FishinRod asks
What would you suggest for the proper habitat to move the SMB from fry to fingerlings, and also from fingerlings to adult fish?
Answer Habitat, Habitat. and more Habitat. Fry are not going to survive if they get eaten. Fry are very dark colored, sometimes called black fry, and move around as a school or group, easily spotted as something delicious to eat. Mortality is very high at this time. All types of sunfishes esp BG love to eat SMB fry. Just one marauding BG was reported to eat 39 fry. After around 4 days the black gradually disappears. One SMB nest full of hatchlings will provide lots of fingerlings if all survive long enough to grow to that 3" length which should happen by late September. I would start by placing lots of habitat not next to SMB nest sites but around long stretches of shoreline beginning 5ft-10ft away from the nest sites. Adding tree tops with butts on the bank for easy removal to see if this method is useful. We have found that long shorelines with big rock of the 8"-16" sizes result good SMB survial.
