TPWD 1964 F-4-R-11 #938: Inventory of Hubbard Creek and Proctor Lakes Including an Evaluation of the Pre-impoundment Rotenone Treatment of Hubbard Creek Lake

JOB COMPLETION REPORT ~E - As required by FEDERAL AID IN FISHERIES RESTORATION ACT TEXAS Federal Aid Project No. F—é—R—ll FISHERIES INVESTIGATIONS AND SURVEYS OF THE WATERS 0F REGION 2~A Job No. B—31: Inventory of Hubbard Creek and Proctor Lakes Including an Evaluation of the Ere-impoundment Rotenone Treatment of Hubbard Creek Lake. Project Leader: L. D. Lamb J. Weldon Watson' Executive Director Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Austin, Texas Marian Toole Eugene A. walker D-J Coordinater Assistant Directer for Wildlife July 93 1965 ABSTRACT . Investigations were conducted on Hubbard Creek Lake and Proctor Lake to determine the success of the pre—impoundment rotenone treatment on the fish population of Hubbard Creek.Lake. Data taken from the two reservoirs were compared to determine the effects of pre-impoundment treatment. The total percent by number of rough fish in Proctor is 40.72 while Hubbard has 40.65 per cent. In per cent of weighzrough fish are more abundant in Hubbard Creek with 54.94 compared with Lake Proctor's 41.85. JOB COMPLETION REPORT State of _ Texas Project No. F—4—R-ll Name: Fisheries Investigations and_§urvey§ of the fl_ Waters of Region 2-A. Job No. B—3l Title: Inventory of Hubbard Creek and ngctor Lakes Including an Evaluation of the Pre-impoundment Rotenone Treatment of Hubbard Creek Lake. Period covered: November I 1963 - Octobetfl§l 1964 __ fl OBJECTIVES: I. To determine the fish species present3 their relative abundance and the factors influencing their distribution. 2. To compare the fish pOpulation9 in Hubbard Creek Lake lpremimpoundment rotenone treatment of watershed) with those of Proctor Lake luntreated watershed) to determine the following: a. Rough fish w game fish ratio. b. Growth rates (based on length of time since stocking) c. Coefficient of condition of game species. d. Reproduction of game species. INTRODUCTION Hubbard Creek Hubbard Creek Lake is located nine miles Northwest of Breckenridge in Stephens County, Texas. The earthen dam9 across Hubbard Creek below the confluence with Sandy Creeks will impound approximately 18,000 surface acres when full. Hubbard Creek dam was built by the City of Abilene3 Texas9 in order to provide water for this city and smaller surrounding towns. Since the project was created for a water supply alone9 no roadss fishing facilities or public launching ramps were built. Clearing of brush from the lake basin was complete. During this segment of work the lake inundated about 45000 surface acres. Soils on the watershed are primarily of clay9 and claywloam with underlying limestone. Shoreline vegetation is very limited. Mesquiteis the predominant tree while the shoreline supports bermuda grass9 sunflowers and various other range grasses and weeds. Hubbard Lake is very susceptible to wind which hinders fisher“ men due to high wave action. Hubbard and Sandy Creek9 within the lake basin9 were treated at the rate of 1.5 ppm liquid rotenone during the last two weeks of August 1962. Prior to the basin treatment all farm ponds were treated with powdered rotenone in order to remove the existing fish population. The small ponds were then stocked with bass and catfish in anticipation' that these would provide a brood stock when inundated by the rising lake. -2... Proctor Lake Proctor Lake is located on the Leon River near Proctor, Comanche County, Texas. The structure was built by the Corps of Army Engineers for flood prevention and recreation. Work on the dam