were bluegill, and river redhorse. In February four juvenile bass were tagged in embayments during 60 minutes of electrofishing. Bluegill, river redhorse, and carp were other common species collected. Thirteen bass were tagged in March; twelve in tributaries, and one in an embayment during 90 minutes of electrofishing. Other species commonly caught were bluegill, smallmouth buffalo, river redhorse, and carp. In April seventeen bass were tagged during 120 minutes of electrofishing time. Eleven of these bass were captured in embayments and the remaining six in tributaries. Bluegill and smallmouth buffalo were other prevalent species captured during surveys in April. All data from the 1999 first quarter collections have been entered and will be analyzed later in the year.

Special Considerations

While catch rates are still relatively low, they have greatly improved with the increase in water temperature. We anticipate bass capture rates to remain high through spring, as fish movement continues to increase. The drop in field days and total electrofishing time during this quarter was partly due to attendance of professional meetings (SDAFS and Tri-state) and inclement weather. The weather factor has been most problematic for surveys on the main channel.

We are still waiting for the arrival of a new low velocity flow meter for future data collection efforts. To combat the anticipated drop in catch rates as water temperatures climb during the summer months, we have ordered 16 radio transmitters to implant in juveniles later this spring. The radio transmitters will enable us to collect data on juvenile movement when they are not vulnerable to electrofishing. These transmitters will also permit us to compare habitat usage data from both techniques to evaluate the validity of the electrofishing method.

Figure 1. Catch per unit effort (fish per minute) of juvenile largemouth bass collected by pulsed DC current within the Belleville Pool of the Ohio River between 1 January and 29 April 1999.

Table 3. Monthly catch of fish using pulsed DC current in the surveys for juvenile largemouth bass habitat use, January – April 1999 in the Belleville Pool of the Ohio River.

January				February
Habitat Type	Species	# caught		Habitat Type	Species	# caught
Embay- ment	Bluegill	5		Embay- ment	Largemouth bass	5
	Redhorse	4			Bluegill	4
	White crappie	2			Redhorse	3
	Freshwater drum	1			Freshwater drum	1
	Largemouth bass	1			Black crappie	1
					White crappie	1
Tributary	Bluegill	5
	Hybrid striped bass	2		Tributary	Carp	3
	Carpsucker	2			Bluegill	1
	Smallmouth buffalo	1
	Freshwater drum	1		April
	orange spotted sunfish	1		Habitat Type	Species	# caught
	White crappie	1		Embay- ment	Bluegill	20
	Black crappie	1			Largemouth bass	14
	Redhorse	1			Freshwater drum	6
	Sauger	1			Carp	4
					White crappie	4
March					Redhorse	3
Habitat Type	Species	# caught			Smallmouth buffalo	2
Embay- ment	Largemouth bass	3			Warmouth	1
	Bluegill	2			Hybrid striped bass	1
	Carp	2			Spotted bass	1
	Smallmouth buffalo	1			Pumpkinseed sunfish	1
	Redhorse	1
				Tributary	Bluegill	40
Tributary	Largemouth bass	13			White crappie	8
	Bluegill	12			Largemouth bass	6
	Smallmouth buffalo	2			Smallmouth buffalo	3
	Redhorse	2			Redhorse	3
	Black crappie	1			Carp	2
	Carp	1			Pumpkinseed sunfish	2
	Brook silverside	1			Carpsucker	2
	Green sunfish	1			Quillback carpsucker	2
					Spotted bass	1
Mainstem	Smallmouth buffalo	4			Sauger	1
					Warmouth	1
				Main	Smallmouth buffalo	11
					Freshwater drum	7
					Quillback carpsucker	1
					Redhorse	1

Task 3: Evaluation of Largemouth Bass Stocking in Two Ohio River Embayments

Submitted to:
West Virginia Department of Natural Resources
Division of Wildlife

Submitted by:
Eric C. Janney and Kyle J. Hartman
West Virginia University
322 Percival Hall
P.O. Box 6125
Morgantown WV 265060-6125

Objectives

1. Determine if stocking embayments can be used as a practical management tool to improve the Ohio River largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) fishery.

