7844

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7844
• Author: Elmblad, W. R.
• Title: Kenney Reservoir, Channel Catfish Monitoring Study, 1993 Interim Report.
• USFW Year: 1995.
• USFW - Doc Type: \
• Copyright Material: NO

1993 Kenney Res. Channel Catfish Study Report
Page 11
0:96. (Mean TL for age 2 channel catfish from Grayrocks Reservoir
is 259 mm. )
The 1991 Kenney Reservoir Lake Management Plan predicts that
channel catfish -would grow slowly in the reservoir. Reasons for
slow growth include cool water temperatures (Andrews and Stickney
1972) and excessive turbidity (Baxter and Simon 1970). A few
larger size (>6-14 lbs) catfish are caught by anglers or sampled
from the reservoir each year. These fish must be fairly old to
reach such sizes if growth is poor. Species longevity in this
reservoir could partically compensate for slow growth if a channel
catfish sportfishery is created.
Channel catfish will find a good supply of preferred forage in
Kenney Reservoir. Cannamela, Braden, and Johnson in Sigler (1987)
reported that fish were the most important food for 6-12 inch (150-
30omm) channel catfish, a size range that includes the average size
of the catfish stocked into Kenney Reservoir. Carlander (1969)
reports crayfish and fathead minnows to be preferred forage for
channel catfish. Fathead minnows were the dominant species in
Kenney Reservoir from 1984-1990, comprising 45-900 of the total
fish community (Trammell 1991). Crayfish were fre~ntly found
entangled in trammel and gill nets used during the present channel
catfish study.
The 10 catfish of wild origin that were sampled from the reservoir
ranged in size from 265-715 mm TL and 190-5890 grams. The lack of
wild fish in smaller size classes is evidence that natural
reproduction is not augmenting' the reservoir population. In the
past only fairly large catfish have been collected from the
reservoir and it was thought that these were fish had been trapped
above the dam when it was constructed. However, this reasoning
would not seem to explain the existence of five catfish taken in
1993 that range in length from 265-361 mm TL. The most likely
explanation for the existence of these fish in the reservoir is
that anglers have introduced them from the White River. Catfish of
this size occur in the White River up to the base of Taylor Draw
Dam and fishing pressure is relatively heavy in the tailrace area.
Habitat descriptions used with netting in the reservoir shows that
channel catfish were sampled from all habitats except for riprap.
This suggests that catfish were distributed around virtually the
entire reservoir perimeter, which was not the case. The majority
of net sets, occurring around most of the reservoir perimeter, did
not catch catfish. Most of the catfish were taken in a few areas
from repetitive sets. These areas just happen to represent the
variety of features used for habitat typing. These areas also were
in the upper half of the reservoir.
All sampling techniques used on the reservoir produced catfish