Sportfishing Notes

A catfish feeding program was initiated in 2011 using an automated feeder. The goal is to grow catfish to a larger size than typically seen in small lakes in the Denver Metro area.

Population sampling in 2012 showed that the channel cat-fish are in excellent condition, much “plumper” than aver-age.

A marking program was be-gun in 2015 on the channel catfish to allow us to identify individual catfish and to fol-low their growth under this feeding program over succes-sive years.

General Information: Lowell Pond #1 East, a 9 acre reservoir , is located in the Lowell Ponds State Wildlife Area. This pond offers fishing for channel catfish, largemouth bass, yellow perch, and bluegill. Location: West of Lowell Street on 56th Way. Just south of Clear Creek, adjacent to Clear Creek bike path. Recreational Management: Colorado Parks and Wildlife Fishery Management: Warmwater species Annual Survey Data: (see page 2)

Fishing Regulations Minimum size for large-

mouth and smallmouth bass is 15 inches long.

Lowell Pond #1 East

FISH SURVEY AND MANAGEMENT DATA Paul Winkle, Aquatic Biologist, Denver paul.winkle@state.co.us / 303-291-7232

Amenities and General Info. Parking lot Picnicking Hiking path Open 1 hour before sunrise

to 1 hour after sunset; no time restrictions for fishing.

Boating prohibited except float tubes for fishing. All boating prohibited on Sheets Lake.

Hunting, discharging fire-arms or bows, camping, fires, dog training prohibit-ed.

Previous Stocking

2019 Channel Catfish

2018 Channel Catfish

2017

Channel Catfish

2016 Channel Catfish

2015 Channel Catfish

2014 Channel Catfish

2013

Channel Catfish

2012 Channel Catfish

2011 Channel Catfish

The figure to the left shows the per-cent relative abundance of the spe-cies in Lowell Pond #1 East. Sur-veys here include the use of boat electrofishing and gillnets. The 2012 results show that largemouth bass comprised the largest per-centage (57%) of the species pre-sent, followed by bluegill (25%) and channel catfish (12%). The yellow perch and bluegill provide a good food source for the bass, and also contribute to an abundant panfish fishery. The channel catfish popu-lation is abundant.

Lowell Pond #1 East

FISH SURVEY AND MANAGEMENT DATA Paul Winkle, Aquatic Biologist, Denver paul.winkle@state.co.us / 303-291-7232

The figure below shows the length frequencies of largemouth bass and channel catfish at Lowell Pond #1 East. The vertical bars represent the number of fish at a particular length. Bass up to 15” were collected in 2012, with most of the fish in the 11” range. The presence of bass of several size classes shows their population is bal-anced. Catfish up to 25” were collected in 2012. The feeding program begun in 2011 appears to be very suc-cessful, growing catfish to a larger size and condition (“plumpness”).

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10

20

30

1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25

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Fish

Length (inches)

Lowell Pond #1 East 2012 Length Frequencies

Channel Catfish

Largemouth Bass

25%

12%57%

4% 2%

Lowell Pond #1 East 2012 Fish Survey

Bluegill

Channel Catfish

Largemouth Bass

Yellow Perch

Other