Abstract:
The fish assemblage of 155 ha Turkey Creek Cove, Melvern Lake, Osage County, Kansas, was sampled with three gear types once a month during 1992. Detrended canonical correspondence analysis illustrated a significant depth and habitat heterogeneity gradient throughout the year, as well as for the non-spawn season (August -February), which separated inshore from offshore fishes. Age 0 and fishes mature at small size, e.g., brook silverside (Labidesthes sicculus), occupied diverse inshore habitats; larger species occupied deeper, less diverse habitat offshore. No individual gear type effectively characterized the cove assemblage, supporting the use of multiple gear types when sampling reservoir fisheries.
