BassBlaster

The Fish Communities of Small Impoundments

SmallImpoundmentsIf you’re not necessarily of the tournament bassin’ mind set, there’s a good chance you might do at least some of your bass chasing on the many small impoundments located throughout the country, defined in some recent research as 1,000 acres or less. The fisheries though can be all over the board, with some being good really good, and others just so-so. Some of this might be explained by location, where an impoundment is located relative to the general watershed characteristics in the area as well as fertility and other such criteria.   After studying 89 such impoundment in Missouri, these researchers were able to come up with some common themes based on a comparison of physical characteristics and fish populations. The five sport fish species looked at were largemouth bass, bluegill, redear sunfish, white crappie, and black crappie, all common to our average small impoundment.   Here’s what they found;

> Lakes with high numbers of largemouth bass commonly contained really nice sunfish and crappie populations (quality fish size). This would suggest that high bass populations do a good job of eating down excess small panfish.

> Density-dependent growth, meaning high numbers of smaller fish or fewer numbers of larger fish, was the norm among all 5 species.

> If a lake had really nice white or black crappies in it, it also tended to have fewer bluegills, suggesting these two species might compete against each other to some degree.

> Lakes containing carp had fewer largemouth bass and slower-growing black crappies than lakes without carp.

> The presence of gizzard shad benefited largemouth bass populations but negatively affected bluegill and black crappie populations.

> Generally speaking, the more fertile the lake, the better the growth and size structure of gamefishes. High nutrients and food supplies can feed lots of mouths well.

> Overall, predation and competition seemed to be the biggest driver in structuring sport fish communities in these impoundments, provided that lake fertility was adequate

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