Poor Striper spawn

i Already know that answer. Can I have a few mil. The answer is yes, flatheads eat small stripers, shad, herring and SMB. I also know the answer if snakehead is in the question. Yes.
 
poopdeck said:
i Already know that answer. Can I have a few mil. The answer is yes, flatheads eat small stripers, shad, herring and SMB. I also know the answer if snakehead is in the question. Yes.
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You open any up? I plan on harvesting some if I can this summer and checking a few.
 
Nope sure haven’t. I rely on common sense and the principles of the call of the wild. In other words, big fish eat little fish.
 
A friend bow fishes a Pa lake that has a well-established population of flatheads. He has checked stomachs…when there have been any fish in the stomachs they have been carp and walleye. No LMB or SMB, despite the lake having both. Previous works elsewhere in the south have shown primary forage fish to first be sunfish species (not bass, however) followed by catfish. Crayfish are also seen elsewhere to be a big part of their diets. We’ll see what is found in the Susquehanna work seasonally, longitudinally, and by length groups.
 
Mike said:
A friend bow fishes a Pa lake that has a well-established population of flatheads. He has checked stomachs…when there have been any fish in the stomachs they have been carp and walleye. No LMB or SMB, despite the lake having both. Previous works elsewhere in the south have shown primary forage fish to first be sunfish species (not bass, however) followed by catfish. Crayfish are also seen elsewhere to be a big part of their diets. We’ll see what is found in the Susquehanna work seasonally, longitudinally, and by length groups.
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Neat. Yea can’t wait for results. Yea i’m really interested to see if they sampled below conowingo. I was doing a little reading and I had no idea the Blue’s had increased tolerance to salinity as they grow larger apparently. I wonder if there is either direct predation on juvenile/schoolie stripers or trophic cascade issues? They have been there for a few decades i’ll have to see if I can find anything in the literature. Mike do you know of any historical records of how far stripers and shad made it up the susky before the dams? Just curious
 
big fish eating little fish is a principle that cannot be argued. When are they doing these studies? That’s kind of key to what they are going to find.
 
Fish Sticks said:
Neat. Yea can’t wait for results. Yea i’m really interested to see if they sampled below conowingo. I was doing a little reading and I had no idea the Blue’s had increased tolerance to salinity as they grow larger apparently. I wonder if there is either direct predation on juvenile/schoolie stripers or trophic cascade issues? They have been there for a few decades i’ll have to see if I can find anything in the literature. Mike do you know of any historical records of how far stripers and shad made it up the susky before the dams? Just curious
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Shad into NY State, not sure about stripers.
 
poopdeck said:
big fish eating little fish is a principle that cannot be argued. When are they doing these studies? That’s kind of key to what they are going to find.
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Depends to what degree if at all. Just because in same big system micro habitats may not overlap, salinity gradient could separate species, seasonality/migration patterns could cause certain species to overlap more or less. Evasion behaviors/natural physical or chemical defenses like spines/poisons/taste can all deter predation. Diurnal or nocturnal differences in behavior can also increase decrease predation. It’s important to quantify as well. How many of these “little fish” are we talking? Enough to impact populations. Yes? No? Kinda? what water types or location is predation occurring in? Is something man made exacerbating oredation it(downstream migration through a reservoir causing juvenile salmon to be eaten by invasive predators).

Fisheries science is a science and I really respect what those folks can do when they start with a problem like invasive species study it. Design solutions to reduce impact, control, or eliminate while lifting the native species simultaneously. Our underatanding of their limitations is sometimes more about what we let them do than what they can do.
 
Mike said:
Shad into NY State, not sure about stripers.
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Dang thats impressive. I have read some non peer reviewed articles on the striper declines in popular angling media. If anyone knows any fisheries scientists publishing on this please let me know id like to read them.
 

If you go to the bottom and look at research questions that need to be answered it looks like invasive blue catfish are a real concern and a priority for fiture research in relation to the striper decline. Makes sense if they are 75% of the biomass in streams they spawn in, eat worms and crabs when under 18-20” jist like juvenile stripers. Still don’t know if larger ones are eating stripers in a significant quantity. Seems blues don’t mind the nasty tasting chemical yellow perch egg clusters have and eat their egg clusters when native fish wmthat evolved with them are deterred by the chemical. I wonder if the blues are gorging on eggs? Very interesting, the same limit on harvest that saved us in the 70’s may Not be as effective in this case?
 
Fish Sticks said:

If you go to the bottom and look at research questions that need to be answered it looks like invasive blue catfish are a real concern and a priority for fiture research in relation to the striper decline. Makes sense if they are 75% of the biomass in streams they spawn in, eat worms and crabs when under 18-20” jist like juvenile stripers. Still don’t know if larger ones are eating stripers in a significant quantity. Seems blues don’t mind the nasty tasting chemical yellow perch egg clusters have and eat their egg clusters when native fish wmthat evolved with them are deterred by the chemical. I wonder if the blues are gorging on eggs? Very interesting, the same limit on harvest that saved us in the 70’s may Not be as effective in this case?
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75% of biomass in Some of the streams they spawn in*
 
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