11/21/2002

AU Researcher Aims to Protect Weiss Lake's Claim as World "Crappie Capital"

AUBURN,Ala. — Auburn University research that has linked Weiss Lake’s crappie population to the weather could be the key to helping the 30,200-acre northeast Alabama reservoir maintain its title as “the crappie capital of the world.”

Weiss Lake, an Alabama Power Company impoundment on the Coosa River, long has been a hotbed for crappie, luring anglers from throughout the Southeast and beyond and subsequently pumping tens of millions of dollars into Cherokee County’s economy each year. Over the years, though, crappie catch rates on Weiss Lake have run the gamut from high to low.

In a study funded by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, AU Fisheries professor Mike Maceina is investigating the reasons for the down years in the crappie population.

“In a lake like Weiss that isn’t stocked with fish, reproduction success and good growth rates are essential to keeping the fishery viable,” said Maceina, a researcher with the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station. “In tracking the crappie population in Weiss Lake over the past 12 years, we have found that reproduction success declines dramatically in drought years.”

At the heart of the matter are the lake’s water levels from winter through early spring. Alabama Power traditionally has drawn Weiss Lake down by six feet during those months to protect cities downstream from flooding in what historically has been Alabama’s rainy season. But in years when that rain doesn’t materialize, Weiss’ water level remains low, and that apparently disturbs the spawning practices for crappie.

Prompted by Maceina’s findings, Alabama Power held Weiss Lake’s water level a foot above normal for about 10 days in January 2002 following heavy rains. The company, in consultation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, closely monitored the reservoir levels to ensure that all flood control requirements were met.

“For whatever reason, crappie are more productive when there’s plenty of rain and the water level is higher,” Maceina said. “By keeping the water level up and mimicking nature, we’re hoping that we can trick the fish into thinking it’s a wet year and, therefore, a good year for reproducing.”

If rainfall is below normal in January 2003, Alabama Power likely will raise Weiss’ water level periodically in a cooperative effort to help test the impact on crappie reproduction, Maceina said.

Trap-net catches early next year will give the first indications as to whether the first year of raising the lake’s elevation was effective in boosting reproductive success, Maceina said. If the higher winter water levels do make the crappie more prolific, it would be another two years before that affects anglers’ catch rates, since regulations on Weiss Lake require that crappie be at least 10 inches long to keep.

Meanwhile, the Weiss Lake Improvement Association, in an effort to address the waning crappie population, this year for the first time is releasing 70,000 crappie fingerlings into Weiss. As Maceina pointed out, however, that’s an average of only about two fish per acre.

"The only permanent solution,” Maceina said, “is to impact the natural reproduction process.”

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News from:

Office of Ag Communications & Marketing

Auburn University College of Agriculture
Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station
3 Comer Hall, Auburn University
Auburn, AL 36849
334-844-4877 (PHONE) 334-844-5892 (FAX)

Contact Jamie Creamer, 334-844-2783 or jcreamer@auburn.edu
Contact Mike Maceina, 334-844-9319 or mmaceina@acesag.auburn.edu

11/21/02