I have had YP choose to wriggle into the 4" circle opening on my chinese minnow traps and leave egg in there rather than anywhere else in the pond.
I'm wondering based on finding males and females going through some effort to get inside the traps if they might be more of a cavity spawner than the folklore has suggested? I wonder if their instinct is to get into some type of cover whether that be under a brush pile or any other suitable cavity. I know the small lake by my house has some self-sustaining perch in it but neighbors do not see perch ribbons. There is bulrush and lilypads in this quite eutrophic lake so maybe the females are leaving the eggs in the brushy areas or scrubby bulrush stalks and not by the more manicured lawn edges?
It is amazing to see massive egg ribbons and wonder how that fit in the belly cavity anyway?
