Thread: Ask the Biologist

Originally Posted by springhillwantabe

craig fished council grove 3-3-11 water temp 38 degrees cleaned some saugs,whites and crappies they were all full of blubber but checking stomachs intestines saw no signs of bait fish like to check and see what they been eating so i know what bait to try maybe next time do they load up then lay around like a bear or what? thanks jim

Jim,

During the winter, cold water months in Kansas it is not uncommon to see fish with empty bellies. Metabolism is quite slow during these cold water periods and the fish don't need a bellyful of food to sustain themselves especially if they were in good shape with plenty of fat reserves from feeding on shad during the fall and early winter months. As water temperatures begin to increase, you will likely see more fish with something in their gut.

Sounds like you had good outing at Council Grove and thanks for sharing the info!

thank you very much water warms up they should go on a feeding frinzy? hopefully?

Craig,

I caught a few small mouth buffalo at Fall River. Are small mouth buffalo as common as large mouth buffalo? How big do small mouth buffalo get in Kansas?

Do you know if the strip pits in eastern Kansas have common carp in them?

Originally Posted by Flats&Craps

Craig,

I caught a few small mouth buffalo at Fall River. Are small mouth buffalo as common as large mouth buffalo? How big do small mouth buffalo get in Kansas?

Do you know if the strip pits in eastern Kansas have common carp in them?

Flats&Craps,

I checked with Carson Cox, KDWP fish bio at Fall River, and he said he catches more smallmouth buffalo than bigmouth buffalo in his gillnets at Fall River. The Kansas state record for smallmouth buffalo is 51 pounds.

Rob Friggeri, KDWP fish bio for the strip pits, said carp are common throughout most of the strip pits. He mentioned there may be a couple that don't have a carp but most of the pits will.

I hope this answers your questions!

Anyone know the location of the Perry Lake water temperature gauge? Link below. I have noticed a 4 degree higher temp in the coves.

Perry Lake

Originally Posted by Big Mo

Anyone know the location of the Perry Lake water temperature gauge? Link below. I have noticed a 4 degree higher temp in the coves.

Perry Lake

Big Mo,

The COE lakes that have a temp gauge usually have the equipment located at the dam in the tower. I'll double check with Tj to see if this is true for Perry.

Sir am in Ohio doing a project to sink as close to 1,000 fish attractors in CJ Brown Reservoir, mostly Christmas trees, but as much cedar as we can get our hands on. mostly we are doing this to provide spawning habitat for panfish, especially yellow perch; have 3 questions: A what type of woods last the longest underwater assuming same lake and same depth? B after the algea/ plankton die off in late fall, will surviving shad eat the moss and algea on submerged wood- several ice fishermen with an Aqua View swear they saw a cloud of shad inside and around sunken cover C right now apparently most fish are being caught around 25+ fow; we are wondering WHY with warmer water temps (48- 52 F) thank You, sir!

Originally Posted by Lowellhturner

Sir am in Ohio doing a project to sink as close to 1,000 fish attractors in CJ Brown Reservoir, mostly Christmas trees, but as much cedar as we can get our hands on. mostly we are doing this to provide spawning habitat for panfish, especially yellow perch; have 3 questions: A what type of woods last the longest underwater assuming same lake and same depth? B after the algea/ plankton die off in late fall, will surviving shad eat the moss and algea on submerged wood- several ice fishermen with an Aqua View swear they saw a cloud of shad inside and around sunken cover C right now apparently most fish are being caught around 25+ fow; we are wondering WHY with warmer water temps (48- 52 F) thank You, sir!

Lowellhturner,

A.) Hardwoods such as hedge and oak will usually last the longest when used as fish habitat. A lot of folks don't like to use hedge as it is difficult to handle. Oak is a desirable tree in the terrestrial setting so few people will cut them solely for fish habitat unless they have a clearing project underway. Pines/Christmas trees are easily attainable in numbers, easy to handle, but usually only last a very short time. I shy away from pines as they deteriorate quite quickly compared to other options. Cedar trees are a good option. They last longer than pine but not as long as the hardwoods. Cedars are easily handled and provide good fish habitat. In Kansas, cedars can be had nearly everywhere and most landowners are happy to allow cedar harvest on their property making the cedars a very cheap source of fish habitat material.

B.) Gizzard shad will feed upon other food sources than plankton. I've seen gizzard shad 'working' areas with algae covered rocks when plankton densities are low due to extreme turbidity (muddy water conditions). Depending on the lake, shad may utilize detritus if plankton is scarce. I've also seen adult gizzard shad come up to feed upon the fines/crumbs from floating fish feeders intended for channel catfish.

C.) Since I'm not very familiar with Ohio waters, I'm not sure I can accurately answer this one for you. During early spring in Kansas, our shad and sportfish occasionally stay deep when the water first begins to warm but this usually changes quite quickly as water continues to warm. Our first fish to come shallow in spring are the walleye and they will do so when water temps reach the mid-40's as the fish prepare the spawn. Meanwhile, crappie, white bass, and wiper remain out in the deeper water until their spawning temps approach and they make the move to shallower water. Your fish may be staying in the deeper water as that is where their preferred forage is currently located. Kansas walleye during the spawning period will go shallow to spawn during the night time hours but during the day they retreat to the safety of the deeper water. This year at one of my lakes you could see walleye STACKED at 22 to 25 fow off of the dam. Hit this same area near dark and it would be vacant as the walleye moved shallow to spawn.