Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose High Quality Bass Forage, the Lake Chubsucker

Straight from the Texas State University web site...


Food habits: Invertivore/herbivore (Goldstein and Simon 1999). Major food items in streams include midge larvae (Dipteran), detritus and algae, small clams, and water mites (Sheldon and Meffe 1993). Pond-reared fish consumed items including detritus, filamentous algae, zooplankton (cladocerans, copepods, ostracods), and midge larvae (Shireman et al. 1978). Copepods, cladocerans, and midge larvae (Dipteran) and pupae were also an important prey of a lake population of chubsuckers (Ewers and Boesel 1935).

Another interesting thing about lake chubsuckers is some researchers noted that LMB will actually allow them to spawn into LMB nests. This is thought to be a symbiotic relationship. Basically, the more eggs the less likelihood predators will eat the LMB's eggs, and the LCS gets its eggs protected by the LMB.

There is a closely related species which can be easily confused for a lake chubsucker. It is called the creek chubsucker. For those who aren't real good at IDing similar fish, chances are if you catch them in a running water body, its a creek chubsucker and if you catch them in a pond, lake or swamp its a lake chubsucker. I have collected creek chubsuckers in the past and they do quite well in ponds, but I do not think they are capable of spawning in most ponds which precludes them as a forage fish...

Probably the easiest time to tell them apart is when they are young, creek chubsuckers never get the lateral line, but stay they olive yellow color. Here is a pic of a creek chubsucker: