TPWD 1956 F-4-R-3 #255: Inventory of Species Present in Possum Kingdom Lake

JOB COMPLETION REPORT _ STATE OF rams Project Non FMR3 Name Fisheries Investigations and Survexs of the Waters of Region hnBo Job Noe Bah Title Inventorx of Species Present in Possum.Kingdom Lakea Period Covered November 12 1955 to October 312 1956 ABSTRACT ’ lo Possum Kingdom.Lake is a multipurpose reservoir constructed, by the Brazos River Conservation and Reclamation District, on the Brazos River near, Graford, Texaco This lake covers 19,991 surface acres at spillway level and extends into Stephens, Young, and Jack counties with the major portion in Palo Pinto Countyo 20 The inventory of species present together with relative abundance estimates of the fish population were made from data collected between June 1, 1953 and October 31, 3o Rough fish made up 76 percent of the total population by number and 80 percent by weighto to The most abundant species in the catch was gissard shade This species made up 62 percent of the total net catcho 50 Bluegill sunfish were the most numerous game fish but channel catfish pro« vided the greatest poundage of the game speciesc 6Q Redear sunfish introduced into Possum.Kingdom in 1951 have become well estab- lished and are increasingly prominent in the catch of the still and fly fishermena OBJECTIVES To determine the species present and their relative abundance as well as to determine the ecological factors influencing their distributionu HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION Possum Kingdom,sas completed in 19hr as a multipurpose reservoirs The primary purposes of this impoundment are to provide water for hydroelectric} irrigation and municipal usesu The secondary purposes are fishing, hunting and recreationo It is owned and operated by the Brazos River Conservation and Reclamation Districto This lake is located on the Brazos River near Graford, Texas and impounds 19,991 surface acres at spillway'levelo The lake is long and narrow with a shoreline of 310 miles that winds among the foothill type mountains comprising the terrain of these portions of Palo Pinto; Stephens} Young, and Jack Countieso The major portion of the lake lies in Palo Pinto Countyo The shoreline is irregular and consists of a mixture of gently sloping valleys and high limstone bluffso These bluffs often extend as far below tne'rater ‘ they do above with many submerged ledgeso Early rains that filled the lake soon after completion of the dam made removal of the original vegetation impossible. This vegetation consisted of large pecan and other hardwood trees along the banks of the river together with large and small mesquites and cedars. These trees are still to be seen during periods of low water and have been augmented with thick stands of willow and salt cedar. The encroachment of terrestrial vegetation follows each period of low water and tends to add to the fertility of the lake. Aquatic vegetation is generally limited to the shoal areas and consists of heavy growths of bushy pondweed (Najas guadalupensis). This plant occurs in the shallow water in such 'quantities thatnmunrof the better-fishing areas are choked and motor boats are unable to penetrate water_less than six feet in depth. .Water having.a'depth-greater than six feet: Offers no vegetation problem and althOugh this species of vegetation grows at that depth there is clear water above the vegetation and fishing is generally good. TECHNIQUES USED - . . . Collections and observations were made monthly during the period from November 1, 1955 to October 31, .1956. Seine collections were made at established seine stations when the water level permitted. The heavy growth of terrestrial vegetation in the areas that were exposed during the periods of low water made the findings of suitable seine sites difficult as the water rose. The problem was much the same when the lack of rainfall together with an excessive demand for water lowered the lake below the usual low level. The vegetation that had originally covered the lake bed was not cleared, therefore many obstructions were present and as the level descended these were to be contended with when seining was attempted. Net collections were made with gill nets. These nets were usually lé—inch square mesh nets 100 feet long and 8 feet deep. Some 2 inch and 3 inch square mesh