Habitat Utilization by Striped Bass in J. Strom Thurmond Reservoir During the Summer

Shawn Young, and J. Jeffery Isely
SC Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Dept of Aquaculture, Fisheries and Wildlife, Clemson University, SC 29631-0372 (864-656-5335) shawny@clemson.edu

C. Wade Bales
SC Dept of Natural Resources, PO Drawer 1040, Abbeville, SC 29620 (864-223-2008)

A radio telemetry study is currently being conducted to record the summer and seasonal habitat use of adult striped bass Morone saxatilis in J. Strom Thurmond Reservoir, and to relate actual habitat use to available habitat. Thurmond Reservoir is a 28,329-ha impoundment on the Savannah River that undergoes thermal stratification. This will provide a baseline index of available and utilized striped bass habitat prior to modification of the thermal and dissolved oxygen levels greater than 2 mg/L is a potential limiting factor in populations of striped bass. During spring and early summer of 1999, a total of 34 adult striped bass (>3 kg) were surgically implanted with temperature-sensing radio transmitters. A systematic tracking survey of individual fish locations was conducted at least twice a month from May to October. At each location, GPS position, fish body, and a temperature and dissolved oxygen profile of the water column were. Striped bass made large scale (>10 km) movements in response to changes in temperature and oxygen. Preliminary results show adult striped bass distribution and movement in J. Strom Thurmond Reservoir is affected by changing temperature and dissolved oxygen levels during the summer.