Table 7:— Average number of fish collected per acre by shoreline seining, 

 Lewis and Clark Lake, 1956-62 



Species 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 



Shortnose gar 2 -- -- -- -- -- -- 



Gizzard shad 29 142 48 310 269 166 238 



Carp 429 - - - - 1 1 27 6 



Silvery minnow 405 33---- 8 1 + 



Flathead chub -- 1 -- -- 5 -- 1 



Silver chub -- 1 -- -- -- -- -- 



Emerald shiner 7 13 -- 205 248 75 190 



Red shiner 10 14 - - 3 7 33 8 



Sand shiner 1 3 -- -- -- -- -- 



Fathead minnow 5 -- -- -- 2 -- 3 



Unidentified minnows -- 26 69 -- -- -- -- 



River carpsucker 126 6 1 9 43 56 11 



Smallmouth buffalo 36 1 -- -- -- -- - - 



Blgmouth buffalo 20 -- -- -- 1 + 1 



Northern redhorse 7 -- -- -- -- -- -- 



Black bullhead 1 



Channel catfish + + +.. + l 



White bass -- -- -- -- + 1 16 



Green sunfish + -- -- -- -- -- -- 



Bluegill 3 1-. 2 +.. + 



Orangespotted sunfish + -- -- -- -- -- + 



Largemouth bass 14-- 2 1 1-- 2 



White crappie 43 2 2 1-- 12 



Black crappie 42 + 2 + +.- 1 



Yellow perch 20 10 17 3 1 



Sauger 3 112 3 2 2 



Freshwater drum -- -- + -- + -- 3 



+Less than 0.5 fish per acre seined 



These latter results must be viewed with caution 

 because (1) suitable seining areas were uncommon 

 and much sampling was conducted over mud 

 bottom, (2) species were not equally available to 

 capture because of difference in habitat prefer- 

 ence, and (3) fish behavior and hence availability 

 was influenced by water level fluctuation. Some 

 life -history information on the fishes collected 

 in these studies is summarized below. Minnow 

 species were not included. 



Pallid sturgeon 



Only 17 pallid sturgeon were captured 

 during the 7 years of study, and none was 

 captured in 1962 . Fish lengths ranged from 26 

 to 51 inches, excluding caudal filament, and 

 weights from 3.5 to 18.8 pounds. This species 

 was comparatively rare in the reservoir but of 



interest because of its large size. One fish 

 captured in the Missouri River in North Dakota 

 weighed in excess of 68 pounds (Bailey and 

 AUum, 1962). 



Shovelnose sturgeon 



This species was common in Lewis and 

 Clark Lake but most abundant in the river 

 channel of the upper reservoir. Lenghts of 

 fish captured ranged from 13.0 to 31.0 inches, 

 excluding caudal filament. Most fish were 

 between 16.0 and 22 .0 inches long and average 

 weight was approximately 0.6 pounds. Sexes 

 were about equally represented in the catch. 

 Spawning was completed by late June but no 

 young-of-the -year were collected. Abundance 

 of this species declined after formation of the 

 reservoir (table 6) and since shovelnose sturgeon 



