TPWD 1954 F-3-R-1 #102: Basic Survey of Fish Species in Lake Palestine

As required by FEDERAL AID IN FISHERIES RESTORATION ACT TEXAS Federal Aid Project No. F-3mR~lO Fisheries Investigations and Surveys of the Waters of Region 3-B Job No. 3-19 Basic Survey of Fish Species in Lake Palestine Project Leader John N, Dorchester J. Weldon Watson Executive Director Parks and Wildlife Department Austin, Texas Marion TOQIe Eugene A. Walker D—J Coordinator Director, Program Planning November 6, 1963 ABSTRACT Lake Palestine is a newly impounded reservoir containing 6,000 surface acres. The project was constructed by the Upper Neches River Municipal Water Authority. A year-long basic survey was conducted5 using experimental type gill nets, bag seines and liquid rotenone. Fifty—one species of fish were collected, including adequate numbers of important sport and commercial Species. Submerged aquatic vegetation is the only major problem foreseen in the future of the lake. Failure to preperly clear certain areas of the lake of brush and timber has enabled the plants to maintain a rapid growth rate. Recommen- dations are made to resurvey the lake at bimonthly intervals during the coming segment. SEGMENT COMPLETION REPORT State of TEXAS Project No. F—3-R—10 Name: Fisheries Investigations and Surveys of the Waters of Region 3-B. Job No. B-l9 Title: Basic Survey of Fish Species in Lake Palestine Period Covered: February l, 1962 m January 31, 1963 Objectives: To gather fundamental data on this newly impounded reservoir located on the Neches River in regard to its physical, chemical and biological aspects. To de» termine the growth rates and food of game species stocked. To observe the influx of other fish species and to record chemical changes, if any, of the water. To observe any influx of noxious vegetation and to control same under Job Sal if necessary. History: Lake Palestine is now in the second stage of a three stage project constructed by the Upper Neches River Municipal Water Authority. The project was authorized by the Texas State Board of Water Engineers on July 12, 1956. Stage one, which was the aquisition of the dam site and the engineering, was begun in 1956. Stage two, which consisted of the construction of the present dam was begun June 1, 1960, and was scheduled for completion on January 1, 1962. The earth filled dam is located near Blackburn Crossing, which is approximately 4 miles east of Frankston. The dam has a height of 48 feet above the stream bed and a length of 4,000 feet. The upstream slope of the dam is protected from erosion by ripmrap. The dam has an uncontrolled spillway 500 feet in width. The top eleva— tions of the dam and spillway from mean sea level are 343 feet and 322 feet, respectively. Water was impounded in the winter of l96lw62. Lake Palestine, at its present second stage level, covers 6,000 surface acres and 60,000 acre feet of water. Procedure: A collecting trip was planned each month for 10 months beginning in February, 1962. A trip was made each month with the exception of November. Data collected each month included gill netting results, seining collections, water analysis, temperature, turbidity readings and general weather conditions. Netting Methods Sixteen experimental type gill nets were set each month,_with the ex— ception of December, when only 14 nets were set. The nets were set at_12 random locations each month. Eight of these nets were 8 feet deep and eight were 6 feet in depth. All of the nets were 125 feet in length with mesh sizes of l, 1%, 2, 2% and 3 inches arranged in 25 foot sections. The nets were set in the evening and picked up the following morning. A total of 120 sets were made, consisting of 158 sets. All netted fish were separated according to species, then counted and weighed. The game fish were individually weighed and measured for standard length. Their sexual condition and stomach con ents were also recorded. Co- efficients of condition (“K” factors) of the game fish were calculated. The average lengths, weights and condition factors were calculated according to species. Seinitg Seining collections were made with a 26 by 6 foot bag seine with 1/4 inch mesh and a 15 by 4 foot hag seine with 1/8 inch mesh. Seining was done at random, but old road beds leading into the lake were generally seined because they were free of brush and provided good seining collections. Rotenone During the months of June, July, August, September and October, liquid roten as was applied to a small area as an additional means of collection. The rotenone was applied to the same area each month, a creek entrance on the west side of the lake approximately 1/4 mile above the dam. One quart of liquid Pro-Nox Fish was applied to each collection. The water was then agi— tated with outboard motors to disperse the chemical. As the fish began to surface, they were picked up with landing nets, buckets and even hands. Many Specimens were also recovered from the bottom in_shallow water. The surface area treated was approximately 2000 square feet, but the creek bed formed a deep channel, thus making a relatively high number of cubic feet of water as compared to the surface area. This depth, no doubt, enabled some fish to escape the chemical