FORTY-FIFTH BIENNIAL REPORT 



55 



Saltan Sea corvino collected in gill net sample by the department. 



— Fish and Game Photo 



six-fish limits. As summer approached, fishing was 

 best in somewhat deeper water, where salmon-type 

 spoons cast from boats took hard-fighting corvina up 

 to 15 pounds. The fish proved firm and delicious. 



The Wildlife Conservation Board's three-year 

 Salton Sea study carried out by U. C. L. A. research 

 biologists was to end in October of 1958, but the de- 

 partment planned to continue regular sampling with 

 nets to monitor this rapidly developing sport fishery. 

 The corvina continued to spawn successfully every 

 spring and early summer through 1958, offering the 

 promise of even better fishing still to come. 



HABITAT IMPROVEMENT 



Chemical treatment to improve warmwater fisheries 

 by eliminating unwanted fishes and replanting desir- 

 able fishes continued as an important tool for fisheries 

 managers. Table 31 in the Appendix lists the waters 

 treated during the biennium. 



In addition to control of undesirable fishes, a num- 

 ber of other habitat improvement projects were under- 

 taken to improve warmwater fisheries. 



Following chemical treatment and restocking of 

 Woodward Reservoir, Stanislaus County, 41 spawning 

 nests were installed for channel catfish. Nests were 

 concrete pipe sections 10 inches in diameter by three 



inches long, and truck tires with "windows" cut in 

 them. 



At Los Banos Waterfowl Management area, 18 

 brush shelters were built and installed as shelter for 

 crappie, bluegill, and other warmwater species. Brush 

 shelters were also installed in Atascadero Lake, San 

 Luis Obispo County, and in Lake Havasu. These 

 shelters cause the fish to concentrate near them, and 

 increase angler success. 



Spawning nests for largemouth bass were installed 

 at May Pond, built in 1957 on the Mendota Water- 

 fowl Management area. This lake now serves a dual 

 purpose— waterfowl hunting and angling. 



Following exploratory methods of cattail removal 

 at Lost Lake, Fresno County, full-scale treatment was 

 undertaken here to open up more fishing area. Ap- 

 proximately 20 acres of cattails choking this 48-acre 

 lake were sprayed with chemicals by helicopter. Re- 

 sults were almost 100 percent effective, since anglers 

 can now utilize the entire lake whereas angling was 

 quite limited before treatment. Two lakes at Los Banos 

 Waterfowl Management area were also sprayed by 

 helicopter to remove cattails and provide angler access. 

 Here again success was evident, since anglers can reach 

 open water formerly grown over with dense cattail 

 beds. Some 23 acres on these two lakes were sprayed 

 with chemicals. Use of a helicopter to spray dense 

 masses of vegetation not only made complete coverage 

 possible but saved considerable time and expense. 

 Whereas a two-man crew can spray up to 10 acres a 

 day, the helicopter can do this job in half an hour, 

 using about one-fourth the amount of chemicals. 



STRIPED BASS 



The striped bass and sturgeon federal aid project 

 continued gathering information about the striped 

 bass fishery— one of the state's most important sports 

 fisheries— and the sturgeon fishery, which was re- 

 opened in 1954 after a 37-year closure. 



During the first year of the biennium, the data 

 gathered in the surveys of the delta commercial salmon 

 and shad fisheries were analyzed. These surveys were 

 made to determine the number of game fish caught 

 and accidentally killed in the nets used in these com- 

 mercial fisheries. It was estimated that 455,000 pounds 

 of striped bass were caught in nets during the 1955 fall 

 season and the 1956 spring season, and that 250,000 

 pounds of these bass were dead when removed from 

 the nets. The department used these findings in recom- 

 mending that the commercial fisheries be restricted to 

 provide more protection for the sport fisheries. 



The remainder of the biennium was spent collecting 

 and analyzing data on the status of the bass population 

 and the sport fishery. The general purpose of this work 

 was to get the factual information necessary to evalu- 

 ate the angling regulations which were changed in 

 1956, and to develop a background of statistical data 



