Movement of Largemouth Bass in a Savannah River Tributary

Tucker A. Jones
Dept. Of Aquaculture, Fisheries, and Wildlife, Clemson University, Clemson SC 29634-0372

J. Jeffery Isely
SC Coop Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, United States Geological Survey, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634-0372

Dean Fletcher
Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Aiken, SC 29802

Michael Paller
Environmental Services, Westinghouse Savannah River Corp. Aiken, SC 29808

Movements of largemouth bass in Steel Creek, a Savannah River tributary, and between Steel Creek and the Savannah River were evaluated with radio telemetry. Thirty largemouth (>250 mm) bass were implanted with radio transmitters and released either at the headwater of Steel Creek, near the mouth of Steel Creek or in the Savannah River near Steel Creek in the spring of 1999. Fish locations were determined biweekly, and temperature, oxygen and discharge were monitored throughout the study. In addition to biweekly locations, a subset (10) of fish were located hourly for 24 hours once in summer and once in fall. Largemouth bass in Steel Creek have relatively small (<200 m) well defined home ranges. Individual home ranges tend to overlap within Steel Creek. Some large-scale (>1 km) movements were observed and were loosely correlated with discharge. Preliminary results suggest that movement of largemouth bass between Steel Creek and the Savannah River are limited during Summer and Fall.