by swimming out into the lake prOper. Findings: Stocking The following fish were put in the lake by the Tyler Fish Hatchery: _Largemouth bass (fry) (Micropterus salmoides) 750,000 Warmouth (goggle—eye) (Chaenobryttus gulosus) 10,000 Redear sunfish (Lepomis microlophus) 32,000 Redbrest sunfish (Lepomis auritus) 16,000 Black crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus) _5,000 Channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatns) 164,000 Fish Collections A total of 51 Species, representing 14 families was collected from lake Palestine as shown in Table 1 and Table 2. Netting A total of 3,263 fish made up of 29 Species was collected from Lake Palestine by netting. The Spotted gar (Lepisosteus oculatus) was the most numerous Species netted with a total of 497 (15.23 per cent). Black bullheads (lctalurus melas) were the second most numerous species netted. Other numerous Species of rough fish netted were gizzard Shad (Dorosoma cepedianum), smallmouth buffalo (Ictiobug bubalus), and bowfin (Amia calva). Rough fish are defined as any species other than those ordinarily sought by Sport fishermen. The most numerous game fish species netted was the channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus). A total of 242 (7.42 per cent) channel catfish were caught. Their weight averaged 1.77 pounds. Table 3 gives the complete netting results for each months collection. Table 4 indicates the condition of the more important game fish species netted from Lake Palestine. In general, the coefficient of condition ("K” factor) for each species is good. This indicates that the existing game fish populations are in good balance with their food supplies. The length and weight ranges in milli—v meters for each species also indicated that the growth rates are adequate. Seining Collections Ten seining collections were made, consisting of 115 seine drags. A total of 6,390 specimens were collected, representing 39 species. Table 5 shows the numbers of each species caught during each collection as well as the total number caught each month. Rotenone Collections Twenty—six species of fish were collected by the use of liquid rotenone. There were some species caught by this method that were not taken by netting or seining. Table 6 gives the methods by which each species was collected each month. Food Most of the fish stomachs that were examined contained some type of food. The most numerous food item found during the spring months was crayfish. Many bass and catfish stomachs contained small crayfish. This was true of the majority of bowfin stomachs also. This high frequency of crayfish was undoubtedly due to the recent flooding of the river bottom which exposed the crustaceans to the fish. II. III. IV. VI. VII. VIII. IX. Table 1. A checklist of Lake Palestine fish species Family: PETROMYZONTIDAE - lampreys l” jkmthyomyzon castaneus - chestnut lamprey Family: LEPISOSTEIDAE - gars 2. Lepisosteus oculatus - spotted gar 3. L. osseus - longnose gar 'Family:.AMIIDAE - bowfin 4. Amia calva — bowfin Familyz' CLUPEIDAE — herrings 5. Dorosoma cepedianum - gizzard shad Family: ESOCIDAE — pickerels 6. Esox americanus - grass pickerel Family: CATOSTOMIDAE ~ suckers and buffalofishes 7. Ictiobus cyprinellus - bigmouth buffalo 8. I. bubalus - smallmouth buffalo 9. Carpiodes carpio - river carpsucker 10. Moxostoma poecilurum - blacktail redhorse 11° Minytrema melanops - spotted sucker l2. Erimyzon sucetta ~ lake chubsucker Family: CYPRINIDAE - shiners and minnows 13. Cyprinus carpio — carp 14. Notemigonus crysoleucas — golden Shiner 15. Notropis atherinoides — emerald Shiner 16. fl. fumeus - ribbon Shiner 17. fl. texanus - weed Shiner 18. E. potteri - chub Shiner 19. E. venustus — Spottail Shiner 20. E. stramineus — sand Shiner 21. fl. volucellus — mimic Shiner 22. Pimephales vigilax — parrot minnow Family: AMEIURIDAE — freshwater catfishes 23. Iotfifuruspunctatus — channel catfish 24. I. melas - black bullhead 25. I. natalis — yellow bullhead 26. Pylodictis olivaris - flathead catfish 27. Schilbeodes gyrinus — tadpole madtom Family: CYPRINODONTIDAE - killifishes and topminnows 28. Fundulus chrysotus ~ golden topminnow 29. E. notatus - blackstripe topminnow Fanfiign POECILIIDAE e moSquitofiShes 30. Gambusia affinis ; mosquitofish "' XI. Family: ATHERINIDAE - Silversides .31. Labidesthes Sicculus - brook silversides XII. Family: CENTRARCHIDAE a black basses and sunfishes 32. Microgterus punctulatus ~ spotted bass 33. M. salmoides n largemouth bass 34. Chaenobryttus gulosus . warmouth 35. Lepomis cyanellus « green sunfish 36. L. punctatus — spotted sunfish 37. L. microlophus _ redear sunfish 38. L. macrochirus - bluegill sunfish 39. L. auritus -redbreast sunfish 40. L. megalotis — longear sunfish 41. Pomoxis annularis — white crappie 42. Pomoxis nigromaculatus — black crappie 43. Centrarchus macropterus — flier 44. Elassoma zonatum — banded pigmy sunfish XIII. Family: PERCIDAE a perches and darters 45. Hadropterus scierus - dusky darter 46. H. shumardi - river darter 47. Percina c_aprode — logperch 48. Ammocrypta vivax w scaly sand darter 49. Etheostoma chlorosomum _ bluntnose darter 50. E. gracile — Slough darter XIV. Family: SCIAENIDAE m croakers, drums and weakfishes 51. Aplodinotus grunniens — freshwater drum 10. 