nets were used but the majority of the nets were of the smaller size. These nets were set at stations established during the previous segments but the changes in water level forces the net stations to be shifted. The middle one-half of the lake was netted as this area was the most accessible and provided habitats similar to those found at either extremity. This area is also the most heavily fished. The specimens taken were weighed and measured to provide comparative data and field analysis of the stomachs were made to determine food habits. These specimens were examined to detect the presence of parasites or disease. The data taken was recorded on forms devised for that purpose and taken to the laboratory for further processing._ DISCUSSION The checklist of Species from Possum Kingdom Lake, (Table 1), includes thirty— six Species. Two of these Species are generally confined to marine habitats. The Rio Grande tetra and striped mullet were introduced by bait dealers and have not become established as yet. There is some evidence that the striped mullet have been able to survive since the first record was made in 195h when two specimens were taken by contract fishermen. These fish weighed over ten pounds as did the last record which was taken by contract fisherman, H. L. moon in February 1956. This specimen weighed twelve pounds. The Rio Grnade tetra has not appeared in collections since 195% and are presumed to be unable to adapt to the lower temperatures of this region. The fluctuations of the water level made seiningzrt the eleven seining beaches (Map 1) rather difficult. Stations 6, lo, and 11 were usable and collections at these totaled 251 specimens (Table 2). The smaller sunfishes made up the bulk of these collections. Except forfifintion 10 they were the most predominant group in the catch. The sunfish group provided 170 specimens or 68 percent while the two species of Notropis made up 19 percent along with largemouth bass which were the fifth most numerous Species with 10 percent of the total. A total of 2,086 specimens were taken, weighing 1,316.69 pounds. Rough fish made up 8h.65 percent of this number and 8s.5l percent of the total weight. The average weight of the rough fish was .63 pounds and of the game fish was .64 pounds. These fish were taken in overnight sets of gill nets at the twelve net stations established in the central portion of the lake (map 2). All of these stations could not be used on each netting netting at times and made others unprofitable when the water became to deep. There were some stations that could be used by moving in or out as the water level changed. The data presented in Table A shows the results of the netting in terms of fish taken per 100 feet of gill net set overnight in Possum Kingdom Lake. The variations in the catch for the different months of the netting period is shown. The 87 net sets totaled 8,750 feet of net and took 2,086 fish weighing 1,316.69 pounds. The best catches from the standpoint of numbers taken per 100 feet of net were made in November, march, and July when 55.25, hh.88, and 32.33 fish were taken respectively. The weights varied from.month to month and February with only 2h.13 fish per 100 feet of net provided 2l.hl pounds to follow the January total of 36.86 pounds. march and July produced 21.14 and 21.25 pounds reapectively. The June catch was lowest in both number and weight with 6.38 fish weighing 5.16 pounds per 100 feet of net. The catch is further broken down in Table 10 to show the number of each species taken per month per 100 feet of gill net. Gizzard shad dominated the catch each month with November and March providing the greatest average catch with h8.25 and 36.75 Specimens per 100 feet of gill net. The average for the entire period was 18.81 shad while the bluegill sunfish made a rather poor second with 1.1 specimens per 100 feet of net. The highest bluegill catch was in May when 3.62 were taken per 100 feet of net and November and March with 2.13 and 2.5 respectively. The length, weight, and coefficient of condition for each species taken in the gill nets are presented in Table 5 and show some change from the previous two segments. The average lengths and weights of the various species are compared in Table 16. The average length and weight of these fish generally rose in the 195% w 1955 period when