By Larry Woody
Boone Reservoir, located at the conflux of the Holston and Watauga rivers in East Tennessee, is named after famed frontiersman, Daniel Boone, who explored the area. Now the lake christened after him is being explored by another pioneer – F1 bass (F1 bass are a first-generation cross between a Florida largemouth and a northern largemouth, the latter a Tennessee native.).
This fast-growing, hard-fighting largemouth bass path into Tennessee waters started in an unusual way. A large sinkhole developed near Boone Reservoir dam in 2014, creating an opportunity for this strain to tantalize Tennessee anglers.
In order to repair the sinkhole, the Tennessee Valley Authority lowered the lake 30 feet below full summer pool, providing an opportunity for the TVA and Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency to plant grasses and install other structures to improve habitat. With the best possible habitat in place, TWRA wanted to make the most of the opportunity to stock F1 largemouth bass in the lake.
The F1 strain of largemouth has been a big reason for the great bass fishing in Chickamauga Reservoir over the past decade, and the agency hopes to expand that success.
Last year, TWRA stocked 50,000 two-inch F1 fingerlings in the 4,500-acre Boone Reservoir. Reservoir manager John Hammonds says some of the fingerlings reached eight inches in a year’s time.
“That’s a phenomenal growth rate,” he says. “That’s one of the advantages of F1 bass – they grow fast. And not only do they grow fast, they are very aggressive…Fishermen like big, aggressive bass. The F1 bass stocking had the support of most of our local bass anglers who were consulted about the stocking.”
How big do F1 bass get? The state-record largemouth, caught in Chickamauga Reservoir in 2015 by Gabe Keen, was an F1 product. The Chickamauga lunker weighed 15 pounds, 3 ounces, shattering the former state largemouth record of 14 pounds, 1 ounce, that had stood for over a half-century.
Chickamauga was one of a few selected Tennessee impoundments to receive Florida-strain stockings 15 years ago. Assuming there were other bass in Chickamauga the size of Keen’s in 2015, imagine how big they are now. But, what’s the difference between a Florida bass and an F1 bass? It’s the latter’s genetic ability to thrive in colder environments. Pure Florida bass prefer Florida temperatures, while F1 are at home in cooler waters. The state-record Chickamauga bass was caught on a freezing day in February.
“That’s the advantage of F1s,” Hammonds says. “They do well in cooler lakes where the pure Florida strain can’t.”
TWRA fisheries biologists deemed Boone Reservoir well-suited for the fish, especially once the habitat was enhanced, and the incredible growth rate of the F1 fingerlings seems to bear that out. Hammonds, who has managed the reservoir for 17 years, says time will tell.
“We don’t have a lot of long-term data,” he says. “Most F1 stockings have been done further south and southwest in smaller bodies of water, including private ponds. Virginia, which has lakes similar to East Tennessee’s, has done some F1 stocking and we are monitoring the results. So far they seem promising.”
The TWRA received its initial 50,000 F1 fingerlings from the American Sport Fish hatchery in Alabama. (It would not be cost-effective for the Agency to produce such a limited number in its state hatcheries). A second F1 stocking in Boone is scheduled for in 2022.
“We will evaluate it as we go along, in terms of cost and success,” Hammonds says. “That will determine if more area waters might be stocked.”
There was concern by some fishermen that the aggressive Fl newcomers might adversely impact the lake’s other species. In order to grow a lot, they have to eat a lot, and anglers who favor equally-voracious striped bass and hybrids fretted that the F1 would hog the chow line.
Hammonds says there’s plenty to go around. “Boone has a good supply of forage fish, including gizzard and threadfin shad, alewives and sunfish,” he says. He believes the F1 stockings will further enhance the lake’s reputation as an already-great fishery.
Boone Reservoir’s largest largemouths have weighed in at around 10 pounds, and its smallmouths topped out at about seven pounds; the cold-water results in slow growth rates for them. In contrast, the lake’s F1 bass are expected to grow not only much faster but also much bigger.
Some fishermen question whether Florida-strain and F1 bass, with their inherit growth advantage, should be in the same category as native Northern largemouth for record consideration. Biologists insist there’s not enough difference to quibble over. “They look so similar to each other that it’s impossible to tell the difference between them without genetic testing,” Hammonds says. “The only differences are the F1s faster growth rate.”
Most fishermen probably won’t bicker about catching bigger bass.
“I’m all for it, and so are all the other bass fishermen I know,” says veteran angler Andy Jennette of Nashville, who for 17 years has officiated local bass fishing tournaments. “I’ve followed it (the F1 and Florida bass stocking program) pretty close. In fact, some friends and I went to Chickamauga three years ago specifically to fish for the big bass we’d heard about. My biggest of the trip was a 6 ½-pounder. We plan to go back and try for some bigger ones.”
Fishermen willing to travel long distances in quest of F1 lunkers indicate the potential for Boone Reservoir and similar stocked impoundments to enhance the state’s reputation as an angling destination. Tennessee is already famous for its whopper Dale Hollow smallmouths, including the world record.
“I wish we had those (Florida and F1 bass) in Percy Priest,” Jennette says, referring to his hometown lake. “But Priest doesn’t have a lot of grass and other vegetation, so maybe the habitat’s not suited for them.”
As for drawbacks, Jennette doesn’t see any. “To me, it seems all positive,” he says. So far, so good, but might there be unforeseen developments down the road? “Anytime you introduce genetic alterations there is that potential,” Hammond says. “But based on how things have gone so far, we don’t anticipate any problems.”
TWRA Chief of Fisheries Frank Fiss adds, “Given our experience stocking Florida largemouth bass at other locations, we do not expect any negative impact – at worse there would be no improvements. Florida largemouth have already been stocked in reservoirs throughout the Tennessee River, so this introduction to Boone Reservoir is not new to the drainage.” Fiss sees the Boone Reservoir stocking as a “unique opportunity.”“It would take 2-3 years to produce F1s as a natural offspring had we stocked pure Florida strain,” he says. The fingerlings tend to remain in or nearby the areas in which they were released, making it easier for biologists to monitor their development. Fiss says they will gradually disperse throughout the lake.
There is a 15-inch minimum limit on Boone Reservoir largemouth, so even with their fast growth rate, it will be a while before F1s start showing up in live wells.
Will the program be a success and lead to further stockings in other lakes? As Hammonds says, only time – and the bowed rods of some lucky anglers – will tell.