11. 12. 13. —6- Table 2. Annotated Checklist of Fish Species Ichthyomyzon castaneus - chestnut lamprey. Five lampreys were collected in February and March. Lepisosteus oculatus — Spotted gar. The Spotted gar was the most numerous species collected by netting. Lepisosteus osseus — longnose gar. Only 15 longnose gar were netted. _Amia calva - bowfin. Large schools of young bowfin were observed and many were netted. In May there were an estimated 1,200 bowfin fingerlings collected in one seine haul. Dorosoma cepedianum - gizzard Shad. A good shad population is established in the lake. Esox americanus — grass pickerel - Only a few of this species were taken by nets but several were collected by seining. Ictiobus cyprinellus — bigmouth buffalo. Although not as numerous as the smallmouth buffalo, this Species is fairly common. Ictiobus bubalus - smallmouth buffalo. A large number.of this Species was caught during February and March. The numbers caught declined greatly but increased again in the following fall. Carpiodes carpio — river carpsucker. This Species was collected only during the summer months. Moxostoma poecilurum - blacktail redhorse. A few of these suckers were col“ lected during the winter. Minytrema malanops — Spotted sucker. Except for the buffalo, this was the most numerous sucker collected. Erimyzon sucetta — lake chubsucker. A large number of chubsuckers were netted in December. Cyprinus carpio — carp. Although netted consistantly, most of the carp were caught during the summer months. Notemigonus crysoleucas — golden Shiner. A few golden shiners were netted but the majority was collected by seining. Notropis atherinoides — emerald Shiner. This species was collected during the month of March. Notrogis fumeus - ribbon Shiner. The ribbon Shiner was collected in February and April. 17. 18. 190 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 35. Notropis texanus - weed Shiner. Notropis potteri — chub Shiner. _7- This Shiner was collected in June with rotenone. The chub Shiner was collected in May. Notropis venustus - spottail Shiner. This was the most commonly collected Shiner. Notropis stramineus — sand Shiner. The sand Shiner was collected in winter and Spring. Notropis volucellus — mimic Shiner. The mimic Shiner was collected on three trips. Pimephales vigilax — parrot minnow. This species was taken in February and May. Ictalurus punctatus - channel catfish. The channel catfish was the most numerous game fish collected. Ictalurus melas - black bullhead. One hundred and sixty black bullheads were netted in December, which was the largest number collected in one month._ Ictalurus natalis - yellow bullhead. Although not as numerous as the black bullhead, this species was netted consistantly. Pylodictis olivaris - flathead catfish. A total of twelve flatheads was taken during the year. with rotenone. occasions. _Schilbeodes gyrinus - tadpole madtom. One madtom was collected in September Fundulus chrysotus - golden topminnow. This Species was collected on three Fundulus notatus — blackstripe topminnow. The blackstripe topminnow is common in the lake. Gambusia affinis — mosquitofish seining and rotenone. in very good condition. This Species was collected rather consistently. Labidesthes Sicculus — brook silversides. This Species was collected by both Micropterus punctulatu — spotted bass. All of the Spotted bass caught were MicroEterus salmoides - largemouth bass. This important game fish species is growing rapidly and is very numerous. Chaenobryttus gulosus - warmouth. is rather scarce. A total of forty-one warmouths was netted. Lepomis cyanellus — green sunfish. This SpeCies, collected during the summer, 36. _Lepomis punctatu ~ spotted sunfish. Only twenty—one spotted sunfish were collected. 37. Lepomis microlophu - redear sunfish. Only eight redear were caught. 38. Lepomis macrochirus — bluegill sunfish. This was the most numerous sunfish collected. 39. Lepomis auritus - redbreamzsunfish. The redbreaa:sunfish was collected on occasions. 40. Lepomis_megalotis - longear sunfish. Only a few of this species were collected. 41. Pomoxis annularis - white crappie. A total of nine white crappie was netted. 42. Pomoxis nigromaculatus - black crappie. This species was netted consistently in small numbers; however, several hundred fingerlings were collected with rotenone. 43. Centrarchus macrogterus - flier. This species was collected in large numbers during May and June. 44. Elassoma zonatum - banded pigmy sunfish. This Species was collected in small numbers during the winter months. 45. HadroEterus_scierus - dusky darter. Only one dusky darter was collected. 46. Hadropterus Shumardi — river darter. Thirty—five river darters were collected in April. 47. Percina caprodes — log perch. One specimen of this species was collected with rotenone. 48. Ammocrypta vivax — scaly sand darter. Twenty scaly sand darters were collected. 49. Etheostoma chlorosomum - bluntnose darter. Seven of this species were collected in February. 50. Etheostoma gracile - slough darter. Sixty—five slough darters were seined in May. 51. Aplodinotus grunniens - freshwater drum. This Species was netted each month except December.