the lake filled after a prolonged period of low water. This condition was reversed in the 1955 _ 1956 period when a declining lake level tended to reduce the growth rate appreciably. There were notable exceptions to this, however, for giszard shad, largem mouth bass, and white crappie showed an increase in average length and weight each period while yellowbelly sunfish increased in average length but had a loss of average weight. The gain experienced by the giszard shad was very pronounced since the 1,646 specimens taken in the 1955 _ 1956 segment exceeded the total of the other two segments by 122 fish. The average gain in length was 13 millimeters and in weight was 8h grams. The gain was less pronounced in the largemouth bass and white crappie. The 1,6h6 gizsard shad made up 78.9 percent of the total catch (Tables 6 m 7) while 96 bluegills and 76 channel catfish comprised h.6 and 3.6% percent, reapectively. In Tables 8 and 9 the dominance of gizzard shad, in the population of Possum Kingdom she, is quite apparent. Although this is a comparatively small species, 812.2 pounds or 62.2 percent of the total weight were shad. The larger species such as longnose gar, river carpsucker and channel catfish provided 10.9, 7.2 and 5.7 percent respectively. Largemouth bass were rather low in number but constituted h.l percent of the total weight. h. The stomachs of the majority of fish taken in the gill nets were empty but of the 138 that contained food, 72.6 percent contained algae (Table 11). The 50 sunfish that had fed on algae represented 89.2 percent of the total and of the 53 channel catfish, #5 or 8h.9 percent had consumed algae. White bass proved to be primarily feeding upon fish since 50 percent had eaten unidentifiable fish and 37.5 percent had eaten shad. Largemouth bass also preferred fish since 50 percent contained shad and 30 percent had eaten fish that were unidentifiable. White crappie fed largely on fish as 63.6 percent contained unidentifiable fish remains while 27.3 percent had consumed algae. Stocking records are available for Possum Kingdom.since l9h5 (Table 12). The original stocking was made in l9hl but the fish were planted by more than one hatchery and exact figures have not been available to the writer. The bulk of the stocking has been bass fry. A total of 15,179,002 bass have been planted since l9h5 along with 339,000 sunfish, lh2,050 channel catfish, 35,000 white crappie, and 10,000 warmouth bass. The 1956 stocking was limited to hh,000 sunfish and 5,h00 channel catfish since the 1955 spawn of bass and crappie appeared to be more than ample. The presence of natural salt deposits together with saltwater from oil produc- tion above Possum.Kingdom.Lake are of some concern to those using or planning to use the water from this lake. Table 13 presents monthly data as reported by the U. S. Geolog- ical Survey from their analysis of the water released from Possum Kingdom Dam. Consider- able fluctuation in the concentration of various elements is noted but as yet the only mortality has occurred on the river above the lake when excessive salinity in a pool above a small retention dam was observed. Chemical data is available from the publica— tions of the U. S. Geological Survey for 1952, 1953, l95h, and 1956 but data on 1955 was not available to the writer. Table 18 presents such comparative data as is at hand and it will be noted that 1953 and 1956 were periods of highest concentration of the chemicals present. These periods of concentration are also the periods of low rainfall on the watershed. This lack of rainfall reduces the dilution of salinity and other mineral content of the.effluent from.the natural salt deposits and salt pits in the oil fields along the Clear Fork and Salt Fork of the Brazos above the lake. The three segments covered by this project reflect the complete cycle of lake levels. The 1953 — l95h segment was a period of low water while the lake filled and remained at a high level during the 195% - 1955 segment and dropped to a low level during the 1955 - 1956 segment. Table 1% presents a comparison of the results of seine collec» tions made during each of the three segments covered by the project. The 1953 w 195M segment was highly productive of forage Species with 85.1 percent of the total being Species that provide considerable food for che