Driftwood State Fish Hatchery
4931 S. CR 250 W.
Vallonia, IN 47281
(812) 358-4110
Welcome to Driftwood State Fish Hatchery.
Constructed under the Works Projects Administration (WPA) in the late 1930's, this warm water facility consists of 9 earthen rearing ponds and 1 broodfish holding pond. The rearing ponds range from 0.6 to 2.0 acres in size and provide a total of 11.6 acres for raising fish. Maximum depth of each rearing pond is approximately 5 feet. Four, 1000 gallon linear raceways, housed in the fish culture portion of the newly constructed office/service building, provide facilities for feed training and fish holding.
The primary fish culture responsibilities of the hatchery are management of Indiana’s largemouth bass captive broodstock program and production of largemouth bass, redear sunfish, and channel catfish fingerlings for stocking in Indiana’s many public waters.
Starve Hollow Lake is the sole water supply to the hatchery. Water is drawn from a depth of approximately 6.5 feet and gravity fed to the hatchery ponds. The water is filtered through Saran filter cloth to prevent contamination with lake fish, which would compete with; or prey on, those being raised. Water for the inside raceways is pumped from the broodfish holding pond and/or Starve Hollow Lake.
The hatchery is staffed by one full-time Property Manager 2 and one full-time Laborer 3. The Fish Management Biologist for District 8, covering 15 counties in southeast Indiana, is also headquartered at the hatchery.
The hatchery is funded entirely from the Fish and Wildlife Fund, which is comprised of monies generated from the sale of hunting, fishing, and trapping licenses. All monies spent for hatchery operation are eligible for 75% reimbursement from Federal Dingle-Johnson and Wallop-Breaux funds.
FISH CULTURE
Largemouth bass, redear sunfish, and channel catfish are the principle game fish species raised at Driftwood. However, most all warm-water and cool-water species can be produced at this facility. Species raised in the past include bluegill, black crappie, walleye, hybrid walleye, northern pike, and muskellunge.
Largemouth bass production begins in April. Gravel filled nest boxes are placed in selected ponds to provide spawning sites. The boxes are placed a minimum of 25 feet apart to minimize fighting between the highly territorial males. Near the end of April, as water temperature approaches 65°F., the bass brood fish are removed from the holding pond, sexed, and transferred to the spawning ponds. Approximately 50 pair are stocked per acre.
The male will select a spawning site and prepare a saucer-shaped nest by fanning the gravel free of silt with his tail. He then guards the site until a female arrives to deposit her eggs. The eggs are pale yellow in color, about 1.5 millimeters in size (0.06 inches), and have a sticky covering which allows them to adhere to the gravel in the nest. Once spawning is completed, the female leaves and the male remains to care for the eggs. Recent genetic research suggests that largemouth bass are monogamous with only one female visiting a nest site.
Hatching occurs 3 to 5 days after spawning. An additional 10 to 14 days are required for the fry to develop to the swim-up stage; at which time they will “school” over the nest.
The male cares for his family school until the fry are approximately 1.0 inches in length, at which time parental care ceases and the fry disperse to fend for themselves.
When the fry are large enough to safely handle, schools are captured by seining and transferred to “nursery” ponds. Heavy predation on the young bass occurs when left in the pond with the adults after the schools break up.
Preparation of the nursery ponds begins when broodfish are moved to the spawning pond. The ponds are filled, and organic fertilizers (alfalfa meal or soybean meal and /or yeast) and inorganic fertilizer (10-34-0 liquid) are applied. The fertilizer promotes phytoplankton (minute plants) production, which in turn promotes zooplankton (minute animals) production. The zooplankton provides forage for the bass fry during this early stage of life.
When zooplanktors are present in sufficient numbers, bass fry are stocked at approximately 60,000 per acre. Organic and inorganic fertilizer is applied weekly to maintain maximum plankton density. The fry will remain in the nursery ponds for about 35 days, at which time they will be approximately 2.0 inches in length. Look for “short fingerlings”, as they are called at this stage, as they cruise the pond edge.
At 2.0 inches in length, the bass require larger prey, such as aquatic insects or small fish. The bass are removed from the nursery ponds, graded to insure size uniformity, and transferred to grow-out ponds for rearing to a fall stocking size of 4.0 inches. The number stocked is reduced to 11,000 per acre to insure the ability of the pond to produce adequate forage is not exceeded.
Redear sunfish generally begin spawning in late May and continue into July. Like its cousin, the largemouth bass, redear are nest builders and the male assumes the chores of nest construction and nest protection. Unlike bass, redear nest in colonies, with several nests in close proximity. Most avid pan fish anglers are quite familiar with the “moon scape” of a redear nesting area.
