Page 43 - 2020 May/June Outdoor Oklahoma

spawning sites. Some moved nearly mouth bass by not stocking reservoir Smallmouth bass
five miles to find spawning habitat.” strain smallmouths into reservoirs in
Male smallmouth bass typically northeastern Oklahoma. The Neosho shoved themselves
build nests over gravel in shallow bass are a unique and valuable between rocks,
water and court females to spawn. resource to Oklahoma anglers and
Males aggressively guard the nests are worthy of conservation efforts. in cavities, and
during construction, through hatch- Responsible land management in piles of woody
ing and for a short spell as fry hover surrounding northeastern Oklahoma
above the nest and the guarding streams is an important component debris.
male before disbursing to nursery of conserving this species. ODWC
habitat. The researchers noted that Fisheries Regional Supervisor Jim
bass in their study seemed to con- Burroughs said this species merits pro-
centrate in select areas, which might tection from threats including land use
indicate limited spawning habitat. changes, increasing water demand and
As to what the females were doing the introduction of non-native species.
post-spawn, Brewer said they didn’t “Conserving Oklahoma’s unique
travel far, typically staying near native species should remain a par-
the closest deep pools until about amount responsibility and priority Curiously, none
September. Then there seemed to of ODWC,” Burroughs said.
be a downstream movement, partic- Also, some streams hold the poten- of the bass were
ularly by the older and larger bass. tial for high angler harvest. Biologists located in the
The three streams that har- should consider angler creel limits
bored the radioed smallmouth aimed at conserving the species. reservoir; they
bass all empty into Grand Lake O’ “Dr. Brewer and her students all stayed in the
the Cherokees. Curiously, none of expended an enormous amount of
the bass were located in the reser- effort to provide this information streams.
voir; they all stayed in the streams. to ODWC in an effort to manage
Moreover, the bass stayed in the Neosho smallmouth bass popula-
streams in which they were tagged, tions to the best of our abilities. This
except for one female that moved project is a great example of the
seasonally between two streams. research partnership we have built
Kurt Kuklinski, Fisheries Research with the OSU Cooperative Wildlife
Supervisor at the Wildlife Department’s Research Unit,” Kuklinski said.
Fisheries Research Lab in Norman, said This study gives the ODWC
study findings point to the uniqueness Streams Program added information
of this fish. “Neosho smallmouth bass to manage and protect the state’s
are a stream fish. They have a liking stream resources.
for cool, spring-fed flowing waters.
They’re native to the eastern one-third (Information and Education Specialist
of Oklahoma, and their reliance on Don P. Brown contributed to this article.)
Ozark streams makes them different
than lake-dwelling smallmouth bass.” Learn More Online
Kuklinski said study results will Check out the Outdoor Oklahoma YouTube Channel for more about
help biologists make the best deci- northeastern Oklahoma streams and smallmouth bass. Here are some
sions about properly managing related videos:
Neosho smallmouth bass. Some of • Underwater Smallmouth Bass Research: https://youtu.be/d6lW4yNwaws
the early findings include: • Ozark Streams and Smallmouth Bass: https://youtu.be/iRLlhQOuPEM
There is a need to protect the
genetic integrity of Neosho small- • Underwater Oklahoma: https://youtu.be/rOAA65SZit4

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