TPWD 1955 F-7-R-3 #145: Segment Completion Report: Experimental Introduction of Fish Species

--- Page 1 --- 7 STATE _ Texas 7 PROJECT NO. F/R3 - dob Fal _ PERIOD June June Ll, 1955 = May 31, 195¢ 1 acemmnecennimennce Tp £ Co Segment Completion Report Leo D. Lewis, Project Leader Walter W. Dalquest, Assistant Project Leader TITLE Experimental Introduction of Fish Species, OBJECTIVES To experimentally introduce non-native fish species to provide either naw sport species to improve the quality of the sport fishing or to add predacious species to aid in the control of rough fishes and forage fishes. CONSIDERATIONS Some of the lakes of North Central Texas are so saline that native species do not thrive in their waters. Additional dams and impoundments o nature are contemplated. If salt water fishes with a high tolerance to le ean be established in these Lakes, it may prove possible to create excellent f 4 waters that would etherwise provide only mediccre sport. troduced, preference should be g are both oe and | areas ioe, thereby aiding in the control of rough Some non-seline lakes of the Texas Panhandle are extremely a roile, fish faunas retnes limited as to species. It may be possible to place adcit: See species in these lakes. The rough fish populations of these lakes are exesssive and syecies. introduced predacious forms may aid in the control of such undesireble Work and results pertaining to this job cannot be judged by numbers of intro- ductions or fishes introduced. Much research on distribution and naturel history of the species under consideration has been necessary. Work on this job has been greatly hampered by lack of sufficient travel funds. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS For assistance with our work in collecting species of marine fishes, we are greatly indebted to personnel of the Marine Division of the Game and Fish Commission, and especially to biologists Ernest G. Simmons and Robe.t J. Kemp, Jr. For aid in transporting specimens collected we wish to thank hatchery superintendents Houston Maples, Harmon Hendersen, and H. W. Williams. “ACKGROUND sre carried out in the year before Two minor introductions of exotic fishes € Gs ©® bass were released in Buffalo Lake job was approved. In 1954, twenty-eight and 58 redfish were placed in Lake Kemp. --- Page 2 --- ACTIVITIES ee WHITE BASS. In July, 1955, 78 white bass were caught in Lake Diversi on and released in Buffalo Lake. Additional releases were planned for later in the year, but in August, fishermen at Buffalo Lake began to take small white bass in fair numbers. These were apparently the results of the twenty-eight fishes released the previous year. Because white bass seemed established in the lake, no additional introductions were necessary. REDFISH. In June, twelve large redfish were placed in Lake Kemp. These in- dividuals weighed from one to three pounds each. In August, two redfish of about one-half pound each were released, incidental to stocking with speckled weakfish. In October, two more yearling redfish were released. In March, 1956, 1,603 redfish fingerlings were taken in the Gulf and brought to Lake Kemp and Salt Creek, a saline watershed stream. Approximately 150 died in transit, and an additional 150 are thought to have died shortly after release. Probably 1,30C fingerlings in good condition survived. SPECKLED WEAKFISH. The first weakfish (speckled trout) planting took place in August, 1955, when 25 specimens from seven to twelve inches in length were released. Some of these fish were not in good condition. In October, 9 yearling weakfish and 9 fingerlings were stocked, all in Lake Kemp. In March, 1956, 89 fingerling trout, condition uncertain, were placed in Lake Kemp. DISCUSSION The stocking of white bass in Buffalo Lake was weclomed by fishermen of the area. The fact that young fish were taken the first year after the one emall planting was most encouraging. After a second year, however, the success of the stocking is less hopeful. Gill netting over the past year has taken only 16 white bass. Several of these were of large size and must have been individuals stocked last year. In cur opinion, conditions in the lake are ideal for the species, but reproduction has not been up to expectations. It is still too soon for positive statement, and the next year or so may disclose white bass in large numbers in Buffalo Lake. Certainly those fish taken by us showed rapid growth and were in excellent condition. The introductions of redfish and speckled weakfish in Lake Kemp have been widely hailed by area fishermen, and this job has created more interest and good will than any other job undertaken to date. We have seen not one redfish or weakfish from Lake Kemp, but there are numerous reports of specimens taken by fishermen. All checked by us were false. A probably authentic record is of two fish taken near the site of release and checked by a game warden. These fish had attained a length of 20 inches, which indicates a minimum growth of 12 inches in 18 months. PUBLICATIONS Saltwater Fish in Freshwater Lakes, Texas Game and Fish Magazine, Aprii, 1956. --- Page 3 --- STIMMARY Work done under this job includes the introduction of white bass to Buffalo Lake, in the Texas Panhandle, where the species has now become well established, and the stocking of 16 large (but not breeding-age ) redfish and approximately 1,300 finger- lings in Lake Kemp, along with 3h large (but not breeding-age) speckled weakfish and 98 fingerlings.