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flatwalter
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Okay guys here is my question. I have posed this on a couple of boards to try to come to an answer to my quandry.
We have fished "Little Sherman" the last couple of days and have caught hundreds of little fish. All of the crappies are in the 5" to 7" range and the bluegills are up to maybe 5" in length.
They light up your vexilar like it is burning up.
We have caught nothing larger and no predator fish.
My question is this: What causes fish to stunt? Lack of food? Lack of predator? Or just overpopulation?
Next question is: Can a stunted fish be taken from one lake to another and grow there or is its biological clock all messed up?
Next question is: If a stunted fish is transplanted into a different lake will it propagate?
Next question is: What is the best means of changing this problem? The intoduction of a predator fish? What size predator would need to be added? What would be a good predator in a lake with extreme draw down?
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The least important piece of equipment owned by a fisherman is his watch.
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StPaulFisherman
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Everytime I've been there its the same way. A lot of action but very small crappie. I have seen a few nice stringers of catfish caught in the evenings. I would think catfish would help cut down on the small panfish but there must not be enough to control it??? Great questions.
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Zachary Fries
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There are a few walleye in there flat. In fact there was an 8+ pulled out of there a couple of years ago by a guy. But you are correct in that there are not may preditors in there at all. As for your other questions, maybe Ben can get with his contact at the NGP and see what he has to say 
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AKA Fisherman Zach
R&D Trucking - Tuffy Boats - www.tuffyboats.com
Matt Pawloski State Farm - www.mattpawloski.com
The Boat Dock - theboatdock@charterinternet.com
Jolly Ann Marine - www.jollyannsales.com
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fluff47
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I fish all over from SD to Texas and back, mostly bass, but enjoy a mess of panfish if looking at something for the table. Seems like lakes I find with better than average size panfish have lots of undersize bass. A lake with a smaller number of big bass will be loaded with way to many little panfish.
I'm no fisheries major but it seems to me,,,, great numbers of little panfish take a tole on the spawn of larger predators leaving themselves as a light snack for a few larger fish while having to little food to go around for themselves. On the other hand,,, Large numbers of small predator fish work over the spawn of fewer but larger panfish reversing the problem. An over population of either reduces their own food supply per fish while increasing the food supply per fish to a limited number of the other.
As for what happens if you move fish from one body of water to another???? I think you get a ticket if you're caught.... 
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prov1900
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Similar situation to Crystal Cove in South Sioux. Used to be a fantastic panfish lake, esp bluegills. Those were "fished out". Lots of big predators such as pike/walleye/LMB/flathead cats were available during this time. The introduction of the rainbow trout, which creates a beautiful food source for northerns/etc, has created a "stunted" bluegill population. Clearly some of those are getting eaten, but there haven't been any sizeable bluegills in the lake since the intro of the trout. I have caught trout as late as mid June here, so they are surviving quite awhile. Enter the hot months. What trout are left are down deep, only to be eaten by the pike. The bluegills stay shallow, knowing that venturing deep is suicide. C/C, at full pool, has 45' depths. Weeds grow deep and throughout the lake, which I believe is creating oxygen levels at deeper...depths. Hence the survivability of the trout and the growth of the northern pike. Of course, this is my best educated guess.
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Shermanator
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Flatwalter-- Is there any care given to the lake with the fish, ie NG&P, or is it left to survive on its own? It does not look like a lot of attention is given to it.
Edited by Shermanator (01/10/08 04:57 PM)
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flatwalter
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I think that it is basically an after thought. A friend said that there had been a walleye stocking in there about three or four years ago. As Zach said a large walleye came from the lake. We talked to a fisherman from GI who said that he caught a 6# saugeye. He also said that they have caught cats when the water is coming into the lake. The lake has all kinds of possibilities.
dj
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The least important piece of equipment owned by a fisherman is his watch.
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flatwalter
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Thought that I should share these comments from Daryl Bauer, Lakes and Reservoirs Program Manager, Nebraska Game & Parks Commission on this subject:
"Saw your questions, you need some pointy-headed answers.
Quote:
What causes the stunting of fish? Is it lack of food? Lack of predator?
Yes. Next question.
Seriously, what is stunting? Stunting is slow-growing fish. Is that caused by lack of food? Well, yeah, sort of, would probably be better to say that is caused by not enough food to go around. You can have stunted panfish, in fact you often have stunted panfish in very productive waters. The panfish stunt because there are so many of them, there is so much competition for food, that there is not enough for everybody. That is where a predator like largemouth bass is so important--that predator can thin panfish numbers enough that there will be less competition for food and the survivors will have enough food to grow faster.
