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5/21/2007

Randleman Reservoir Will Benefit from Largemouth Bass Stocking

RALEIGH, N.C. – Randleman Reservoir, a newly formed impoundment in Randolph County, is getting a jumpstart on its fishery with the addition of more than 150,000 largemouth bass fry, courtesy of lakes Mackintosh and Cammacks in Guilford County.

Biologists with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission sampled the reservoir in April and determined that stocking largemouth bass fry would help establish a quality fishery in the 3,500-acre reservoir, which was formed in 2006 by impounding the Deep River.

They will stock the fish on Thursday beginning at 10 a.m.

“Stocking juvenile fish is the most effective way to establish a quality fishery in a new impoundment,” said Corey Oakley, a fisheries biologist with the Commission. “For example, in 1993, we collected broodfish from surrounding reservoirs to produce fry that were subsequently stocked in Lake Mackintosh, which, today, has an excellent largemouth bass fishery.”

Now the offspring of those fish stocked almost 15 years ago are giving back—in a way. In April, biologists collected mature largemouth bass, called broodfish, from Lake Mackintosh, as well as Lake Cammack, to produce the fry that will be stocked in Randleman Reservoir.

To ensure the survival of the broodfish, biologists transported the fish using a hatchery production truck with advanced aeration systems. They took the fish to the Commission’s recently renovated Watha State Fish Hatchery in Pender County, where they spawned in the hatchery’s ponds, just as they normally would in the lakes. The fish were then transported back to the lakes and safely released.

“The lakes were selected for the broodfish collection primarily because they are free of the largemouth bass virus that occurs in many reservoirs in North Carolina,” Oakley said. “Also, both lakes have excellent populations of largemouth bass with an abundance of fish in the 2- to-3-pound range, the range for broodfish collection.”

The virus, although not outright lethal, can cause mortality when fish are most stressed, such as during hot weather events or high angling pressure. The disease is hard to eradicate once it’s established, so prevention, not treatment, is the key to building a sustainable fishery.

The fry have been growing out in hatchery ponds rich in natural food, like zooplankton. Now that the little fish have grown to between 1 to 3 inches, they will be transported via a hatchery truck to Randleman Reservoir for stocking.

“Stocking the fish at this size greatly increases their survival to adulthood since it gets them past a critical stage of early life development,” Oakley said. “This stocking will go a long way in creating another quality fishery in the Piedmont-Triad area.”

For more information on fishing in North Carolina’s public, inland waters, visit the fishing page, or call the Division of Inland Fisheries, (919) 707-0220.