A little more on Ocmulgee PFA ...
The lake was drained in 2012 due to issues with leaks in the bottom into the underlying aquifer. The lake was renovated by constructing a compacted clay liner and refilled. The original fish in the new lake were hatched in 2015 and grown in rearing ponds after which they were release into the renovated lake. I think this may have occurred in 2016 ... one year before they reopened the lake to the public. I have yet to find anything on the initial stocking rate ... but ... my sense is that the approach was similar. Two subsequent year stockings at around 5 LMB/Acre for a total of ~10 LMB/Acre for the initial stocking.
In
this article the describe the supplemental stockings of LMB as around 1 LMB/acre-year.
“We also try to encourage as much growth as possible by stocking lower densities, roughly one bass per acre. We’ve done that many times, so that’s the ratio, not the total number of fish. The lower density leaves more food at the table for each bass, and there are no food limitations here.
At 5% average natural mortality and where LMB do not live past 13 years ... this would maintain a population a little above 9 LMB/acre. Stocking 10/acre originally ... the recruitment rate would be a little more than required initially to sustain 10 LMB/acre and so the population could be expected to slowly increase to about 13 LMB/acre by 2023 and then slowly decline to about 9 LMB/acre by year 13. (Here assuming they stock only Female LMB). If recruitment occurs, the population will be higher.
When the lake was drained in 2012 ... a 13.25 lb LMB was captured by ES. This fish stocked in 2005 at age 1 would have been 8 years old. Based on my analysis of their reported data, the lake developed maintenance forage limitation in 2011.
More on Ocmulgee PFA:
https://gon.com/news/ocmulgee-pfa-re-opens-to-anglershttps://coastalcourier.com/news/outdoorsrecreation/girls-on-the-run-5k-marks-change-of-season/https://www.facebook.com/WildlifeRe...week-region-iv-fisher/10156980947713388/https://www.facebook.com/WildlifeRe...rom-ocmulgee-pfa-last/10156128524518388/https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/GADNR/bulletins/324947![[Linked Image from i0.wp.com]](https://i0.wp.com/georgiawildlife.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/OrvilleNewlin_OcmulgeePFA.png)
They are now feeding BG. Under fertilization the BG population was very slow growing due to the abundance of BG (average length in Spring 2011 was around 4.5 inches). Feeding provides growth to the larger BG. The PFA allows BG harvest at a maximum of 15/day (in combination with RES).