was completed in the spring of 1963 and due to heavy rains on the watershed the lake was filled immediately. Lake Proctor has 4,600 surface acres of water which is supplied by Brushy Creek, Sabina River and Leon River. soils on the watershed are primarily sand with underlying clay. Peanuts and water~melons are the principal crops grown on the immediate watershed. The shoreline has a variety of trees and grasses. Large pecant trees interSpersed with post oak form the dominant vegetation while bermuda is the most abundant grass. Launching ramps, camp sites, picnic areas and paved roads, built by the Army Corps of Engineers, make the lake very attractive and extremely accessible to the public. 1 Bpth Hubbard Creek and Proctor Lakes are new impoundments completed in late 1962 and early 1963. Both reservoirs were stocked with catfish and largemouth bass from State hatcheries. Procedure: Standard type gill nets were used and set at random locations for each collection Standard gill nets are 150 feet long, 8 feet deep with graduated mesh from one inch to three and one-half inch changing every 25 feet. Nets were set in the afternoon and raised the following morning and left for a 24 hour period before removing them from the lake. Both Hubbard Creek and Proctor were netted in the same manner. Data for individuals taken in nets consisted of length, weight, sex, stage of sexual development and stomach analysis to determine food habits of different Species. Seining collections were taken from both lakes using a combination of seines: A 20 — by 4-foot commonsense minnow seine, a 26 u by 6 « foot bag seine and a 60 — by 6 — foot straight seine. Specimens were preserved in 10 per cent formalin solu- tion and brought to the laboratory for identificatipn. Findings; Netting - Lake Proctor Netting and seining from both Hubbard Creek and Proctor Lakes yielded a total of twenty«three Species of fish representing nine families. A total of 2,179 fish were taken in eight collections from Proctor Lake. White crappie proved to be the most abundant Species with 843 or 38.68 per cent p, numbers netted. Largemouth bass were next with 221 or 10.14 per cent followed_by by river carpsucker with 217 or 9.96 per cent, drum with 203 or 9.32, carp with 190 or 8.72 and channel catfish with 123 or 5.64 per cent (Table No. 1). s3... Reconnaissance netting during the 1962 ~1963 segment {Job No. B—29) shows bass to have an average length of 226 millimeters while this year the average length is 254 or an increase of 28 millimeters.. During the 1962 ”1963 reconnaissance the average weight of bass was 295 grams while this segment shows an average of 454 grams for an increase of 159 grams. Average "K” for bass remained relatively unchanged. (Tables No. 1 and No. 2). White crappie show a slight increase in both average length and average weight but a slight drop in the "K” average while channel cat show a slight drop in average length but an increase in average weight. Stocking Lake Proctor was accomplished in 1963. Largemouth bass fry were released as follows: May 27, 51,000; May 30, 40,000; June 13, 50,800; and June 19, 15,000; 21,700 channel catfish were stocked June 16 and on November 11, 1963 a total of 5,250 flathead catfish were released in Proctor. Seining w Proctor Brush and other obstructions covered by the newly formed lake made seining difficult. Only sand flats and launching areas could be seined. Seine samples taken during the month of June yielded the following; gizzard shad — 148; blackstripe topminnow — l; buffalo — 2; and gambusia n 6. These were taken with a 20 foot seine while seining near laupching ramps. During