Black Bass and Crappie Use of Installed Habitat Structures in Table Rock Lake, Missouri

Abstract

Reservoirs are important resources utilized by millions of freshwater anglers annually, but as reservoirs age the quality of the habitat that they provide for fish deteriorates. In 2007, a large‐scale habitat improvement project began on Table Rock Lake, Missouri, with the goal of supplementing existing fish habitat in this large reservoir. Over 2,000 habitat structures composed of cedar, pine, hardwoods, stumps, and rocks were installed between 2007 and 2013. By means of scuba surveys, we evaluated the use of these structures by black bass Micropterus spp. and crappies Pomoxis spp. to determine whether it varied among fish species, fish sizes, and structure types. Black bass were observed utilizing all structure types but appeared to utilize hardwoods most. Covariates such as water depth and visibility at the structure confounded our analysis of black bass use, however, limiting our ability to clearly document differences in use. Crappies never used rock structures, and more crappies were observed on cedar structures than any other type. In Table Rock Lake, black bass were attracted to all structure types and crappies were attracted to all structure types except rock. Since fish use is similar across nearly all habitat types, other factors such as cost and installation times should be considered when planning habitat enhancement projects on large reservoirs.Received August 12, 2013; accepted October 30, 2013

Diel habitat selection of largemouth bass following woody structure installation in Table Rock Lake, Missouri

“…various levels of branching complexity and interstitial space), whereas simple woody structures consisted of single tree trunks with little or no branching. In addition to existing natural habitat, ≈2,000 habitat structures (trees and rock piles) were installed between 2007 and 2013 by the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC; see Allen, Bush, Vining & Siepker, ) to supplement existing habitat and provide additional fishing opportunities for anglers.…”

“…Main lake structures had been placed at depths of 3–7.5 m (at conservation pool), whereas structures in coves had been placed at 1–4 m depths (at conservation pool). For further details on habitat installation, see Allen, Bush, Vining & Siepker, ().…”

“…To understand how sport fish use installed structure in a large reservoir, a lake‐wide SCUBA survey of fish use of different installed structure types in Table Rock Lake, Missouri, USA (Allen, Bush, Vining & Siepker, ), revealed that black bass Micropterus spp. and crappies Pomoxis spp.…”

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Artificial Fish Habitat Designs in Turbid Reservoirs Using Sonar Imagery

“…Differences in structural complexity, such as size and interstitial spacing, construction material, water depth, and water turbidity have all been associated with increased abundance of Largemouth Bass Micropterus salmoides, Bluegill Lepomis macrochirus, and crappies Pomoxis spp. around these habitats (Johnson et al 1988;Lynch and Johnson 1989;Johnson and Lynch 1992;Allen et al 2014;Daugherty et al 2014).…”

“…One of the first of these devices, dualfrequency identification sonar (DIDSON), produces video-like imagery that allows fisheries managers to observe fish in a way that is comparable with visual observations (Holmes et al 2006;Maxwell and Gove 2007). Sonar imagery allows visual evaluation of habitats in turbid environments and during nighttime hours when previous methods of visual observation (i.e., SCUBA and snorkeling) were negatively affected (Magnelia et al 2008;Thurow et al 2012;Allen et al 2014). Unlike electrofishing, sonar imagery is not selective based on fish morphology and can evaluate a habitat at great depths (Wills et al 2004;Reynolds and Kolz 2012).…”