TPWD 1958 F-4-R-5 #405: Inventory of Species Present in Lake Weatherford, Job Completion Report, Dingell-Johnson Project F-4-R-5, Job B-23

UNITED s1“ ATES REGION 2 DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR ARIZONA EISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE NEW MEXICO Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife TEXAS . OKLAHOMA OFFICE OF THE REGIONAL DIRECTOR KANSAS ADDRESS ONLY THE REGIONAL DIRECTOR ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO COLORADO FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE P. 0. BOX 1306 ~ _ ' UTAH J.9fi’ unmmune FA—Texas .. , ”V march 10. 1959_ Project F-LI-R-5 jaw” 4fcat’y” . ”3/ ion ,x, id? . _ , [/fl’a’b/rrb Q/V4Y I. 'f’ C/é (5.4 f (I Mr. H. D. Dodgen, Executive Secretary .I‘ q/?? Game and Fish Commission ”fl “fl Walton State Building / i0" 1,. _ .- Austin, Texas ”i“ w“ ’1’ .aw/ Dear Mr. Dodgen: f9; In review of the completion report for Job B-23 of Project F—LI—R—S, Fisheries Investigations and Surveys of the Waters of Region LI-B, it is noted that the poundage catch per 100 feet of gill net is shown as II.Ol (pp- 2 and 6). Should not this figure be 7.52? While this would seem a minor point, the catch during the '57-'58 period will no doubt be compared to future gill net catches in determining fish pOpulation trends, and erroneous conclusions could result. ‘ Sincerely yours , .r I? RR Carey H. Bennett, Chief Division of Technical Services waQQHWEw MAR 16 133: <3.tz£?1€3{3fidflfit 5.:- - ‘. K ‘ '-_‘ V . , . ’l_ . .H c ‘4! jaw-aha; ‘4 _ . , . ' .1. J- Jr: . n. J .- 'F f a J, _ ‘3 ‘,. - . 5" 1 h. . ‘. 1" 1% re '2' -.~ ' -‘ "-Ji u" 51‘.” ' '-. .'-’ ""--r'-"' u. I 4'5 ‘5 1 P k ' I - :‘I’ffi' u '4' I 2'1"". ' I. 't. l dink. " ' _ _. ,_ _.. :u ,. ‘I f, v «i- -‘ - .'\ I "J’J‘f -,I haunt)“ ‘3 . .L _ ‘ If 0'1- .1. ’ .‘_r-r . . . . .. . . . I . . I .. \- w .a ~4. .. O 7r 'r I |\;_~w' g‘H' I-‘rlrm- - n. . :P .- ‘Ju \ In.- . wv‘kafi u v " \ o In}. J‘I.‘ ‘ : I a 4. i o i I. .. ‘7 - .1 I . I..- . II. \ L' | . rah.-- vi s. . . \ _. . ._-L": r .' I “.9 __ . _.‘s- . duo-flux; +'.'-. U. unu'l ”-1 . - I . t - ' I...» _.- . "if" b Luv. 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D._Lamb Project Leader Dingell-Johnson Project F—h-R-S, Job B-23 August 1, 1957 - October 31, 1958 H. D. Dodgen - Executive Secretary Texas Game and Fish Commission Austin, Texas Marion Tools Kenneth C. Jurgens & William H. Brown Coordinator Assistant Coordinators JOB COMPLETION REPORT State of Texas Project No. F4h—R-5 Name: Fisheries Investi ations and Surve s of the waters of Region --B. Job No. Bu23" Title: Inventory of Species Present in Lake Weatherford. ABSTRACT: Lake weatherford is located on the Clear Fork of.the Trinity River north of Highway 80 between Ft. Worth and Weatherford, Texas. It was constructed in 1957. This is a comparatively shallow lake and covers about 1800 acres. " and farm ponds on the watershed when heavy rains broke their dams. OBJECTIVES: To determine the_species present and their abundance as well as to d ecological factors influencing their distribution. etermine the The net collections from Lake Weatherford were started in August 1958. The City of Weatherford requested a check to determine the size of the fish stocked ‘ of that year. This data was included with the material collected during th Net'collectiOns were made at stations representing the different areas and habitats and were made at monthly intervals when weather permitted -ion, it was decided in June of 1958 to net on alternate Seine sampling was attempted but the brush had grown back on the reservoir floor before flooding so that the margins could not be seined efficiently. PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS: Lake weatherford is located on the Clear Fork of the Trinity River just north of Highway 80 betWeen Ft. Worth and Weatherford. The dam was completed in early 1957 and filled in April of that year. Bass fry were planted soon after the lake was filled and channel catfish, crappie, and sunfish were introduced in September. Fish- ing was prohibited until march 15, 1958. This lake is comparatively shallow with a rather flat bottom. It covers about 1800 surface acres and drains an area that is largely grassland. There is little protection from the prevailing