Semester

Spring

Date of Graduation

2003

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MS

College

Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design

Department

Wildlife and Fisheries Resources

Committee Chair

Kyle J. Hartman.

Abstract

Largemouth bass provide an important recreational fishery in the Ohio River. Our objectives were to determine critical over-wintering and spawning habitats of largemouth bass in the Belleville Pool of the Ohio River. We surgically implanted radio-transmitters in 39 adult largemouth bass and tracked them over a 23-month period. Our results demonstrate the importance of off-channel habitats in the life history of largemouth bass in large river systems. Sedimentation, resulting in a loss of embayment quality and surface area, is an important problem and thus merits increased attention. Restoration and protection efforts to improve largemouth bass fisheries in large river systems should be concentrated in embayment habitats. In a related experiment, a model that related depth of transmitter to the maximum distance of detection imply that radio telemetry studies may underestimate use of deep-water habitats by fishes.

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