Quote:
Will a stunted fish grow if taken from this enviroment?
With the description I just gave, I think you will come to the conclusion that fish taken from an environment where they are stunted and placed in an environment where there is plenty of food, will start growing faster and not be "stunted" anymore. That is perhaps a little bit of an over-simplification because there can be some physiological and genetic factors involved too, but generally yes, stunted fish won't be stunted anymore if placed in an environment with plenty of food.
Quote:
Will a stunted fish propagate?
Absolutely!!!! If you have read any of my previous "rants" you may have heard me say that the panfish species can reproduce at very young and very small sizes. That is the real problem with stunted panfish--they may be small, they may be in poor conditions and slow-growing, but the darned things keep producing more small panfish! And that is why I say that a healthy predator population, no, let me be more direct in saying that, a healthy largemouth bass population, is so critical in most small waters. Those panfish can reproduce at a young age or small size--much smaller than anglers usually catch and certainly much smaller than anglers will want to keep. A bunch of 10-15-inch bass are crucial in controlling those small panfish.
Just answering . . .
Feel free to ask any other questions you might have."
Daryl Bauer
Lakes and Reservoirs Program Manager
Nebraska Game & Parks Commission
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The least important piece of equipment owned by a fisherman is his watch.
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gwalter
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Thanks for the info. 
gw
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Stress Relief? Try Fishing
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Zachary Fries
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THANKS Flat 
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AKA Fisherman Zach
R&D Trucking - Tuffy Boats - www.tuffyboats.com
Matt Pawloski State Farm - www.mattpawloski.com
The Boat Dock - theboatdock@charterinternet.com
Jolly Ann Marine - www.jollyannsales.com
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Ben Garver
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Thanks jorg and tell Daryl thanks too.
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Ben Garver
Bass Pro Shops Pro Staff
I say we work 2 days and fish 5!!!
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flatwalter
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Another post from Daryl. This is really interesting ............... at least to someone as old as I am.
Dave,
Ben Garver contacted me with your questions too. I sent him a copy of the above response, and then knowing that you were talking about "Little Sherman" I expanded on that some more. Here is the additional response I sent to Ben . . .
Now let me expand on that a little bit, especially knowing that the water in question is Farwell South Reservoir or "Little Sherman". I am familiar with Farwell South, have stopped by there numerous times, have even made a stop or two stocking fish. Farwell South is a little "regulating reservoir" or wide spot off the canal below Sherman. It receives water from the canal and water levels fluctuate. It is mostly clay or mud bottom with little or no shallow water cover. In terms of fish habitat, it could be a lot better.
I have always said that anytime you have water leaving reservoirs, you have at least some fish leaving with that water. All of our large reservoirs are irrigation reservoirs that have annual water releases. At Sherman we have had some research done to get an idea of what fish are leaving the reservoir with those water releases. We found that under normal operating conditions we are probably not losing a bunch of adult game fish. But we did find that there are a lot of small fish, young-of-the-year fish, that migrate out with those water releases. We found that a lot of young crappies leave with those water releases. Now those losses probably do not mean nothing to the crappie population in Sherman--there are plenty of small crappies produced to maintain the population in spite of those losses, but those fish travel down the canal and some of them end up in Farwell South. So that is one reason there is an abundance of small panfish in Farwell South and with that abundance they have a hard time finding enough food for them all.
Would there be possible solutions? Well, a change in water supply would make a big difference. If there was a way to keep the water levels stable and not have the influx of fish coming in with the canal water, then you could change things around. Would additional predators help? Yes, but which predator? With the size of the reservoir, largemouth bass would be the best predator to control panfish numbers. But with the habitat conditions and water level fluctuations largemouth bass have a hard time being successful there. Over the years we have stocked walleyes and even some saugeyes (over 53,500 total since 1990) and even a few 10-inch wipers on one occasion, but I would not be very optimistic about any predator stockings having much success with the water and habitat conditions we have there.
Hope all of that makes sense. I am always glad to answer questions, let me know anytime you have any that I can help with.
Later,
Daryl B.
P.S. Feel free to share any or all of this message with others if you wish.
THANK YOU ............. DARYL
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The least important piece of equipment owned by a fisherman is his watch.
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Little Sherman, 9th Rd and Wausa Rd, Howard County
Re: Little Sherman, 9th Rd and Wausa Rd, Howard County