bass, sunfish and catfish as well as other predacious Species. The l95h - 1955 seine collections were composed of 36 percent forage Species and 6h percent game fish. Largemouth bass made up 18.7 percent of the game fish with the remaining h5.3 percent sunfiSh, largely bluegill and yellowbelly. The 1955 — 1956 collection was composed of an even smaller percentage of forage species since 78.1 percent were game fish. Only 10.h percent were largemouth bass and the majority of the remaining game fish was divided between three species of sunfish. The bluegill, yellowbelly, and redear sunfish provided 37.h, 18.7 and 10.8 percent of the total catch respectively. The increase in the catch of redear sunfish is of importance because this species was introduced into Possum Kingdom in the fall of 1951 and is beginning to show in increasing numbers in the catch of the fishermen. A comparison of the catch of rough fish and game fish for the three segments is presented in Table 15. The 195% — 1955 segment provided the smaller number of speci~ more but the greater weight. The-1955 - 1956 segment provided the greatest number of no market for them. A selective kill of shad could s erve a useful purpose], but would be quite expensive. Prepared by Leonard D. Lamb Approved by W} Jfl—fl’é/ mm L_ Project Leader Chief Aquatic Biologist Date March 27 1957 6. Map. 1. Seine Collection Stations on Possum Kingdom Lake. WW #1 -—- Seine Station 7. Map 2. Netting Stations on PossumKingdom Lake. WW 7']. ”12 ' “13 {5 #l;%:} 4:3 i; ,r 5 C3 #7 #1 #1 ~-- Gill Net Stations Table 1. Checklist of Fishes from.Pcssum.Kingdom.Lake, June 1, 1953 through October 31, 1956. Scientific Name Lepisosteus platostomus LepiSosteus productus Lepisosteus osseus _ Dorosoma cepedianum Carpiodes carpio Ictiobus bubalus Moxostoma congestum Carinus caQ io NotrOpis oxyrhynchus NotrOpiS fumeus ‘ Notropis umbratilis NotrOpiS venustus Notropis lutrensis Notropis deliciosus Notr0pis atrocaudalis Pimephales vigilax Ictalurus punctatus Ictalurus natalis Pylodictusw olivaris Fundulus notatus Gambusia affinis Roccus chrySOps MicroEterus punctulatus MicroEterusw salmoides Chaenobryttus gplosus Lepomis cyanellus Lepomis punctatus Lepomds microlophus Lepomis macrochirus Lepcmis auritus Pomoxis annularis Pomoxis nigromaculatus Percina caprodes Aplodinotus gm mniens Astyanaxm fasciatus * Mugil chphT us * Note _ This Species is a marine form that has probably been introduced by bait dealers. .8. Common Name shortnose gar spotted gar longnose gar gizzard Shad river'carpsucker smallmouth buffalo gray redhorse EurOpean carp Sharpness Shiner ribbon Shiner redfin Shiner blacktail Shiner Plains red Shiner -Southern sand Shiner spottail Shiner parrot minnow channel catfish yellow bullhead flathead catfish blackstripe topminnow mosquitofish white bass Spotted bass largemouth black. bass warmouth green sunfish spotted sunfish redear sunfish bluegill sunfish yellowbelly'sunfish white crappie black crappie logperch freshwater drmn Rio Grande tetra striped mullet Heaps m. memowcm ow menace QoHHmoamm 6% mowswnms wees mommce.WHsmaoBc 6% assess ow meow macawcm dawns as snow meanwbm mamawosc accesses H. mem : Godoaca ch Hmmm. .IIi111IiIutlIIIarI:I1rgiiIIIIIiiiiiIsIIiiuIIaiiiuiI1iIIiiIaIri1IaIIII:rIIiIiIssiIIIIiiI:1:1:|::::::::::::::::::. mama memowom T mamdwob m memewoo Ho mdmamos PH Hedmw doaomoSs newmmwmssa o HodHodSm asadem o : Zoasopwm smasmasm m zoaaomHm Hadcosmwm teammwmpom demHme Engine Bonanza FORDOO H QmEGSmHm mwwwbwm e m o o Eocowamadm mmPBowmcm m Homosem mscodmasm . _ . H o m r o Hemosam oMsnaHHsm floonHm SMOHOHOMWSm Hemoswm smoeooawwcm w OOOPOOOOO bemoawm mSHHdSm. seams mm mm Hrs may 10. Table 3. A.Comparison of Game and Rough Species Caught in G111 Nets from Possum Kingdom Lake, Texas, November 1, 1955 - October 31, 1956. * Total Number Specimens Caught 2,086 Total Weight Specimens Caught (Pounds) 1,316.69 Average Weight Per Specimen (Pounds) .6312 Total Weight of Rough Fish (Pounds) 1,112.75 Total Weight of Game Fish (Pounds) 203.91. Total Number of Bough Fish 1,766 Total Number of Game Fish 320 Average Weight Per Rough Fish (Pounds) .63 Average Weight Per Game Fish (Peunds) .6h Percent Rough Fish (by'Weight) 8h.5l Percent Game Fish (by Weight) 15.l+8 Percent Rough Fish (by Number) 8h.65 Percent Game Fish (by Number)' 15.3h * All catfish included in game fiSh.