Bill Cochran

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It worked! At least that’s what Biologist Bob Greenlee is saying. So is Field & Stream Magazine. And a bunch of happy bass fishermen add to the chorus.

We are talking about stocking largemouth bass, a concept that most fishery biologists would have classified as a waste of money just a few years ago.

Beginning in 2005, stocking was tried in the Chickahominy River, following several years of drought and other problems that had broken the back of this fishery.

Early results show that bass stocking may play a role in the well being of a fishery, under certain conditions, said Greenlee, a Department of Game and Inland Fisheries biologist.

Field & Stream pushed all caution aside and said “The Chick is back and better than ever, thanks to heroic stocking efforts.” The magazine named the Chickahominy one of the 150 best summer fishing spots in the country. Other picks in Virginia were Latimer Shoals in the Chesapeake Bay, currently the site of excellent cobia fishing, and the South Fork of the Holston River.

The initial stocking of the Chickahominy was driven by a group of disgruntled bass fishermen who named themselves “Concerned Bass Anglers of Virginia.” When the anglers approached the DGIF with the idea of stocking largemouth, they found an open door. Agency biologists wanted to test the possibility and welcomed the fact that the concerned anglers would help fund the experiment.

Stockings have taken place in 2005, 2006 and again this year. In late May, 114,000 fingerling hybrids of the Florida-Northern cross from Alabama were released in the tidal Chickahominy and its tributaries. The three-year total was 330,000 bass.

The 2005 release experienced poor survival. That spring, there had been excellent survival of native bass.

The next year was different. Native reproduction was poor. The survival of stocked bass was extremely high. “Higher than we have seen for any year class of naturally spawned largemouth,” said Greenlee.

In fact, stocked fish accounted for 75 percent of the 2006 year class. They didn’t just survive, but grew more rapidly than native fish.

“If survival remains good, the 2006 year class will be very strong due to supplemental stocking,” said Greenlee. As early as April, fishermen were catching 2006 bass that were pushing 10 inches.

While Greenlee is excited about what is happening, he said the dramatic rebound of the Chickahominy can’t be contributed to the stockings. The crisis had ended just as the stocking began. Bass populations have rebounded across the state thanks to improved water conditions.

But the experiment reveals that stocking could be yet another tool in the management of a bass fishery. Years when there is good natural reproduction, stocking in not necessary, but when natural reproduction has failed or is low, stocking could give the population a boost.

“We still do not have the final word on long-term survival,” said Greenlee. “The jury is still out, but at this point it looks like we will be able to use supplemental stockings in tidal river systems.”