While out conducting pre-herbicide treatment water sampling and mapping activities, we noticed numerous schools of young of the year (YOY) largemouth bass. These larval bass were only a few weeks to a few days old. For many members of the sunfish family, it is the father how guards the eggs. When they hatch, Dad centers himself in the school to defend against anyone looking to make a meal out of his little ones. Eventually, he his forced to leave them on their own. Of course he waits until after Father’s Day. But seriously, combining these sightings with the excellent catch results of the 2006 CL Bass Tournament, give us confidence that the CL Main Lakes bass fishery is in great shape despite the Large Mouth Bass Virus.
Mean while over on Rush Lake, the Golden Shiners also had reproductive success. At first look, I was very disappointed. I only saw one adult shiner in Rush Lake as I trolled around. There was a family of Common Mergansers, a diving bird known to feast on fish out on the lake with me. This was a concern. Had the shiner planting failed? Had the divers eaten all the adults? Then I took a closer look at the filamentous algae plooms around the shoreline of the lake. They were absolutely full of larval golden shiners!!! Thousands and thousands and thousands of them. The shiners had spawned and done so recently. They were using the algae as cover to avoid predation. As I surveyed the lake, I could see some smaller beds of the native aquatic plant Thin Leaved Pondweed coming in. There was also some Broadleaf Pondweed. Just enough cover to provide a hiding place for the adult minnows. If this keeps up, we will be ready to stock Rush with Bass before expected. The three families currently residing on the lake are being very patient as they wait for Aquatic Nuisance Control to come out to administer an algae treatment for the filamentous along the shoreline. Over the next few days, the minnows should grow rapidly and begin to move out from the algae into the weed beds in deeper water. As this occurs we can be more aggressive about treating the algae.
