Percent Contribution of Stocked Freeze-Branded Largemouth Bass to Age-1 Year Class in Arkansas Lakes

Supplemental stocking of Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides) is a popular management tool for increasing the number of age-0 bass in a population.  Stocking success of fingerling bass is variable and can be impacted by fingerling size.  In order to differentiate between wild and stocked fish, stocked fish must be marked.  Freeze-branding is a nonlethal method of differentiating stocked fish from wild fish.  We stocked advanced-sized (~80 mm) Largemouth Bass into nine small Arkansas reservoirs (>700 acres) in October 2015.  These reservoirs were sampled via electrofishing during two sampling events in March and April of 2016.  Additionally, two ponds at separate hatcheries held 500 freeze-branded fingerlings each to determine freeze-brand retention rates.  The percent contribution on average was low (~5%) and ranged from 0% to 100%.  Wild caught age-1 bass were on average larger than age-1 stocked bass in the spring electrofishing samples.  In both hatchery ponds, freeze-brand mark retention was 100% through seven months of the study.  Our results will improve stocking strategies of fingerling Largemouth Bass and demonstrates that freeze-branding is a viable option for short-term Largemouth Bass marking studies.