TPWD 1959 F-6-R-6 #443: Basic Survey and Inventory of Fish Species Present in the Escondido Creek Watershed

Report of Fisheries Investigations Basic Survey and Inventory of Fish Species Present in the Escondido Creek Watershed by Alvin Ge Flury Project Leader Dingelanohnson Project Fw6wRe6, Job Bulk July 1, 1958 a June 30, 1959 Ha Du Dodgen « Executive Secretary Texas Game and Fish Commission Austin, Texas Marion Tools Kenneth Ca Jurgens & William Ha Brown Toordinetor Assistant Coordinators Jab Completion Report State of TEXAS Project No. Fw6—R—6 Name: Fisheries Investi ations and Surve s of the waters of Region EwB. JOb No. Balk Title: Basic Survey and Inventory of Fish Species in the Escondido Creek water- shed. Period Covered: Juli 1, 1958 ,. June 30, 1959 Abstract: The Escondido Creek watershed Pilot Project was built by the Federal Government and the Kernes County Soil Conservation District in l95h through 1958. Eleven dams were built as flood control structures and estensive soil conservation measures were carried out on the entire ll? square miles of the watershed. Each dam forms a sediment pool of permanent water of 200 acre-feet. Drains and flood draw down structures prevent rough fish access from downstream. Water sampling, netting and seining were carried out to determine the fisheries conditions of nine of the lakes. In general water conditions were found to be suitable for good production of warm water fish and #08 fish of 12 species were taken by netting and seining. " Although all nine lakes seem to offer fair to good fishing at present, five of them contain bullhead catfish which are expected to ruin them within a short time. At such time as undesirable fish become overabundant, recommendations are made for the complete removal of fish from these lakes and restocking with desirable fish. Objectives: To determine the chemical and physical characteristics of the Escondido Creek Watershed and the fish species present and their relative numbers. Procedure: Mr. Roy G. Freeman, Jr., Work Unit Conservationist, Soil Conservation Service, Kenedy, Texas, was contacted regarding the Escondido Creek Pilothatershed Project. Information about the location and size of the lakes, land owners involved, and purpose and operation of the project were largely obtained through Mr. Freeman. The project leader and two field assistants visited nine of the eleven lakes in the watershed at least once during the investigation. One water sample and two netting collections were taken from each of these lakes and, in some cases, seining collections, stocking records and ecological notes were also obtained. Findings: Physical Description In 1953, the Kernes County Soil Conservation District entered an agreement with the Federal Government to develop the Escondido Creek Watershed as a Pilot Project. This was one of four such projects in Texas and one of 62 in the United States. Funds to build the dams were furnished by the Federal Government while the planning, engineering, and land treatment were paid for by the District. Once constructed, the dams became the property of the District for maintenance but the other land involved and the right of access to the lakes remained with the individual property owners. The dams located on branches of Escondido Creek were primarily intended to retain flood waters and drain them off slowly into the creek through drawdown tubes. A sediment pool of 200 acre feet was to be the only “permanent" water behind each dam between heavy rains. A spillway at the end of each dam was designed to carry off exceptionally heavy runoffs, expected only once in 25 years. Small, light rains were to be caught and held in the soil above the dams by contouring, cover crops, brush control, and seeding in pastures, controlled grazing and other soil conservation measures. The watershed controlled by this project covers 117 square miles, and sediment pools, water manageable for fisheries, totaled M67 surface acre-feet. Escondido Creek drains ‘into the San Antonio River almost 100 miles above its mouth. The average annual rainfall in Kernes County is 29.8h inches. Topography is gently rolling, with waxy clay soil in the west, and sandy loams in the north and east. Brush and small timber are the dominant upland vegetation but increasing amounts of pasture are being cleared for improved pastures and row crops. Map I shows the loca- tions of the lakes in Kernes County. Figure I shows a schematic drawing of a dam and Table 1 gives basic statistics of the eleven lakes. All are from a mimeographed pamphlet prepared by Mr. Freeman. Water Analysis Water analysis samples were taken from just in front of the drawdown structure in the deepest part of each lake checked. Samples were taken from the surface and, where possible, from 10 and 20 feet deep. Temperatures, dissolved oxygen and carbon dioxide amounts reflected the time of year and prevailing air temperatures and were normal for this area. Two lakes, at sites No. 2 and No. 8, showed Phwth alkalinity which is not usually found in the area. The methylorange alkalinities ranged from 25 to lh6 parts per million, averaging 90.9, which is rather low for South Texas. Tests . for pH showed a range of 8.2 to 8.8, averaging 8.6, which is normal for the area. Except for Sites E0. 