A little over 70 years ago, as George Perry sat in a homemade wooden boat on Montgomery Lake, Georgia, he lightly twitched his Creek Chub Wiggle Fish lure once, and then again. Suddenly, there was an explosion of water at the surface, and the rest is history. He became the largemouth bass world record holder with a behemoth that weighed 22 pounds 4 ounces, a record that has yet to be officially broken. Ever since that fateful day, untold numbers of bass fishermen have dreamed about the possibility of breaking "the" record. It would bring both fame and fortune (conservatively estimated to be 1 million dollars in endorsements) to the lucky individual who could accomplish the feat.

In Virginia, Richard Tate caught a bass at Lake Conner (Halifax County) that weighed a whopping 16 pounds 4 ounces. This became the state record that has stood since 1985. The only real threat has come from a bonafide big bass factory, Briery Creek Lake in Prince Edward County. This 845-acre impoundment, owned by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, opened to fishing in 1989 with much fanfare. It soon became apparent that this lake was something special, and anglers started hauling in lunker bass. In the spring of 1995, a 16 pound 3 ounce bass was caught which just missed breaking the 1985 state record.

What do these three fish tales have in common? In each case, Florida largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides floridanus) are involved to some degree. The largemouth bass is comprised of two subspecies, the northern bass and the Florida bass. The pure northern bass occurs across the northern tier of states from New England through the Mid-West. The pure Florida bass occurs only from the lower portion of the Sunshine State. Although we’ll never know the genetic make-up of George Perry’s fish, which was eaten by his family (it was the Depression after all), researchers have categorized that part of Georgia as having a Florida intergrade. This just means that these largemouth bass have genetic traits of both the northern and the Florida bass. This intergrade zone extends from central Florida up through the Carolinas and Virginia into Maryland and across much of the South. Pure Florida bass and Florida intergrades have been stocked throughout the country from small farm ponds to large reservoirs. Some of these introductions have been highly successful. Others have been marginal at best.

Lake Conner was stocked in the mid 1970’s with Florida bass, and although the state record was never tested genetically, most presume that it was a Florida intergrade. In 1986 and 1987, Briery Creek Lake was stocked with a mix of Florida and northern largemouth bass at a 3:1 ratio. Biologists theorize that several factors worked to benefit the bass population in Briery Creek Lake. The first was the "new lake" effect. Whenever a reservoir is filled, there is an initial boom in the fishery. The early year classes of fish have an abundance of food and available habitat at their disposal with very little competition, and they often experience phenomenal growth. The boom undoubtedly occurred at Briery Creek Lake and helps explain many early trophy fish that were landed. Secondly, Briery Creek Lake is filled with a complex assortment of habitat that provides everything the largemouth population needs. Finally, the bass seem to be benefiting from "good" genes since the number of Virginia Angler Awards (formerly called "citations") continues to be very high. A 16 pound 2 ounce largemouth bass was caught as recently as April 2002.

Many Virginia anglers are interested in Florida bass because of the success of Briery Creek Lake. Some may be aware of the highly touted "ShareLunker Program" in Texas. Others may have heard about the string of monster bass that have been caught in California. Both Texas and California have used Florida bass in their stocking programs to develop trophy fisheries. Several other states have tried using Florida bass to either supplement existing populations or to influence the genetic make-up of native bass fisheries. Notable examples of these include Tennessee, Louisiana and Oklahoma. So where do we stand in Virginia? What is the genetic make-up of the most popular bass waters in the state? Would stocking Florida bass in our waters increase the numbers of trophy fish?

The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and Virginia Tech have teamed up to answer these questions. Fisheries Biologists with the Department and researchers from VA Tech have just finished the first phase of a project that will ultimately characterize the genetic make-up of the most important largemouth bass fisheries in Virginia. During 2001, largemouth bass from 15 different waters across the Commonwealth were collected for genetic evaluation. This shotgun approach for sampling covered virtually all geographic regions in the state and most of the major bass waters. Tissue samples from bass of all ages, sizes and both sexes were examined using a technique called electrophoresis. This intricate examination of the fish’s DNA enabled scientists to decipher the genetic make-up of each population. The analysis was completed in 2002 and yielded some very interesting results.

