Laserfiche WebLink
Green sunfish <br />Green sunfish were ubiquitous and the most abundant fish electrofished from <br />backwaters. For the six sampling periods, an average of 57% (17-95% range) of the <br />backwaters sampled by boat and 94% (83-100% range) of those sampled by barge <br />yielded green sunfish. Distribution was fairly even throughout backwaters of the Grand <br />Valley, although especially high densities were found in backwaters upstream of Loma <br />between rm 152 and 156. The scarcity of green sunfish in the Loma-to-Westwater reach <br />was largely due to the scarcity of backwaters there, and like largemouth bass, <br />consistently occurred in only three backwaters within that reach. However, in two of <br />these backwaters (rm 146-148), there were very high densities (Fig. 2). For the entire <br />target area, total catch was relatively constant among the six sampling periods, and <br />ranged from 1,516 (fall 1999) to 2,226 (Spring 2000). Catch per backwater was highest <br />in fall of 1999 and was essentially constant during the last three sampling periods (Fig. <br />3). Captures using the barge accounted for 91% of the total three-year catch, or 72-98% <br />of the catch in each of the six capture periods. <br />Total length of captured green sunfish ranged. from 22 to 198 mm. Length <br />frequency histograms suggested more temporal variation in size structure of the reach- <br />wide green sunfish population compared with the largemouth bass population (Fig. 5). <br />In spring of 1999, 57% of the green sunfish were smaller than 50 mm, but by fall many of <br />these had evidently either grown in length or not survived: only 24% were smaller than <br />50 mm and 56% were 50-90 mm long. However, in spring of 2000, the percentage of <br />very small green, sunfish (<50 mm) had increased (45%), suggesting a new year class had <br />entered the population. Again, by fall of 2000, sunfish were generally larger and only 8% <br />were < 50 mm long. Size structure of the green sunfish population changed very little <br />during the last three sampling efforts (Fig. 5), and there was no evidence of additional <br />cohorts produced. An overall length frequency from the combined lengths of the six <br />sampling periods (N = 8,870) portrayed a population consisting of 23% fish <50 mm, <br />56% fish 50-99 mm, 20% fish 100-149 mm, and 1% fish 150-199 mm long. <br />12