1. Determine the impact of stocking largemouth bass into a riverine system.
2. Determine whether stocked bass contribute significantly to the catch of largemouth bass by recreational and tournament anglers.

Study Area

French Creek (Willow Island Pool) and Little Mill Creek (Racine Pool) were selected as stocking sites by the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources and Dr. Kyle Hartman based upon size and potential largemouth bass habitat.

First Quarter Summary

This report summarizes data collection efforts and study activities from January 1, 1999 until May 15, 1999. In addition to conducting research on the Ohio River, some preliminary results of this project were presented at the Tri-State American Fisheries Society annual meeting in Ashland, Kentucky on March 4, 1999 and at the West Virginia Wildlife Society/American Fisheries Society chapter meeting on April 18, 1999.

Despite poor field conditions, a substantial field effort aimed at evaluating stocked bass has taken place since January 1, 1999. Electrofishing activities and creel survey efforts were limited during the months of January and February due to poor weather conditions and low angler activity. Creel surveys were conducted on March 27, 28, 29, and 31 and again on May 7, and 8. In addition to the roving creel surveys, two bass tournaments were attended and angler success data concerning stocked bass was obtained.

Electrofishng surveys have been conducted on two occasions at each study site since January 1, 1999. Preliminary catch-per-unit-effort results indicate a decrease in stocked largemouth bass populations in both embayment study areas. Electrofishing survey data are summarized in Table 4.

Efforts will be made to obtain data concerning tagged fish caught during bass tournaments held in the Racine and Willow Island pools throughout the 1999 tournament season. Tournament organizers have been contacted and informed of the research being conducted. Arrangements have been made with tournament organizers to ensure that catch information concerning stocked fish will be reported. Data collected from the bass tournaments held this year in the Willow Island pool show that three tagged fish have been caught during each of the two tournaments.

Voluntary creel cards, which have been printed on write-in-the-rain paper, and pencils will be handed out during tournaments to provide anglers the means to record tag numbers and catch locations. Provisions have also been made to make creel cards available for anglers at Wright’s Marina in Belmont, WV. Hopefully, this will encourage anglers to record catch locations and tag numbers of stocked fish.

Since January 1, 1999, five anglers have phoned in reports of tagged fish caught in various locations within the Willow Island and Racine pools. Information on angler catch of stocked bass has generally indicated that the stocked largemouth bass have dispersed from the original stocking locations to other portions of the Willow Island and Racine pools. Of the 27 anglers interviewed during creel surveys, only 4 indicated that they had caught stocked bass. Anglers interviewed at both study sites during creel surveys reported catches of 10 stocked bass and 28 wild bass during a total of 143 hours angling effort.

Table 4. Summary of electrofishing CPUE data from each location where bass were stocked during October 1998.

French Creek
Date	Total Effort (min)	Stocked Bass	Wild Bass	Stocked Bass/Hour	Wild Bass/Hour
09/19/98	60	0	0	0	0
10/04/98	60	0	0	0	0
10/12/98	60	0	5	0	5
10/26/98	30	62	5	124	10
11/08/98	45	41	15	55	20
01/30/99	60	9	3	9	3
05/15/99	60	1	12	1	12
Little Mill Creek
Date	Total Effort	Stocked Bass	Wild Bass	Stocked Bass/Hour	Wild Bass/Hour
9/20/98	30	0	0	0	0
10/2/98	60	0	1	0	1
10/11/98	15	0	1	0	4
10/12/98	60	0	2	0	2
10/16/98	60	0	4	0	4
11/3/98	45	3	2	4	3
11/9/98	60	6	4	6	4
1/31/99	60	2	8	2	8
3/12/99	60	1	0	1	0