TPWD 1959 F-3-R-6 #442: Basic Survey and Inventory of Fish Species in Striker Creek Reservoir

Segment Completion Report Investigations Project State of} TEXAS m- Project No. F—3—R-6 Name: Fisheries Investigations and Surveys of ‘ the waters of Region fi-B. Job No. B712 _ Title: Basic Survey and Inventory of Fish Species in Striker Creek Reservoir. Period Covered: June 12 12§8 through.May 31: 1252 Abstract: year the water quality improved somewhat and was less variable than the first year. The ratio of game fish and rough fish remained virtually the same although some populations of individual species changed considerably. The general physical condition of the fish has dropped off with the exception of largemouth bass and black crappie. Aquatic vegeta- tion has become very abundant in the upper end of the lake as well as in parts of the open water. Recommendations are made to continue this study on a quarterly basis for another year. Objectives: To determine the effects of the poor water quality which exists in the lake on the fish species present. To continue a study of growth rates of game species and certain rough species, to record continued chemical changes in the water. Procedure: This period covers the second year of Lake Striker's existence. Data was collected at bimonthly intervals, generally close to or on the 10th of each month, during this Job. water samples and temperatures were taken in the after- noons at about the same time of day each month. There were six net sets made each collection month at randomly selected locations. Seining collections were also made at randomly selected locations. 1. LimnolOgical Data LimnolOgical data was taken in the same manner as last year. water samples were taken with a Foerst water sampler at five foot intervals from surface to bottom and at . three locations on the lake. The locations were near the dam, midway between TP&L power- house and Brown's Marina and toward the-upper end of the open water. Temperatures were taken at the same locations as the water samples. A reversing thermometer was used to obtain this data. Other limnological conditions recorded were turbidity (Secchi disk), color of water, sky, wind, time and air temperature. 2. Netting_Collections Netting collections were made in the same manner as-last year. Eight experimental type gill nets with mesh size ranging from 1 to 3 inches were set in six randomly select— ed locations. The nets were left out overnight. A total of 36 sets made up of #8 nets were made. . A count was made of all rough fish as they were removed from the nets. They were then destroyed and returned to the lake. All game fish were saved and were then measured (both standard and total lengths) and weighed. Coefficients of condition ("K" factors) were determined from this data. The average lengths, weights and condition factors were calculated for eaCh species each month. Spot checks were made on stomach contents and sexual development. 3. Seining Collections Seining collections were also made in the same manner as last year. Seining collec- tions were made with a 26' by 6' by %” mesh bag seine. Seining locations in some areas were much easier to find than last year because lakeshore lot owners have kept the shoreline clean. Other areas are grown up in dense vegetation making seining impossible. A total of #6 seine hauls representing six collections were made. All specimens were preserved in 10% formalin solution and brought back to the laboratory for identificatior Findings: 1. Limnological Findings One of the primary objectives of this Job was to record chemical changes in the waters. It was determined last year that chemically and physically the waters of Lake Striker varied greatly from month to month, area to area and even at different depths within an area. During the second year the waters stabliaed and the variance was little from time to time. It very seldom changed through the depths. A ll to 12minch rain on the watershed during early May 1959, sent a ten foot wall of water through the lake which tended to change the chemical and physical characteristics of the water. Except for the flood, the lake level remained constant through the year. a. Methyl Orange Alkalinity and pH Table 1 gives the alkalinity and pH for each depth and location on the lake by months. As can be seen there was little variation through the depths and locations for each month. The range of pH this year was 6.0-7.0 and averaged 6.5 which indicated a favorable stabilization and slight improvement. The range last year was 5.0-7.1 and averaged 6.3 which was a wider range and lower average. The pH seems to drop off in the spring months. Methyl orange alkalinity over the.year varied about on the same lines as pH. There was less range than last year and the average was slightly lower. The range this year was from 7 to h2 ppm and averaged 19 ppm. Last year the range was from 3 to 60 ppm and averaged 21 ppm. The alkalinity also drOpped off during the spring months. b. Chlorides The chlorides improved over last year in that they dropped considerably, but it is still high compared to other waters in East Texas. The chloride content gradually increased each month until the flood then it dropped sharply. The range this year was from h9.6h to 226.9h ppm and averaged 166.93 ppm. Last year the range was from 85.10 to h25.52 ppm and averaged 192.51 ppm. The readings each time were fairly stable and the same at all depths in January, March and May. Table 2 gives the chlorides for each depth and location for each month. 