A new study out looks at the importance of these two items and how they affect food selection in smallmouth bass. Effects of Turbidity and Cover on Prey Selectivity of Adult Smallmouth Bass by Carter, et al. found:
- In clear water without cover, smallmouth preferred gobies over golden shiners and avoided northern crayfish.
- As turbidity increased, the three species were all neutrally selected.
- When cover was present, smallmouth bass selected golden shiners preferrentially over both gobies and crayfish in both clear and turbid conditions. This is possibly due to the shiners being a more open water fish and hence easier to find or capture. Both gobies and crayfish attempted to hide when cover was present.
- Turbidity decreased the hourly consumption rate of smallmouth, which appear to be more negatively affected by such conditions when compared to largemouth bass.
- Their study suggested that smallmouth could have difficulty feeding for up to two days following a turbidity pulse.
Great stuff.
I used to fish a canal for SMB that, after rains, could really muddy up. SM growth rates were generally fair to poor. I believe the turbidity played a role. There was one year in particular that the canal remained "coffee with cream" muddy for much of the open water season. When it finally cleared, the smallies were pathetically thin.
Posted by: Paul Roberts | February 01, 2010 at 10:59 AM
A bunch of hoo-ha in my humble opinion.
Too many variables to come to a conclusion so bold in test pools in a laboratory. These results could have many different outcomes if performed from the ultra-clear waters of the Gret Lakes to the already turbid waters of Indiana.
When waters get turbid here, the fish put the feed bag on and its rare to catch a skinny bass while the water is high and dirty.
Im not impressed with this logic.
Posted by: Josh McDermott | February 01, 2010 at 05:11 PM
But...how long are your waters muddy for? And just how "muddy"? If it's transient, like most waters, it's probably not much of an issue.
Just asking. I dunno really how well smallies handle mud long term. The 'classic' descriptions of smallies always included a greater propensity for sight feeding and a preference for clear water.
LMs seem to be different. I know of one, that lives in one of my ponds, that is essentially blind due to what look like cataracts. She's fat and happy though, but bumbles around like a bullhead lol. I hear about healthy blinded LMs, but much more rarely healthy blinded smallies. Dunno really, just wondering here.
Posted by: Paul Roberts | February 01, 2010 at 05:44 PM
Figured you wouldn't be impressed with this one Josh. Was even thinking of you while I was writing this post (LOL). I guess the one thing that sticks out in my mind with these studies is how little crayfish win out on the preferred feeding list under controlled conditions, yet in the "wild" it's a well established fact that craws compose a huge percentage of most smallie diets. There's a disconnect in there somewhere waiting to be found.
Posted by: Big Indiana Bass | February 01, 2010 at 05:58 PM
Maybe craw feeding is more vision based than the others? Many SM are known to make inshore movements at night to feed on craws. Does this require gin clear water? Does this type of movement not occur in water that's "less than clear"?
Posted by: Paul Roberts | February 02, 2010 at 11:33 AM
There's something very basic missing. In the wild, if the water turns to heavy stain/muddy, do Smallies go where it is not so - if they can? You'll find the answer to be "yes". Small Mouth migrate the furthest of all bass species - often several hundred yards. They do this seasonally for food sources, and for the same reason as being better able to find food when the water they happen to be in at the time turns unfavorable. Even in riverene situations; find the least stained water and you'll find the fish.
Posted by: Rich Ziert | February 02, 2010 at 11:29 PM