Adirondack -- no, we didn't have any golden shiners. In fact, I don't even have a source (sad, I know;
). I tried to start some in a few ponds quite a few years ago, including one with only GSH, fathead minnows, and orangespotted sunfish, just so I would have a source. They didn't survive and reproduce in any of them, and I didn't pursue it. I know we have GSH in quite a few western SD ponds and public impoundments; I meant to go out and get some to start my own source here, but didn't get it done. In general, having more than one prey species may help buffer the other? I didn't think of the GSH as another predator. Your observations are interesting with that pond combination.
GWA -- I'm with you on LMB vs. SMB. In all our food habits studies, the SMB are much more likely to feed on insects, crayfish, etc. (some fish, of course). However, as you know, we never say never. I recall one year where the SMB just went crazy feeding on age-0 yellow perch in one study lake. It really caught me by surprise, as it likely affected the abundance of that year class of yellow perch. However, we are trying to "study" that occurence again, and in the same lake under similar age-0 perch abundances, we're back to SMB feeding more on insects and crayfish. Go figure.