0. Temperature and Dissolved Oxygen surface to bottom and at the three locations on the lake for each month. Also, the air temperatures are given. The temperatures followed the usual pattern of being cooler as the depth increased. The widest differences in surface and bottom temperatures was in July and May. The other months the temperatures were fairly uniform. The range was The only pattern dissolved oxygen followed was that it usually was less as the depth increased. The only time it was low was during the month of July and at the bottom levels on other occasions. The range was from 1.0 to 12.6 ppm which is pretty close to last year's range (O.8~l2.6 ppm). Air temperatures at the time of taking water samples ranged from 63~910F. No severe d. Turbidity As time went on from the spring reins of 1958, the lake became less turbid until the flood of May 1959. In July 1959, the turbidity was 36 to 39 inches Secchi and de— creased every month until it became 8% inches Secchi in march 1959. Then it abruptly came back up to the all time high of 8 inches Secchi after the may flood. Generally speaking the waters of Lake Striker have become more or less stablized the second year with less range in the extremes of the water analysis. The quality has improved a little but still is classed as being poor for biological productivity. present there are 42 species of fish that have been found in Lake Striker. It is doubtful that these six species are now present. Table h lists each species phylogenetically for both years. The names are from Hubb's A CHECKLIST OF TEXAS FRESHWATER FISHES, dated December 1958. a. Netting Results of each is given and compared to last year. There were 23 species collected by gill nets, 12 rough species and 11 game species, which includes eight species collected every trip. The rough fish catch predominated the game fish catch every month. The average percentage of rough fish and game fish was roughly 7M% and 26% respectively, which is what it was last year. Again, as last year, it was found that the rough fish were more active in the winter months as concluded by the high percentage of those caught then. A total of 1,53h fish were caught by gill nets over the year (1,918 last year for eleven months). This includes 1,130 rough fish (l,h26 last year) and hot game fish (h92 last year). Gizzard shad again had the highest numbers with 532 (57h last year) being caught. Spotted suckers were next with 227 (91 last year) followed by bluegills with 15h, yellow bullheads with 116, black bullheads with 102 and largemouth bass in sixth place with 93 being caught. The number of species caught each month ranged from 12 to 17 and averaged about 1h. Concerning the fish populations in the lake, there were two major changes but they tend to offset each other. The black bullhead population fell about 10% but the spotted sucker population rose about 10%. Other appreciable changes were giaaard shad up nearly 5% and bluegills up 3%. Both crappies were up but the bass went down. 0vera11 there was little change since the total game fish population came up 0.69% and the rough fish population fell 0.69%. These figures are taken from the actual fish netted and the figures for the individual species probably aren‘t as accurate as they are for the total of all species combined. b. Seining Results Table 6 gives the numbers of fish collected by the bag seine each month. Seining yielded 23 species (28 last year) and a total of 3,099 specimens. Again the most abundant species collected was the brook silversides. The spottail shiner and the red shiner are very abundant also. These three species and the bluegill were the only ones collected every time. There were comparatively few game fish collected by seining, with cyprinids (minnows) making up about 56% of the fish numbers collected by seining. This is a good indication of the food, not including shad, available for bass and other predator species. The number of species collected each month ranged from 7 to 18 and averaged about 13. c. Growth Rates An attempt was made to record growth of some game species. Only two species (largem mouth'bass and channel catfish) made definite gains each time. There were so many spawns or age groups involved in the other species that no trend could be seen. Table 7 shows the growths of these species as indicated by standard lengths. d. Condition of Fish Generally speaking, the physical condition of the largemouth bass and black Crappie improved over last year but other game fishes (warmouth, bluegill, spotted sunfish, yellowbelly and white crappie) fell off greatly (Table 8). Though the average weights were up on some species their condition factor (lengtheweight relationship) was down. This is a direct result of the poor water quality and increase in numbers. The black crappie is more adaptable to clear acid waters than the white crappie and is thus making gains. Last year, when the lake was impounded, there was a large fauna of invertebrates which has decreased sharply as the lake has developed. e. Food Habits As before, no intensive study was made of the food habits of the fish in Lake Striker. Spot checks were made on some of the game fish to get an idea of the main diets of these fish. The majority of the stomachs checked were empty. The bass fed on crawfish and fish, consisting mainly of shed and sunfish, and also including spotted sucker, chub sucker and unidentified fish remains. Some bass had as many as five shed in their stomachs. Warmouths ate crayfish and unidentified fish. Crappie ate shad, unidentified fish, and insects. Channel catfish showed signs of feeding on the bottom since they quite often had mud and gravel in their stomachs, along with vegetation, crustaceans, shad and unidentified fish. f. Sexual Development and Spawning Activity Some of the bass checked in July were spent and bass with immature eggs began showing up in September. By March they were very ripe and in May they were flowing and some were spent. The channel catfish checked in May were gravid and were nearing a spawn. The sunfish were gravid at most any time of the year. Several of the suckers were flowing in march. The flood of early may might have interrupted or delayed some spawning activity. g. Annotated Checklist of Fish Species. l. Lepisosteus productus e spotted gar m this is the only fish population that didn't change percentagewise from last year, according to netted numbers. This fish is probably beneficial to the lake in its present numbers. 2. Amia_calva e'bowfin w this fish doubled in numbers caught from last year but overall it increased only 0.25% of the total population. 