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Lake Ouachita Largemouth Bass fingerlings are more than doubling in size at
the Nursery Pond, enabling the
AGFC to stock bigger, healthier fish into
Lake Ouachita.
District 8 Assistant Biologist Brett Hobbs said the growth of the 2006 year
Black Bass crop was especially impressive in the Lake Ouachita nursery pond.
40,000 largemouth bass fingerlings averaging about two inches when they
came to us from Joe Hogan Hatchery at Lonoke in May.
After 37 days in the
Lake Ouachita nursery pond the average was up to five inches.
That much of an increase is
excellent growth, Hobbs said.
The 21-acre nursery pond is connection to Lake Ouachita in the South Fork
area near the Corps of Engineers Joplin Recreation Area
area.
Lake Ouachita
Map
During the black bass fingerlings stay at the nursery pond they enjoy a predator-free
and
food-filled environment that allows for rapid growth.
The nursery pond drains the Black Bass at about 5 inches directly
into Lake Ouachita once they deplete the provided food source in the pond.
Hobbs said:
"These fish go on a feeding frenzy and if we don't release them
when the food
is gone, they'll find ways to keep up the pace.
Some of those bull
fingerlings will turn on the smaller ones.
We watch for when to release them so we don't start loosing the crop to
itself".
While careful monitoring is needed, the nursery pond eliminates other
traditional hatchery stockings problems.
When the Black Bass Fingerlings are allowed to reach larger
sizes
before release they are more resistant to natural predators.
The ability to Drain into Lake Ouachita lake
also reduces the risk of transportation shock.
Hobbs said the situation is ideal for many of the fish species we produce.
We've had great success with this kind of setup for walleye, crappie and
striped bass as
well as largemouth bass.
Typical largemouth bass production years involve a series of management
practices.
Sealable gates allow the pond to collect rainfall runoff in
winter. In early spring the pond accumulates food sources. Stocked fathead
minnows begin to spawn and inorganic and organic fertilizers like alfalfa
pellets, hay and cottonseed meal stimulate plankton growth. By late May the
pond is teeming with fathead minnow forage, enough to feed the 40,000
fingerling bass typically stocked. The fingerlings feed until the minnows
are exhausted and drain directly into the lake in early July.
Largemouth bass have been the Lake Ouachita nursery pond crop since 2004 and
continued largemouth bass production is planned for 2007.
The
AG&FC Black Bass Program
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