Well, good to have you aboard Chubby. All of my family is from PA and much of it still lives there. My dad and I have a hunting camp/trout creek in Bedford Co, PA that we visit often. I went to Penn State and got a minor in wildlife and fisheries science there. My mother spent much of her childhood growing up in Camp Hill, PA.

You'll find there are some very knowledgeable guys on here and that this community is as friendly and willing to share ideas and knowledge as any around!

Definitely some fine smallie fishing on the Susquehanna! I do not know of any place that sells madtoms of any species. I always caught them with a minnow trap or seine and I do agree they make fine bait. Surprising since they got some nasty little spines on them but the smallies sure love to gobble them down. So do big brown trout!

Since you have hands on experience with lake chubsuckers... I've got a few of questions for you if you care to and can answer them.

During your research, what spawning method did you observe lake chubsuckers using? I have seen several different accounts of their spawning method. Anything from broadcast spawners over vegetation to sneaking into active largemouth bass nests and laying their eggs in that nest?

With the lake chubsucker having such a large native range, is there any sign of there being subspecies? Perhaps a northern subspecies native to the upper midwest and then a southern one adapted to warmer water temps native to FL and the southern Gulf Coast? I ask this as the hatchery that currently is working with lake chubsuckers is in TX. Should they be successful and I am able to get a few lake chubsuckers from them, could those fish not be adapted to colder climates, sort of like the FL subspecies of largemouth as compared to the northern subspecies of largemouth...

What was the water chemistry make up of the ponds you had success in getting the lake chubsuckers to spawn in? I have read they prefer soft water and do not tolerate turbidity...

Thanks, Travis