3. Dorosoma cepedianum m giszard shad - this is the most commonly collected fish in the lake and increased over last year. 4. Esox americanus a grass pickeral - only one of this species was collected. 5. Carpiodes carpio - river carpsucker a only one of this species was collected which is new for the lake. 6. Moxostoma poecilurum - blacktail redhorse a this species is not too common. 7. Minytrema melanops e spotted sucker - this is the second most commonly collected species and its numbers increased 10% over last year. 8. Erimyzon sucetta - chubsucker - this is one of the more common species in the Int-1mm lake even though their numbers decreased from last year. 9. Cyprinus carpio - carp - only four specimens were collected this year and they again were of a large size. 10. Notemigonus crysoleucas u golden shiner - collected in large numbers by seining and once by netting. They appeared mostly during the winter months. 11. Notropis fumeus w ribbon shiner a this shiner is very common, though collected on only four occasions. l2. Notropis_umbratilis - redfin shiner - a total of three were found twice. l3. Notropis brazosensis w Brazos River shiner - not collected this year. Probably is gone from the lake. 1h. Notropis roseus_~ weed shiner — not collected this year. PrObably is gone from the lake. 15. Notropis blennius_e river shiner a not collected this year. Probably is gone from the lake. ”mm " l6. Notropis venustus - spottail shiner e the fourth most commonly collected species. It appeared every month and in good numbers. l7. Notropis lutrensis_- redhorse shiner — this is the third most commonly collected species in the lake. It aloe appeared every month and in good numbers. 18. Notropis_stramineus w sand shiner u very common, was collected every month except one. 19. Notropis_atrocaudalis m blackspot shiner m not collected this year. Possibly is gone from the lake. 20. Notropis volucellus w mimic shiner a not collected this year. Possibly is gone from the lake. 21. Pimephales vigilax a parrot minnow m collected every month except one and in good numbers. 22. Bybognathus nuchalis m silvery minnow a only one was collected which is a new species for the lake. 23. Ictalurus punctatus m channel catfish - the channel cat began showing up in pretty good numbers which is encouraging. 2h. Ictalurus melas w black bullhead - even though this fish was collected every month,and in large numbers, it still declined 10% from‘last year. 25. Ictalurus_natalis w yellow bullhead a this fish also was collected every time, and in large numbers, but declined only 1.56% from last year. was not collected by seining. 26. Fundulus chrysotus w redspot topminnow — not collected this year. may be present in the upper end. 27. Fundulus notatus - blackstripe topminnow m fairly common. 28. Cambusia affinis m common mosquitofish m quite numerous in the summer. 29. Labidesthes sicculus e brook silversides m the most commonly collected fish species by seining. They were very abundant during the winter. 30. Micropterus salmoides w largemouth bass - though this species fell slightly from last year it is still quite abundant and many nice ones are caught by fishermen. 31. Micropterus punctulatus - spotted bass w this is a new species to the list. They are not too common. 32. Chaenobryttus gulosus - warmouth — both numbers and condition of this species dropped considerably from last year. 33. Lepomis cyanellus w green sunfish - only two small specimens were collected by seining. - 3n. Lepomis punctatus - spotted sunfish m second only to bluegill in the sunfish group in numbers, by seining. Only nine collected by netting. 35. Lepomis_microlophus — redear - there were three taken by netting, which is new to the netting list, and only two by seining. 36. Lepomis macrochirus w bluegill ~ the third most common fish by netting and also high on the seining list. Their condition is down from last year. 37. Lepomis auritus - yellowbelly - rarely caught by nets. 38. Lepomis megalotis m longear - frequently collected by netting and rarely by seining. ' 39. Pomoxis_annularis m white crappie ~ their numbers are up slightly but their condition is down greatly. ho. Pomoxis nigromaculatus m black crappie - both numbers and condition are up. They are becoming fairly common. hl. Ammocrypta vivax w Arkansas sand darter ~ a new species to the list, four were collected. E2. Etheostoma gracile — slough darter - only two were collected by seining. 3. Vegetation Aquatic vegetation has become quite a prdblem during the latter months of this segment. The clear waters are very conducive for vegetation growths. Also the fallen timber and submerged underbrush in the upper and makes access for control almost in» possible. The principal aquatic vegetation encountered were as follows: Parrot feather Eyriophyllum brasiliense Very abundant Coontail Ceratophyllum'_p. Very abundant Sawgrass Zizaniopsis miliacea . . Very abundant Cattail Typha 32. Common The May flood swept out a lot of the vegetation (Figure 3) but was hardly noticeable. It is highly desirable to keep boat roads open and the open water clear of vegetation if at all possible. Conclusions and Recommendations: During Lake Striker's second year of existence the growth of game fish has slowed down. The game fishnrough fish ratios have remained virtually unchanged but the numbers are up. However, the condition of the fish has dropped off due to the poor water quality and increased numbers. Sports fishing as a whole has remained good. Aquatic vegetation has become a prOblem in the upper end. Considering the above conclusions it is therefore recommended that: 1. Sport fishing pressure be kept high. 2. Efforts should be made to keep all boat roads and channels as well as the open water areas clear of vegetation. 3. Studies of the fish populations should be continued but only on a quarterly basis. ' h. Continued studies should be conducted on the water to see if time will improve the quality. Prepared by John N. 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