Table 1

Anderson Po= nd (Blue Lake) Fish Survey

&= nbsp; The DEP Inland Fisheries Division sampled the fish population of Anderson Pond = on October 8, 2003 via nightti= me boat electrofishing. The State Board of Fish and Game surveyed this pond in the 1950s; however, a more recent inventory of the fishery was requested due to= the imminence of dam removal/repair. It is important to realize that it is difficult to paint an accurate overall picture of fish populations based on= a single sample; however, we can make some general inferences about the fishe= ry from this data. The following is a summary of our findings:

Fish Abundance (based on electrofishing catch rates)=

· Anderson Pond supports a typical assemblage = of fish species for Connecticut lakes and ponds. Largemouth bass and chain pickerel are the primary game fi= sh; black crappie, yellow perch, brown bullhead and sunfish make up the panfish population; and bluegills are the dominant sunfish.

· The densities of most species, with the exception of bluegill sunfish and chain pickerel, were lower than State Averages (Table 1).

· Chain pickerel were abundant between 10 and = 15 inches, but larger fish were rare (Fig. 1).

· Sunfish densities were somewhat better than average and larger fish (between 6 and 8 inches) were common (Table 1, Fig.= 1).

· Sampling efficiency for this survey may have been comprimised. The 18-inch drawdown combined= with the overabundance of aquatic vegetation made seeing and netting fish very difficult.

&= nbsp;

Age and Growth:

· Growth rates for largemouth bass were fast, chain pickerel were slow and yellow perch, bluegill and pumpkinseed sunfish were average compared to State Average growth rates for fish from 69 public lakes sampled during the Statewide Lake and Pond Survey (Table 2)

Conclusions:

·<= span style=3D'font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> Based on this sample, the overall densi= ty of fish in Anderson Pond appears to be lower than average. However, given the conditions of the lake at the time of sample (low water levels and overabun= dant vegetation) these data may under-represent the lake’s fishery.

·<= span style=3D'font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> Largemouth bass growth rates were fast,= which supports the finding that their densities are low. Fish growth rates are “density-dependent”, which means that when there are large numb= ers of fish of the same species, growth rates are adversely affected because of= competion for the same resources. When there arenR= 17;t many individuals of the same species growth rates tend to be faster. <= /o:p>

· The overabundance of small pickerel, relativ= ely low numbers of large pickerel (>15 inches) and slow growth rates are indicative of a “stockpiled” population. The term stockpiled is used to describe fish populations where high densities of small fish compete for limited resources, which results in depressed growth rates, while larger fish are being harvested by anglers. This creates a population where few fi= sh attain a large size.

Recommendations:

&nb= sp;

·      Since this lake was sampled, funding for the= dam repairs has been secured and repairs will take place within the next year. I recommend that the Inland Fisheries Division resample the lake once it has recovered from these repairs.

Prepared by

Eileen O’Donnell

Senior Fisheries Biologist<= /p>
Bureau of Natural Resources=

Inland Fisheries Division

Table 1.&nbs= p; Electrofishing catch rates from Anderson Pond sampled on October 8, 2003 compared to= the State Averages for important fish species from 69 public lakes.

=

        &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p; State Ave.          <= st1:place>Anderson Pond

        &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p; Public Lakes      &= nbsp; October 8, 2003        &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;         =

            =             &nb= sp; Stock (Quality)

SPECIES          size in in= ches

        =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;           =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;            =

GAMEFISH

    Largemouth bass   &nb= sp; 8(12)      &n= bsp;            = ; 44.5(20.8)        &= nbsp;            10.6(   9.1)             =             &nb= sp;

    Chain pickerel   &nbs= p;      10(15)        &= nbsp;           10= .0( 3.2)        &= nbsp;            22.7(   3.0)            =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;

LARGER PANFISH

    Black crappie    = ;          5( 8)  = ;            &n= bsp;       7.6( 5.1)            &= nbsp;          1.5(   1.5)             =             &nb= sp;

    Yellow perch        &= nbsp;      5( 8)   =             &nb= sp; 101.5(43.1)        &= nbsp;            18.2(   9.1)            =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;

    Brown bullhead   <= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:1'>       6( 9)           &= nbsp;        na        &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp; 0.9(   0.9)        &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;

SUNFISH        &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;    3( 6)

    Bluegill     &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;            =         204.7(81.3)        &= nbsp;          257.1(12= 1.0)        &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;

    Pumpkinseed    &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;            66.0(25.6)        &= nbsp;            33.3( 19.7)<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:1'>        &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;

    Bluegill X Pumpkinseed hybrid &= nbsp;         na   &n= bsp;            = ;            &n= bsp;       1.5(    1.5)=

        &= nbsp;

NON‑GAME SPECIES

   Golden shiner    = ;            &n= bsp;            = ;            &n= bsp; 9.8        &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            6.1        &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;

        =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;            =

¹ "Stock size" is the minimum length= that might be commonly caught by angling.

² "Quality size&qu= ot; is a length above which most anglers would consider the fish desirable to catc= h.

Table 2. Growth (mean length-at-age in inches) for selected fish species from Anderson Pond sampled in October 2003 compared to State Averages.

        =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;            =

        =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;            =            ____________________________AGE___________________________

SPECIES        &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;         Overall            =        1        &= nbsp;     2        &= nbsp;   3        &= nbsp;     4        &= nbsp;       5        &= nbsp;     6        &= nbsp;     7        &= nbsp;   8        &= nbsp; 9

            =             &nb= sp;            = Growth Rating

_____= ___________________________________________________________________________= ______________

Largemouth bass             =    Fast        &= nbsp;           &nbs= p; 4.3        &= nbsp; 9.7        12.8        14.7        &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;

= &nb= sp;     State average      =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;    3.8        &= nbsp; 7.6         = 10.5         = 12.7         = 14.3         = 15.7         = 16.9         = 17.9

=

Chain pickerel      = ;            &n= bsp; Slow        &= nbsp;            6.1        10.2        12.5        14.3

= &nb= sp;     State average      =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;    7.3         = 12.4         = 15.3         = 17.8         = 20.0         = 21.9         = 23.1

= &nb= sp;

Yellow perch      &n= bsp;            = ;      Below Avg.      &nb= sp;   3.0        &= nbsp; 4.8        6.3        7.4        8.4        9.1            &n= bsp;

      = State average            =             &nb= sp;            =            3.5        &= nbsp; 5.5         = 7.0         8.0         8.8         9.5         10.1         = 10.6

Bluegill Sunfish      =             <= span class=3DGramE>Below Avg.  =         1.5        &= nbsp; 2.9        4.3        5.9        6.9        7.4

<= span style=3D'font-family:"Times New Roman"'>&nb= sp;     State average      =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;    1.9        &= nbsp; 3.6         = 5.2         6.4         7.1         7.5      &nbs= p;   7.8         8.1

<= span style=3D'font-family:"Times New Roman"'>&n= bsp;

Pumpkinseed        &= nbsp;           &nbs= p; Average        &= nbsp;      1.8        &= nbsp; 3.2        4.6        5.7
&nb= sp;     State average      =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;    2.0        &= nbsp; 3.5         = 4.9         5.8         6.4         6.7         7.1         7.3

Some examples to help interpret this table:

1) The average three-year old bass in Anderson Pond wa= s almost 13 inches in length in 2003.

2) Bass reach legal size (12 inches) in less than three years..

Figure 1. Length-frequencies (the number of fish for each inch size class caught = per hour of electrofishing) of the common fish species caught by electrofis= hing at Anderson Pond on October 8, 2003 compared to state average length-frequencies. (DEP = Inland Fisheries Data)