1 and No. 8, all lakes investigated were clear with secchi disk readings of 11.5 to 25 inches. Both of these lakes were low at the time they were checked and it was Obvious that the small amount of water remaining in the sediment pools had been stirred up by wind and fish action on the soft mud bottoms. The water in these lakes is perfectly suited to warm fish species. All lakes have deep enough water to prevent overheating or complete coverage by submerged vegetation in the summer. ' Site No. 11 was not checked because the dam was only completed in July 1958, and the lake had not yet caught any appreciable amount of water. Neither had it been stocked with fish by the end of the investigation period. Site No. 9 was not ins vestigated because the land owner contacted refused to give his permission for project personnel to work the lake. Fish Collections Two experimental gill nets were set over one night in each of nine lakes. These nets were made of nylon with a floating top line and a weighted bottom line. They were eight feet deep and 125 feet long made up of 25—foot sections of 1", §”, 2", 2%” and 3” square mesh. Such nets are desinged to catch a small, representative sample of the various sizes of fish present. As shown in Table 3, a total of 186 fish, of 10 species, was taken in the nets. Lengths, weights and condition of fish were normal for this area except that most channel catfish.were very fat. One seine collection was made from each of the lakes investigated except at Site No. 6. A.total of 222 fish of six species was taken. Because of the small samples of fish taken, the lists for each lake are certainly incomplete. It is known that flat- head catfish are present at Site No. A from stocking records and catch reports. However, the lists do give a good indication of needed management practices. Of the fish taken by seine, all were normal except that bass fingerlings and bluegill sunfish from Site No. h were ”flat bellied", apparently near starvation. No insect larvae or other aquatic invertebrates were found in the weeds at this lake. Red shiners, apparently stocked by seining local waters, have done well in two lakes. They are probably a better forage fish for all of these lakes than the sunfish. Stocking Records Partial stocking records were available from some of the lake owners. Some of the lakes were apparently overstocked by requesting additional fish each year, by request~ ing fish from both State and Federal fish hatcheries, and by stocking wild, local fish that the owners had seined or caught from near by streams or tanks. Proper stocking does not consist of putting as many fish of as many kinds as possible in a lake. For best fishing results, lakes such as these when they are new or have just been treated with rotenone should be stocked with 100 to 200 largemouth bass fry, SO to 100 channel catfish fingerlings and 100 redear sunfish fingerlings per surface acre. Bream (any kind of sunfish), white crappie and fish from local waters should never be stocked except by trained personnel under special conditions. These fish, which are not harvested by most fishermen, compete with bass and catfish for food and will, sooner or later, overstock a lake and ruin the fishing. Recommendations: Of the nine lakes sampled, only those at Sites No. 2, 5, 7 and 10 seem to be in good condition relative to the kinds of fish present. These contained only channel catfish, largemouth bass, sunfish and white crappie (the latter in No. 10 only). Site No. 7 might be improved by stocking some bass; however, they may already be present but were missed in the collections. Largemouth bass and channel catfish are the prinw cipal, most desirable game fish in lakes such as these and white crappie should not be stocked unless there is a heavy utilization expected. The sunfish may or may not be desirable as forage fish. It is doubtful that bass feed on them to any extent and, especially in smaller lakes, they are likely to become overabundant, stunted and will ,ompete with young bass for aquatic invertebrates. This leads, within a few years, to a tremendous number of small sunfish and crappie and only a small number of large bass which are unable to reproduce because the sunfish either eat the young bass or starve them out. The other lakes investigated, at Sites No. l, 3, h, 6 and 8, all have bullheads present. These fish are definitely undesirable. They overpopulate quickly, become stunted, feed on any young bass hatched, eliminate any aquatic invertebrates present and muddy the lake by stirring the bottom silt. This muddiness prevents the growth of any submerged aquatic vegetation which would furnish cover for young game fish and the aquatic invertebrates. All nine lakes seem to be offering fair to good bass and cat- fish fishing at present. As long as fair fishing success can be had in fall, winter and spring (summer is almost always a poor fishing season), and as long as the water remains reasonably clear, there is no need for renovation. When the bullheads, buffalo and sunfish become overabundant and stunted, or when the water becomes murky or muddy, it will be necessary to remove all the fish present and reustock. This could be accom~ plished easily by draining a lake through the draw down tube as low as possible and treating the remaining water in the borrow pit with rotenone. Any small farm ponds or water holes above the lake would have to be completely rotenoned to kill all the fish there also. If the draining and rotenone treatment could be done just prior to the expected rainy season, the lake should fill soon after treatment and be ready to restock with desirable fish. Treatment of the lake and upwstream farm ponds could also be accomplished without draining the lake but a much large amount of rotenone would be needed and a complete, 100 percent fish kill would almost certainly not be obtained. Restocking should be with.largemouth bass, channel catfish and redear sunfish only. Crappie, bream (sunfish, especially bluegills), and wild fish seined from local waters should not be stocked. Because these lakes are built with a draw down tube and it is very seldom that water flows over the spillways, undesirable fish from downstream should never be able to enter any of the lakes during floods. Thus, if the fish in the lakes and waters upstream of these lakes are completely controlled, good fishing should be obtained permanently if other sources of undesirable fish such as bait fish releases and seined, native fish are eliminated. I f" . Prepared by Alvin G. 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