Thread: Ask the Biologist

Originally Posted by fishingtim

Craig,
Can you pass my question in the thread "Mined Wildlife Question" from 9/22/10 to Carson Cox or whomever the biologist is for the area down there? Any input would be appreciated.
Thanks,tim.

Tim,

Here is the reply I got back from Rob Friggeri, KDWP Fish Bio for the Mined Land Wildlife Area lakes. Sorry for the slow reply but from late September through early November all the KDWP fish bios are on the lakes sampling fish which cuts down on our office time.

The larger pits dug by Big Brutus are generally the better ones for crappie. It sounds like Tim fished the pit by Big Brutus in unit #44 and Mineral Lake in unit #45. These are both good crappie fishing spots. He might also want to try the north lake in unit #33 (off Bellview Road), the south lakes in unit #30, or the 50-acre lake in unit #41.

There are bass in every lake, but I like fishing the ones with some flooded timber and cover. The south lake in unit #24, the south east lake in unit #32, the north lake in unit #22, and the east lake in unit #42 all have lots of cover.

Hope Tim has a good trip.

Rob

Craig,
You can read and/or pass on my thread on the main page "Mined Wildlife Area fishing trip" to Rob and thank him for the info. Unfortantely I just got back home from the trip the day prior to you posting this info. Checking a map we only fished one of the pits he mentioned, and did alright on crappie in it. Overall had a great time at the cabins down there and fishing was pretty good. We were able to catch fish in each pit we tried, but wanted to try for wipers, but that pit was close. Our guess was because it was an achery only hunting area.
I'll make notes of Rob suggestions and try those areas in the future.
Thanks,
Tim.

Originally Posted by Craig Johnson

Tim,

Here is the reply I got back from Rob Friggeri, KDWP Fish Bio for the Mined Land Wildlife Area lakes. Sorry for the slow reply but from late September through early November all the KDWP fish bios are on the lakes sampling fish which cuts down on our office time.

The larger pits dug by Big Brutus are generally the better ones for crappie. It sounds like Tim fished the pit by Big Brutus in unit #44 and Mineral Lake in unit #45. These are both good crappie fishing spots. He might also want to try the north lake in unit #33 (off Bellview Road), the south lakes in unit #30, or the 50-acre lake in unit #41.

There are bass in every lake, but I like fishing the ones with some flooded timber and cover. The south lake in unit #24, the south east lake in unit #32, the north lake in unit #22, and the east lake in unit #42 all have lots of cover.

Hope Tim has a good trip.

Rob

Good Information there!!

Craig, I was on Big Hill this past Thursday 14th and saw the KWP shocking boat working on the lake. Are they "shock surveying" Big Hill again? I sure hope they did better then I did that day. Thanks.

Originally Posted by CrappieCHAMP

Good Information there!!

Craig, I was on Big Hill this past Thursday 14th and saw the KWP shocking boat working on the lake. Are they "shock surveying" Big Hill again? I sure hope they did better then I did that day. Thanks.

CrappieCHAMP,

If I had to guess, I would say that they were test netting instead of shocking (I could be wrong!). All fish bios are currently running trap nets and gill nets to assess the condition of fish populations in their assigned district lakes. The electrofishing surveys for black bass are completed in the Spring (May) when the bass are up in the shallower water in preparation for the spawn. The fall netting sample is looking for all other species besides the black basses.

Although we usually see quite a few while sampling, it is still much more fun to take them on rod and reel!!

Craig I was fish a farm pond last night and boated what I'm guessing to be black nose crappie they had a black stripe
going from under the mouth to the tip of the dorsal fin is this a stocked fish or a cross ,can they spawn (reproduce) or should we release them . Kind of cool catching them and really don't want to take them all out if they are hybreds

thank you for the info chris

Originally Posted by birddog one

Craig I was fish a farm pond last night and boated what I'm guessing to be black nose crappie they had a black stripe
going from under the mouth to the tip of the dorsal fin is this a stocked fish or a cross ,can they spawn (reproduce) or should we release them . Kind of cool catching them and really don't want to take them all out if they are hybreds

thank you for the info chris

Chris,

We have two species of crappie in Kansas. They are the white crappie (Pomoxis annularis) and the black crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus).

The 'blacknose crappie' is a black crappie with a genetic variation that results in a black stripe running from the tip of the nose to the dorsal fin. The blacknose crappie are not hybrids. They are fertile and capable of producing offspring.

Hi Craig,

Last weekend we winterized my mother's pontoon boat and took it off the lake where it has been docked since July. On the back of one of the pontoons is a little aluminum box for mounting electronics. This box was covered inside and out with about a softball-size mass of transparent goo. It had about the consistency of congealed ham fat or maybe extra-thick gelatin. The center of the mass was very transparent, but the surface was lumpy with very dark beach-sand-size black dots.

In fact, I would describe it as a transparent softball covered with black sand. I am guessing it was fish, amphibian, or snail eggs. We debated about scraping it into an aquarium to see if anything hatched, but decided against it. Any ideas what it might have been?

The area where the boat was docked is shallow, silted, and very weedy. I would say it's about 2.5 feet deep at the most. The area has been thick all summer with green sunfish, bluegills, and ringed perch. But of course there are also black and white crappie as well as largemouth and smallmouth bass in the lake. It was docked at lake Wabaunsee. Any information would be appreciated. Thanks Craig.

Originally Posted by Fish Taxi

Hi Craig,

Last weekend we winterized my mother's pontoon boat and took it off the lake where it has been docked since July. On the back of one of the pontoons is a little aluminum box for mounting electronics. This box was covered inside and out with about a softball-size mass of transparent goo. It had about the consistency of congealed ham fat or maybe extra-thick gelatin. The center of the mass was very transparent, but the surface was lumpy with very dark beach-sand-size black dots.

In fact, I would describe it as a transparent softball covered with black sand. I am guessing it was fish, amphibian, or snail eggs. We debated about scraping it into an aquarium to see if anything hatched, but decided against it. Any ideas what it might have been?

The area where the boat was docked is shallow, silted, and very weedy. I would say it's about 2.5 feet deep at the most. The area has been thick all summer with green sunfish, bluegills, and ringed perch. But of course there are also black and white crappie as well as largemouth and smallmouth bass in the lake. It was docked at lake Wabaunsee. Any information would be appreciated. Thanks Craig.

FishTaxi,

What you are seeing are colonial animals called bryozoans. Many smaller animals join together to form the larger mass that you described. This animal is similar to the saltwater corals, but they do not build any lasting structures but rather have the 'goo' that you described. Bryozoans usually gather a lot of attention from folks at a lake as many have not ever seen them. They are harmless and are a indicator of good water quality. I've seen bryozoans as big as volleyballs and I have seen them from Hillsdale to El Dorado. They like to attach to old branches or twigs but they will also attach to metal dock lines. Do a google search on bryozoa or bryozoan and you can find all of the details. Here's a an informative website for you HERE.

Below is a picture of a bryozoans from the above site.