White Crappie Harvest

Dynamics of White Crappie Harvest in an Oklahoma Tailwater Fishery

KENNETH K. CUNNINGHAM (Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, Oklahoma Fishery Research Laboratory, 500 East Constellation, Norman, Oklahoma 73072)

ALEXANDER V. ZALE (National Biological Service, Montana Cooperative Fishery
Research Unit, Department of Biology, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana 59717)

We conducted a tagging study of white crappie Pomoxis annularis to evaluate harvest dynamics and environmental variables influencing angler harvest rates of white crappie in the Kaw Dam tailwater in north-central Oklahoma. Relationships among harvest rates and concurrent water quality measurements and weather data were determined by multiple regression analyses. White crappie harvest was positively correlated with discharge and photoperiod, and discharge was the most important environmental variable in the model. Whereas high discharges promote the immigration of white crappie into tailwaters, the results of our tagging study suggest extremely high discharges promote migration of these individuals downriver. We suggest that discharge can be used to elicit maximum recreational used of warmwater tailwater fisheries.

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For More Information Contact:

Kenneth Cunningham
Oklahoma Chapter of the American Fisheries Society
Oklahoma Fishery Research Laboratory
500 East Constellation, Norman, Oklahoma 73072)

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Last modified: 01/07/09 06:45 AM