Arkansas Game and Fishing Commission

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Fisheries Division conducted a creel survey on Lake Monticello from March 1, 2008 to February 28, 2009. The point of the survey was to get a better understanding of angler catch, harvest, and overall satisfaction. During the creel survey shifts, anglers were approached at the end of their trip. During the survey if the angler indicated they were a bass angler, they were asked if they wanted to participate in a Lake Monticello Bass Angler Mail Survey. This allowed us to get more information from these anglers without taking up time at the boat ramp. The anglers were sent up to three letters to respond to the survey. We would like to say thank you all the participants in the survey. We had 300 anglers sign up to receive a mail survey. Of the 300 anglers, 236 anglers (79 %) completed the mail survey and sent it back in. The answers from these surveys will serve as a guide for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission in future management of the largemouth bass population in Lake Monticello.

Of the 236 survey received, 169 participates gave written comments at the end of the survey. We would like to address some of reoccurring comments given at the end of the mail survey.

1: Remove Grass Carp

            Here is a little background on this topic. Grass Carp were only stocked in the lake in 1998 (3076 yearlings) and 2001 (380 yearlings). The biologists stocked these fish in efforts to control the coontail. Unfortunately, the grass carp did not control the coontail, they eradicated it. They never sprayed the vegetation in the lake at anytime. However, efforts have been started to remove these fish. In 2008 with the permission from the City of Monticello, we teamed up with local Bowfishermen of Arkansas members to start eradication efforts. Diana or I were in the boat at all times to make sure NO gamefish were shot at. We were unsuccessful on our trial run due the lily pads but more effort will take place in 2009.

2: Why do you remove the vegetation and the vegetation needs to be re-established

            Because we are making efforts to remove the grass carp, we are going to work on re-establishing native aquatic vegetation (coontail) back in the lake. We made a point to mention native vegetation because neither hydrilla nor milfoil will be planted. This will give the young-of-the-year fish protection from predation as well as protect some of the forage base.

3: Change Slot Limit

            Here is a little background on this topic. In Jan. 1999, the regulation was changed from catch and release to 16 – 21 in. slot limit. In May 1999, it was changed to 16 – 24 in. slot limit. Then in Jan. 2003, it was changed back to 16 – 21 in. slot. During the 2006 and 2007 sampling year, Diana and I started an age and growth study to assess the current regulation. The conclusion of the study was the current creel survey to address angler harvest. Many anglers want our regulations to be like Texas and particularly like Lake Fork. However, angler must realize that Lake Fork is much bigger and is more fertile. This allows the bass to have potential to grow faster and reach larger size. Just because a regulation is working in one waterbody doesn’t always mean that is will work in another one. However, we can mention we are looking at this regulation closely and will likely tweak it. One problem currently occurring at Lake Monticello is the male bass are stacking in the slot. The males are growing at similar rates as the females until they reach the slot limit and then they pretty much stop growing.

4: Too much harvest of largemouth bass in the lake

            We often hear that bass, particularly large bass, are being harvested left and right from the lake. From the data we collected during our age and growth study and the creel survey, we observed very little harvest. During the age and growth study, we determined the total annual mortality (percent of fish dying each year due to natural causes or from fishing) was around 11 %. During our 2007 samples, we actually aged 7 fish that were originally stocked in the lake (13 year old). During the creel survey, only 96 fish below the slot and 25 fish above the slot were harvested out of 1,511 bass reported caught during our surveys. That is a harvest rate of 8%. We realize that we weren’t out at the lake everyday and our presence could have deterred harvest so the harvest could have been higher. However, we don’t think it is much higher then 11%. We would like to see annual mortality to be around 20 -30%. So what can be done about this problem? If more people would start harvesting fish below the slot (this is what a slot is attended to do). The growth of the surviving fish would increase as well as the potential to have bigger bass. While we are looking at the current length regulation, we are going to examine the current bag limit as well. We are considering allowing more harvest of fish below the slot but keep the amount of fish harvested above the slot the same.

5: Stock more fish

            Each year, we stock roughly 100,000 fingerling Florida largemouth bass in the lake. The purpose of this stocking is to keep the Florida genetics in the population. We also stock 100,000 threadfin shad to help the forage base in the lake.

6: Stop fertilizing the lake and electrofishing

            So, why do we fertilize Lake Monticello? First, our largemouth bass management plan requires trophy bass lakes to be fertilized. Second reason is Lake Monticello is very unfertile. By fertilizing the lake, this gives the young fish more food which equates to more fish. It is the same reason people fertilize their field or crops. We do not try to time our fertilizing to land on holidays. Unfortunately, the right time period to the fertilizer to be effective is close to the end of the school year. In 2009, the lake will not be fertilized.

            Why do we use electrofishing to sample largemouth bass? Electrofishing is the most effective means to sample bass. We sample in the spring because this is the time when the largest size range of fish are up shallow to sample them. Does electrofishing make the fish sterile? No, that is a misconception. All states that have bass likely use electrofishing to sample them. Electrofishing is used to sample all types of fish all over the world. If it was deemed harmful to the fish, the sampling technique would not be used by some many people. Also, we use electrofishing to collect hatchery broodstock fish and they produce hundred of thousands of fish each year. For the record, the biggest bass that we have sampled was in the 11-12 pound range. No, we have not sampled a state record or world record.

7: Need restrooms at each access, fix Hunger Run Access Road, mark boat lanes at Plantersville Access and repair courtesy dock

            We put all these together for a reason. The City of Monticello owns Lake Monticello and  is responsible for the lake. The AGFC is only responsible for managing the fish in the lake. We are going to include all the comments given by the anglers from the mail survey and the creel survey about these problems so they can start to address them. We have contacted them in the past about the restrooms and Hunger Run road. The city will have to mark the boat lanes from the Plantersville Access because of liability issues. Finally, the city just constructed a new courtesy dock at the Hunger Run Access.

8: Close the lake or limit the amount of access to the lake during the spawn

            Because the city is responsible for the lake, they would have to make that decision. Since that time of the year is a big revenue period for the city, it unlikely they will close the lake anytime soon. However, we feel the lake isn’t being affected by fishing during the spawn. During annual seine samples in May to evaluate spawning success, Lake Monticello always has the highest young-of-the year count in the district. Normally we see 50 – 75 YOY bass per seine haul whereas the other lakes in the area, we see 0 – 5 YOY bass per seine haul.

9: Remove yellow and white bass from the lake

            First thing is the AGFC did not stock yellow or white bass into the lake on purposes. We suspect they came in when we stocked threadfin shad in the lake. The hatcheries do not grow shad, they seine them up. Because of the discovery of these fish getting into the lake, the hatcheries have worked on methods to get these fish out during the seine hauls and won’t be stocked into lake. We don’t think the white bass will spawn in the lake because they need moving water to spawn. The largemouth bass will prey on the small yellow bass and hopefully help control their number a little.

10: Increase Wildlife Office Patrol on the lake.

            We don’t have control over this because we are biologists. We will pass these comments along to the enforcement division for them to handle. We can say that Lake Monticello is patrolled more then other lakes in the area.

In closing, I just want to say that we are anglers, too. We spend a lot of time on the water fishing locally and throughout the state. We care about the fisheries and try to do our best to make them as good as they can be for all the anglers to enjoy.

If you have any questions about the mail survey or the creel survey conducted at Lake Monticello, feel free to contact Diana Andrews (Regional Fisheries Supervisor) or me at 1-877-367-3559.

Sincerely,

Jeremy Risley

Fisheries Management Biologist

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission

771 Jordan Drive

Monticello, AR 71655

1-877-367-3559