winds and during much of the year high waves make fishing difficult. Little cover present, except for some rocky banks near-the east end of the dam, and the water is likely to be very murky as soon as the grass cover is gone from the bottom. RESUDTS: The check list of species is limited to those caught in gill nets since brush in shallow water prevented seining. A total of 5h9 specimens representing five families, seven genera, and eleven species were taken (Table 1). Six of “ these species were stocked from the Possum Kingdom State Fish Iatchery and the other five came from small lakes and farm ponds on the watershed. The rains that filled the lake broke dams of ranch tanks and farm ponds on the watershed. This accounts for the large rough fish taken in nets soon after_the lake filled. The species stocked from state fish hatcheries were largemouth bass, white crappie, channel catfish, and the three species of sunfish. Some fish of these species also escaped from broken dams during the heavy rains but the majority were introduced by stocking. A comparison of the game and rough fish species taken in gill nets shows them to be of almost identical average weights (Table 2). That this is generally -a young population may be seen in the average weights of .h pounds for the rough fish and .38 pounds for the game species. Rough fish represented 59 percent of the total weight and 58 percent of the total number. These figures include the channel catfish among the game species since they are highly regarded by the lOcal fishermen. Table 3 presents data concerning the success of the gill netting in terms of the catch per 100 feet of gill not used on an overnight set. A total of 2850 feet of gill net having 3 inch stretch mesh and 8 foot depth were set in Lake weatherford in 29 overnight netusets. These nets produced an average of 19.23 fish, per 100 feet of net, weighing h.Ol pounds. The length and weight ranges as shown in Table h reflect the presence of older fish from the broken dams in the few outsise specimens of each species. This is especially true in the case of the channel catfish and carp where specimens were taken that were unusually large for a lake of this age.- Gizzard shad, largemough bass, and white crappie were taken each month and- provided 27.5 percent, 12.7 percent, and 11.3 percent of the total number taken (Table 5). slack bullheads appeared in the catch each month except the last two but the unusually heavy catch of December 1957 raised this species to 22.2 per— cent of the total. Bluegill sunfish were taken in each month except February and July with 57 taken in may to total 13.3 percent of the catch. Table 6 presents the data concerning the weight and percentage of each species taken. The gizzard shed provided 21 percent of the total weight but were exceeded by black bullheads with 25.8 percent. Largemouth bass made up a greater percentage of weight than they did of the total number as they provided 18.8 percent of the total weight. Prepared by _ Leonard D. Lamb Approved by 2; 2m Jflfé Project Leader - Date February 3: 1959 Table 1. Checklist of Fish From Lake Weetherford August 15, 1957 w ~ October 31, 1958. SCIENTIFIC NAME COMMON NAME Dorosoma cepedianum gizzard shad Carpiodes carpio river carpsucker Cyprinus carpio carp Ictalurus punctatus .channel catfish Ictelurus melee black bullhead Ictslurus natalis yellow bullheed Micropterus salmoides largemouth bass Lepomis cyanellus green sunfish Lepomis microlophus redear sunfish Lepomis macrochirus bluegill sunfish Pomoxis snnularis white crappie Lake Weatherford, August 15, 1957 to October 31, 1958. __________ii__h_l_____________ll__.__l__.__ni______i________i__1_____1_____i_ni_11__1 Total number specimens caught 5&9 Total weight of specimens (pounds) 21h.29 Average weight per. specimens (pounds) .39 Total weight of rough fish (pounds) 127.02 Total weight of game fish (pounds) 87.27 Total number of rough fish 320 Total number of game fish 229 Average weight per. rough fish (pounds) .hO Average weight per. game fish (pounds) .38 Percent rough fish (by weight) 59 Persent game fish (by weight) #1 Percent rough fish (by number) 58 Percent game fish.(by number) #2 WWW *Channel catfish included in the game fish. 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