jpsdad, is this what you were referring to???
Quote "Warmwater fish reported as detrimental to smallies are: largemouth bass, green sunfish, bluegills, orange-spotted sunfish, redbreast sunfish, crappie, gizzard shad, and bullhead catfish. These fish are hardy and reproduce prolifically then compete for both prime habitat and food... making these fish part of the "problem" managing for smallmouth.
That was it. The other really great articles form a really good resource for planning around SMB. The link to the article is
HERE.I am not real familiar with the biology of OSS nor RBS so I can only guess why OSS would not be a compatible forage species for SMB. 1. OSS if is aggressive and abundant they could prey heavily on the SMB eggs and fry. 2. OSS - RBS when abundant would deplete too many of the natural foods probably invertebrates needed by SMB fry to grow into fingerlings. 3. Direct competition for living space and food items especially among younger fish of both species may be the biggest detriment for OSS or RBS living well with SMB???? 4. Since OSS adults remain 6” or less this would make them a less desirable panfish. Although since OSS remain small during most of its life span this could be a good prey size for the larger SMB (9”-16”).
Thank you Bill. To be sure, I don't know much about OSS either. I know specimens > 4" are few in a population and that in the south few OSS live longer than 3 years. They are not particularly fecund. Just a few hundred eggs typically. Not sure if the spawn more than once but they do spawn over a broad period from late spring to fall. They are a lot like a minnow in terms of size but are laterally compressed. Height vs Length is more like a GSF than a BG. They grow slow and I think they would benefit the advanced fingerling sizes of LMB most which may be why the are correlated with greater LMB standing weights.
My general sense, is that they cannot attain large standing weights in the way that BG can. Though I could be wrong about that. Where one is trying to maximize the standing weight of SMB, I think modest standing weights of prey, whatever they are, promotes that goal. They need to reproduce well, produce several times their standing weight in offspring each year, and be vigorous enough not to be extirpated. Perhaps, the key to survival of a minimum overwintered population is a good fall harvest of the SMB. Anyways, I can't say that OSS would be good for SMB in the way they are for LMB. Just wanted to understand why they wouldn't be good for both as a supplemental forage species.
Hey guys, I had almost given up on this thread but have been reading some great ideas and comments. Thank you for commenting.