July a 60 foot straight seine was utilized to seine on the sand flats and this collection produced 406 gizzard shad, 14 bluegill, 500 red Shiner, 10 buffalo and one crappie. A 26 foot bag seine was purchased in August and was used to take 8 shad, 208 red Shiner and 4 crappie while seining near weed beds and brush. Netting 1 Hubbard Creek A total of 1,481 fish were caught by ten collections from Hubbard Creek Lake. Bluegill sunfish proved to be the most abundant Species with 342 or 23.09 per cent by numbers netted. Largemouth bass were next with 212 or 14.31 per cent followed by buffalo with 203 or 13.71 per cent, carp with 161 or 10.87 per cent, shad with 152 or 10.26 and blue catfish with 134 or 9.05 per cent (Table No. 3). Reconnaissance netting during the 1962 - 1963 segment (Job B—29) shows largemouth bass to have an average length of 230 millimeters while this year the average length is 253 millimeters or an increase of 23 millimeters. During the 1962 4 1963 reconnaissance the average weight of bass was 299 grams while this year shows an average of 414 grams or an increase of 113 grams. Average ”K” for bass has decreased only slightly (Tables No. 3 and No. 4). White crappie and channel catfish show only a slight change in average length or weight, but blue catfish show a considerable increase in both average length and weight. Fish stocking in Hubbard Creek Lake from State Fish Hatcheries was completed immediately after the lake caught water. A total of 36,000 blue catfish; 2,000 flathead catfish and 150,000 fingerling channel catfish were released into the lake. In addition to the above mentioned fish 31,000 largemouth bass were released into the lake. -4- Seining in Hubbard Creek was made difficult also due to the rough type ground which the water inundated. Seining during the month of July 1964, using a 60 foot straight seine produced one longear sunfish, seven bluegill, 61 red Shiner and only 2 gizzard shad. Using a 26 foot bag seine and seining in small sloughs near the dam, the catch increased in number to 4,000red Shiner, 2 largemouth bass, 7 bluegill, l2 shad, 9 buffalo and l crappie. Discussion: The small number of Shad in the seine sample taken from Hubbard Creek tends to indicate that the pre-impoundment treatment was a success in reducing shad but the feeding habits of the bass, catfish and crappie as shown by stomach analysis, show that shad made up the greater portion of their diet. Crappie made up the next most abundant Species found in the stomach analysis. Stomach analysis of fish from Lake Proctor indicated that shad was utilized as the major forage Species. Shad reproduce very rapidly as shown by the work done on Fincastle Lake in East Texas therefore they will tend to become a major rough fish in Hubbard Creek Lake. Gill net samples indicate a smaller per cent of shad in Lake Proctor than in Hubbard Creek. Proctor filled without the pre-impoundment rotenone treatment. Buffalo and river carpsucker are present in Proctor also but the total per cent by number of rough fish in Proctor is 40.72 while Hubbard Creek Lake has 40.65 per cent rough fish by number. Therefore the two lakes have approximately the same ratio of fish as also shown by per cent by weight. Hubbard Creek shows 54.94 per cent and Lake Proctor shows 41.85 per cent by weight of rOUgh fish. Recommendations: It is recommended that the project be continued in order to determine the condition and the ratio of rough fish to game fish. Preliminary analysis based on the data gathered during this segment indicate that the pre—impoundment treatment of Hubbard Creek either was not successful or that the reduction of the fish popu- lation does not have long enough lasting benefits to justify the cost. , 97 6.9 Prepared by: waane . Smith Approved by é3¥1arrbx . ( oordiantor) Co-Leader JOHN E. TILTON Regional Supervisor Date: July 9, 1965 -5... Table 1. Results of netting Lake Proctober November 1, 1963 - October 30, 1964 Per Cent. . by ' S-ecies _ Number Number Spotted gar . 