Page 41 - 2020 May/June Outdoor Oklahoma

ies was funded through the federal ity and then stitched up. The bass The professor and
Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration were returned to the same streams
Program, collected through taxes in which they were caught after they student have been
paid by fishing tackle manufacturers recovered from surgery. A few radi- able to gather
on fishing gear, passed on to anglers. oed bass have been lost to otters and
When an angler hears the ding of a anglers, but through the course of a fair amount
cash register and coin drop in the the study, at least 30 bass remained of information,
till, they are paying for conserva- tagged in each of three streams.
tion. Brewer and Miller conducted The radios emit a signal whereby revealing when
the work expressly for the Oklahoma the researchers relocated the fish and where these
Department of Wildlife Conservation, many times, some for nearly three
which, in the end expects to use years before the batteries exhaust- bass go through
research findings to inform its fish- ed. In the warm months of March
ery management decisions. to October, the fish were relocated the year.
How they conducted research is at least once weekly; in the colder
nearly as interesting as what they months, only once per month. The
are learning. Brewer and Miller sur- professor and student have been able
gically implanted 100 Neosho small- to gather a fair amount of informa-
mouth bass with radios, as early as tion, revealing when and where these
2015. The fish were caught by elec- bass go through the year. Where the
trofishing, anesthetized, and the males take up housekeeping in the
radios placed inside the body cav- spring is of particular interest.

SHANNON BREWER/OSU

This stream in northeastern Oklahoma is typical Neosho smallmouth bass habitat.

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