Balancing Fisheries Management and Water Uses for Impounded River Systems

<em>Abstract</em>.—The propensity of adult crappies <em>Pomoxis </em>spp. to use similar locations during and among spawning seasons in reservoirs is unknown. This study proposed to determine adult crappie abundance, fidelity, and the substrate consistency in five coves at Sherman Reservoir, Nebraska, which historically displays a quality crappie fishery. Adult crappies (≥150 mm total length) were collected with trap nets from each cove during May 2004 to 2006 and tagged with a visible implant elastomer tag that was color coded for each cove. A total of 7,041 crappies were tagged in 2004, 5,868 in 2005, and 3,967 in 2006. The mean catch per effort in coves ranged from 40 to 75 fish/net-night in this study. Cove fidelity, defined as percent of tagged crappie recaptured in the same cove, within a year ranged from 74% to 88% in 2004, 84–88% in 2005, and 65–89% in 2006. Cove fidelity between spawning seasons was 62–81% for 2004 and 2005, 56–90% for 2005 and 2006, and 47–92% for 2004 and 2006. All five coves had a loam substrate with similar firmness. These data indicate a tendency by crappie to visit the same cove during successive spawning seasons, even when comparable substrates are available, which demonstrates the need for habitat conservation efforts for specific coves used during spawning seasons.