A Comparison of Cedar Trees and Fabricated Polypropylene

Modules as Fish Attractors in a Strip Mine Impoundment

ROBERT E. ROLD

THOMAS S. McCoMiSH

DONALD E. VAN METER



The objective of our research was to evaluate

two types of fish attractors in a strip mine impoundment

to determine their relative effectiveness

in concentrating fish. The structures that we

used as attractors and compared were brush units

of eastern red cedar trees Juniperus virginiana and

fabricated polypropylene modules.

To evaluate attractors and controls, scuba dives

were conducted approximately every 2 weeks from

July 21 to October 24, 1986. Dives

We believe that the greater attraction of fish to

the brush attractors was due to the smaller interstitial

spaces (denseness) the brush attractors provided

compared with the modules. This is sup

ported by other studies (Johnson et al. 1988; Lynch

and Johnson 1989) in which bluegills preferred

small (40-mm) interstitial spaces over medium

(150-mm) and large (350-mm) interstitial spaces.

The small interstitial spacing is attractive because

it reduces vulnerability to predators (Walters et al.

1991) by reducing visual encounters between prey

and predator and by reducing predator feeding efficiency

(Crowder and Cooper 1979).

The majority of the largemouth bass observed

in our study were 260-300 mm long. Prince and

Maughan (1979b) found that largemouth bass prefer

deep (4.6-6.0 m) reefs to shallow (1.5 m) reefs.

Larger-size largemouth bass might have been observed

more often had our attractors been deeper.

Fish that

were 10 cm total length or larger were counted at all

study locations and included bluegill Lepomis macrochirus.

redbreast sunlish L. auritus. largemouth bass Micropterus

salmoides. green sunrtsh L cyanellus. crappies

Pomoxis spp.. and channel cattish Ictalurus punctatus.

Of the 623 fish observed during eight dives, brush attractors

held 78%. module atlractors 17%, and control

areas 5%. Comparison of attractors by dale and species

revealed a tendency for ihem lo attract more fish in July

and Augusi lhan in Seplember and October.