arrowhead, duckweed, water meal, cattails, purple loosestrife, and water willow (Table
3). The dominant algae found during this survey was pithophora. Coontail was the
dominant submerged vegetation, and water meal and duckweed covered most of the
sampled area.
DISCUSSION
The population structure of fish in Palestine Lake has only slightly changed since
this lake was last surveyed in 1999. The total number of fish captured in 2003 was less
than half of what was captured during the same amount of sampling effort in 1999
(Kittaka 2000). Three game species, bluegill, largemouth bass, and black crappie,
dominated the fishery, unlike 1999 when bluegill, gizzard shad, and pumpkinseed were
the most abundant species in the lake. Although bluegill were the most abundant species
collected during both the 1999 and 2003 surveys, the PSD and RSD-8 of those fish were
higher in 2003. In addition, the largemouth bass population in 2003 had a higher PSD
and comprised a larger percentage of the total number of fish captured than in 1999,
indicating that this fishery may be steadily improving each year. The RSD-14 and RSD-
18 values for largemouth bass were similar between the 1999 and 2003 surveys. Fewer
gizzard shad were collected during this survey and all fish ranged in size between 12.7
and 15.7 in, so predators such as largemouth bass may be utilizing small gizzard shad as a
prey resource. Black, brown, and yellow bullhead, as well as channel catfish are still
found in Palestine Lake, however, their numbers remain low and they comprise less than
3% of the total number of fish found in this lake. In addition, no carp were collected
during the 2003 survey, whereas in both 1997 and 1999, carp were captured from the lake
(Braun 1997; Kittaka 2000). Therefore, it appears that carp are not an important
component of the fishery in Palestine Lake at this time.
Although muskellunge were last stocked in Palestine Lake in 2003, and northern
pike in 1995, none of these fish were captured during the 2003 survey. This is an
indication that stocking efforts in this lake were unsuccessful in establishing naturally
reproducing populations. In addition, muskellunge in this lake do not appear to survive
for long after stocking has taken place, either migrating over the dam or dying at high
water temperatures in the summer. Based on these data and previous surveys, continued