Redear fingerlings are raised to fall fingerling size (1-2 inches) in the spawning ponds with the adults. Redear are not highly piscivorous (fish eater), tending to favor snails and other mollusks, which has earned it the common name “shell cracker”. Redear fry feed on zooplankton, and pond fertilization techniques are similar to that for bass short fingerling production.
Watch for the saucer-shaped nests and attending males as you walk around the ponds.
Goldfish and fathead minnows are also raised at Driftwood to provide forage for the largemouth bass brood fish housed at the facility. Approximately 1,500 pounds of forage fish are required annually to maintain Indiana’s largemouth bass captive broodstock program.
Goldfish begin spawning when water temperature reaches 60°F. and continue throughout the summer if the pond is not overcrowded. The female, accompanied by one or more males, spawns over submerged vegetation randomly scattering her eggs. The eggs stick and are left to hatch unattended. Strips of rye grass are planted around the pond edge to provide spawning habitat. Spawning mats on wood frames can be used if the pond is void of vegetation. Goldfish are “up with the chickens” so to speak, with the majority of spawning occurring at first light.
Fathead minnows begin spawning in May and continue through August. The eggs are deposited on the underside of objects in the pond and are attended by the male. Fathead minnows are fast growers, with some individuals spawning the same season they were hatched.
Both goldfish and minnows forage on plankton, and fertilization techniques are similar to that used for game fish production.
Look for adult goldfish as they sun themselves near the surface, and look for fingerlings as they feed around the pond perimeter.
Driftwood is an extensive culture facility. Most fish species are raised on those food items which occur naturally in ponds such as zooplankton (minute animals), aquatic insects, frogs, snails, etc. The number of fish which can be raised is limited by the amount of forage the pond can produce; its carrying capacity. Fish production can be increased above the natural carrying capacity of a pond through the use of formulated feeds. Channel catfish are raised primarily by this method. Largemouth bass are occasionally raised on formulated feed when advanced fingerlings are needed. Goldfish and fathead minnows also take readily to formulated feed.
To be as efficient as possible, ponds are multi-cropped. For instance, fathead minnows are usually raised in ponds previously used for bass short fingerling production; channel catfish are raised in ponds previously used for bass spawning, and so on.
Maintaining adequate water quality is a very important task in the operation of the hatchery. Oxygen must be maintained above 5 parts per million; or growth and survival will be reduced, and other gases (carbon dioxide, nitrogen, etc.) must remain below critical lethal concentration. Oxygen concentration is typically monitored at first light when the level is theoretically at its lowest, and is monitored more closely during the summer months than in the spring and fall; usually three times weekly. This is because warm water holds less oxygen than cold water. In addition, higher temperatures result in increased metabolic and respiration rate in fish and increased decomposition of organic matter, causing increased oxygen use.
Mechanical aeration/circulation is used to improve the water quality of the pond. A centrally located 150 CFM blower system supplies aeration to the nine rearing ponds. Atmospheric air is injected near the bottom in the deep end. As the air rises, the upper water is pushed away and the bottom water moves in to fill the void (note the boil). This action causes the pond to continuously “turn over”, which in turn mixes oxygen throughout the water column. It also keeps nutrients suspended in the water and available for plankton use.
During the growing season, aquatic vegetation is monitored and controlled as needed. “Summer kills” occur when oxygen depletion results from a die-off of a large algal bloom or extensive weed growth. Pond harvest is also affected as the fingerlings become trapped under the vegetation. Excessive algae also plug screens, slowing harvest and subjecting the fingerlings to longer periods of stress.
Fish production accounts for only part of the day to day operation of an extensive culture operation. Mowing and trimming of grounds to maintain a pleasant appearance, mowing levees to aid in the detection of muskrat dens and limit fish predators and disease vectors, maintaining buildings and structures, maintenance, repair and fabrication of equipment, and administrative duties are all equally important to the operation of the hatchery.
The months of October and November are generally when the fall fingerling ponds are harvested in preparation for stocking public waters. The fingerlings are moved to the culture room, graded, counted, weighed and measured, and then loaded, at prescribed pounds of fish per gallon of water, into insulated transport tanks for the trip to their new home. While in transit, water conditioners, bottled oxygen, and agitation are applied to the transport water to minimize stress and insure a healthy product. At the lake, the fingerlings are acclimated to the temperature and chemistry of the receiving water before being unloaded.
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