Genetic material from both northern and Florida subspecies were present in all populations surveyed. This confirms that Virginia is within the intergrade zone with bass populations containing a mix of both Florida and northern genes. An individual fish may have genetic material from both the northern bass and Florida bass, just like a child has characteristics of both the mother’s family and the father’s family. This is also true at the population level. An individual population may be weighted much heavier towards either the northern bass subspecies or the Florida bass subspecies. The degrees to which Virginia populations were weighted towards Florida bass varied widely across the state. The proportions of genetic material originating from Florida bass ranged from a low of 32% to a high of 68% in the 15 waters analyzed. In Briery Creek Lake, Virginia’s premier trophy largemouth bass fishery, 62% of the genetic material was attributable to the Florida subspecies. For both Smith Mountain Lake and Lake Anna, the percent contribution of Florida genes was 52%. On the other hand, Claytor Lake and South Holston Reservoir had Florida gene percentages of only 38% and 39%, respectively. There appears to be no particular pattern to the distribution of populations with high percentages of Florida genes. This is probably due to the vast amount of stocking that has taken place over the years.

Bass fishermen may wonder, why not just stock more Florida bass in all Virginia’s waters? Research has indicated that Florida bass may not perform well in colder climates. For example, starting in 1972, officials in Oklahoma stocked Florida bass into many of its reservoirs hoping that this would increase the number of trophy bass to the level seen in Texas. The Florida bass seemed to do well below Interstate 40 but not so well North of I-40, where temperatures dip lower. Tennessee has stocked Florida bass in many of its impoundments, and just as in Oklahoma, success varied with latitude. This seems to be the trend in several states that have tried large-scale stockings of Florida bass. Largemouth that naturally occur in Virginia are well adapted to this climate and do just fine in the long cold winters that we occasionally experience. This may be due to the fact that these fish are intergrades of northern and Florida bass with just the right genetic make-up to handle Virginia’s weather.

Another possible management strategy is stocking a large reservoir with Florida bass to shift the existing population genetically. Unfortunately, this could only be accomplished by stocking massive numbers of fish annually for a number of years, a very expensive undertaking that would have no guarantee of success. Even so, some southern states are trying it. For example, Louisiana has massively stocked Florida bass to infuse Florida genes. Fry, fingerlings and sub-adult fish have all been stocked to develop a "blended fishery" of native and Florida bass. Only time will tell whether this is successful or not. This technique may be a much more attractive option for new impoundments where there is not an existing bass population that would be competing with the Florida bass.

In Virginia, it would be of little benefit to stock Florida bass into waters where this sub-species is already well represented genetically. For example, the bass population in the Chickahominy River is already dominated by genetic material from the Florida bass (57%). Stocking more Florida bass there would probably accomplish little. Although stocking Florida bass may be appropriate in certain situations, one needs to remember that there is more to producing trophy bass than just genetics. Habitat, which includes everything from water quality to structure, is vital. Forage, the optimum food that largemouth bass need to grow to trophy sizes, is critical, as is the length of the growing season. Proper regulations are also an important component. Why is there such a variety of regulations across the state for largemouth bass, as well as other species? It’s because biologists continually evaluate regulations to determine if adjustments are needed to improve the size structure of a population or optimize catch rates. A whole myriad of factors, including genetics, can contribute to growing a bass big enough to bend your rod double.

There is still much to learn about the impact of genetics on trophy largemouth bass fisheries. The next phase of our research will involve analyzing additional waters to get a more complete picture of the distribution of the Florida intergrade zone in Virginia. In addition, biologists hope to identify specific factors that may cause certain waters to produce trophy bass consistently, year after year. With this information, management strategies can be developed that improve bass populations and ultimately improve fishing success for anglers. Fisheries management has come a long way since George Perry caught his world record largemouth in 1932. But one thing hasn’t changed, the dream of landing a trophy largemouth bass. Our goal with this research is to help make that dream become a reality.

Copyright 2003 William B. Kittrell, Jr.  All Rights Reserved
bkittrell@dgif.state.va.us