60 2.75 Longnose gar _9 I 0.41 Gizzard Shad _ 90 4.13 Smallmouth buffalo: 45 2.07 River carpsucker 217 I 9.96 European carp 190 8.72 Channel catfish . 123 5.64 I Black bullhead - 42 1.93 Yellow bullhead 31 1.43 Flathead catfish 11 I 0.51 l 4 Largemouth bass I 221 I 10.14 4 I Warmouth 12 ‘ 0.55 4.30 0.32 l 171 I 162 _ 3.13 Greensunfish 28 ' 1.28 4.12 0.32 129 5 66 2.58 Redear sunfish 1 i 0.05 ' 0.08 0.07 115 I 40 2.70 Bleugill Sunfish ' 52 2.39 5 4.42 0.34 103 ‘ 38 _ 3.68 Longear sunfish I 1 0.05 0.11I 0.09 115 50 3.45 White crappie f 843 38 68 ; 377.65 28.52 201 203 ' 2.65 Freshwater drum - 203 9.32 96.68' 7.30 215 9 216 ' 2.14 Total 2179 100.00 1324.54_ 100.00 mmuw Table 2. S-ecies Spotted gar Longnose gar Gizzard shad Smallmouth buffalo River carpsucker European carp Channel catfish Black bullhead Yellow bullhead Flathead catfish Largemouth bass Green sunfish Bluegill sunfish Longear sunfish White crappie Freshwater drum Total 21 21 13 22 108 25 73 18 104 446 —6- Per Cent Total 4.48 31.70 0 23 2 12 4 71 8.44 4 71 5 67 2.92 11.62 4.93 16.50 24.21 '101.95 0.67 2.00 0.22 0.70 16.37 47.43 1.80 1.60 4.30 1 64 1.12 0.47 23.32 42.17 0.67 0.79 100.00 292.31 Lake Proctor netting results, 1962 - 1963 (Reconnaissance) Per Cent Average Averaged. 10 84 462 719 0 72 600 964 2.89 221 198 1.94 119 118 3.98 238 406 5.64 232 431 34.88 308 389 5.99 238 318 0.68 252 305 0.24 270 320 16.23 226 295 0 55 141 90 0.56 105 43 0.16 105 43 14 42 190 184 0.28 163 120 I 100 00 2.12 2.45 2.27 1.93 1.65 2.39 3.15 3.90 3.81 2.72 2.78 ..7.. Table 3. Results of netting Hubbard Creek Lake November 1, 1963 ~ October 30, 1964 Average Averagg Weight "K” Gms Per Cent Average Length Spotted gar I I 580 l 0.68 Longnose gar l 2983 I 2.11 Gizzard shad I I 185 I 1.67 Smallmouth buffalo 203 13.71 -174.43 I 15.50 I 221 l 391 I 2.77 River carpsucker 29 1.96 : 44.97 I 4.00 I 306 I 704 I 2.32 European carp 161 10.87 .217009 I 19.29 I 296 I 612 I 2.12 Channel cat I 84 5.67 53.97 I 4.80 I 259 I 291 I 1.31 Blue cat 134 9.05 '111.22 I 9.89 I 289 376 I 1.38 Black bullhead _ 18 1.21 . 4.81 I 0.42 I 171 121 ' 1.82 Flathead cat 10 I 0.68 ' 45.15 I 4.02 I 495 2049 I 1.75 Largemouth bass ' 212 14.31 ,193°59 I 17.20 I 253 .414 u 2.18 Warmouth : 2 0.14 3 0.57 I 0.05 I 170 130 I 2.49 Green sunfish ' 9 0.61 I 1.10 I 0.10 I 128 55 I 2.56 Bluegill sunfish I 342 I 23 09 28.53 2.54 I 103 37 3.29 White crappie _ 86 I 5.80 . 67.97 6.04 242 358 2.61 Freshwater drum 20 1.36 . 27.63 2.46 304 627 2.07 . I Total : 1481 _100 00 F325.08 I100 00 ~8— Table 4. Hubbard Creek Lake netting results, 1962 ~ 1963 (Reconnaissance) 'Total Per Cent. Average! AveragefeAverage' Length "K“ Species mm Spotted gar 441 E 487 I 0.65 Longnose gar 677 . 1596 9 0.57 Gizzard shad 237 1 249 7 1.75 Smallmouth buffalo w 31 11.65 221 I 518 I 2.90 River carpsucker P 3 1.13 252 I 511 I 2.51 European carp I 52 19.55 243 303 I 2.33 Channel catfish I 33 I 12.41 263 362 i 1.37 Blue catfish 52 19.55 256 228 I 1.30 Black bullhead I 6 2.26 199 166 2.00 Flathead catfish 1 0.37 330 I 624 1.75 Largemouth bass 33 12.41 230 I 299 2.22 Bluegill sunfish 5 1.88 111 54 3.80 White crappie I 5 I 1.88 288 351 I 2.76 Freshwater drum 3 I 1.13 228 : 408 I 2.56 ___ ' ________I Total 266 I100. 00 '199.76 .100°00 . ___.__________.s__:_i____I_ ...__..___._