afishinado
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Staff member
I started this thread from a discussion in a report about the Conodoguinet in the Stream Reports forum .
SteveG wrote:
Not seeing the previous numbers of small fish does have me somewhat worried, because they used to be in every little pocket of soft water, almost to the extent of being a nuisance.
Redietz wrote:
You may have cause to be worried. We had a biologist from the Maryland DNR address our TU chapter last winter about how a year of high waters affects fish populations. The Reader's Digest version is that a year of above average rainfall is good for trout and very bad for smallmouth. It tends to scour their nests and can come close to wiping out a whole year class. This is now two years in a row. It can't be good for ww fish.
Mike wrote:
A look at the fall, 2018 middle Susquehanna SMB adult electrofishing sampling results in the Area 7 biologist reports on the PFBC web site will most likely give you a pretty good idea of what to expect from the tribs this year. Smaller fish less than 12 inches long were not particularly common and these sampling results from a number of sites may serve as proxies for the tribs.
Here is info about SMB spawn and high water I pulled from the PFBC site:
How do river flow and water temperature influence bass populations? Several studies suggest how, and give us some idea of what occurs. Spawning male bass need to choose good nesting
habitat. Ideal smallmouth bass nest habitat includes shallows, backwaters and warm sloughs.
The substrate should include clean stone, rock or gravel (about the size of marbles or golf balls—but no larger). There should be adequate cover (depth of water or vegetation) and refuge from
the current.Ideal nest locations are those with the right combinations of bottom type, cover and current.
High river flow and turbid conditions limit ideal habitat or make some habitat unsuitable—because of faster currents. These difficult conditions force the bass to select poor or less-than ideal habitat for nest construction. Less-than-ideal nesting habitat can reduce the number of eggs or fry that survive.
Strong river flow and colder-than-average water temperature have a big influence on bass eggs and bass fry. Heavy river flow can displace bass eggs or fry from the nest. Eggs or sac fry can be covered with sediment. The fry may become disoriented in the turbid conditions and abandon their nest. Research has shown that fry cannot tolerate high water turbidity when combined with increased river flows. Older fry that leave the nest will have to use a lot more energy to swim and feed in heavier currents. Heavy river flows also reduce the amount of shallow areas that young bass need to survive. These shallow areas provide the ideal growing conditions. They are
warmer and have fewer predators. In cold water, fertilized eggs take longer to develop, making them more susceptible to disease and predators. Fry activity and swimming will decrease at low water temperatures. Cold water and high river flows together make it difficult for bass fry to move about, find food and survive. While many studies show that water temperatures influence Y-O-Y strength, studies conducted in Pennsylvania don’t show that. In Pennsylvania, river flow has the greatest influence on Y-O-Y strength.
Link to source > https://www.fishandboat.com/Fish/Fisheries/Documents/smbass_yoy.pdf
SteveG wrote:
Not seeing the previous numbers of small fish does have me somewhat worried, because they used to be in every little pocket of soft water, almost to the extent of being a nuisance.
Redietz wrote:
You may have cause to be worried. We had a biologist from the Maryland DNR address our TU chapter last winter about how a year of high waters affects fish populations. The Reader's Digest version is that a year of above average rainfall is good for trout and very bad for smallmouth. It tends to scour their nests and can come close to wiping out a whole year class. This is now two years in a row. It can't be good for ww fish.
Mike wrote:
A look at the fall, 2018 middle Susquehanna SMB adult electrofishing sampling results in the Area 7 biologist reports on the PFBC web site will most likely give you a pretty good idea of what to expect from the tribs this year. Smaller fish less than 12 inches long were not particularly common and these sampling results from a number of sites may serve as proxies for the tribs.
Here is info about SMB spawn and high water I pulled from the PFBC site:
How do river flow and water temperature influence bass populations? Several studies suggest how, and give us some idea of what occurs. Spawning male bass need to choose good nesting
habitat. Ideal smallmouth bass nest habitat includes shallows, backwaters and warm sloughs.
The substrate should include clean stone, rock or gravel (about the size of marbles or golf balls—but no larger). There should be adequate cover (depth of water or vegetation) and refuge from
the current.Ideal nest locations are those with the right combinations of bottom type, cover and current.
High river flow and turbid conditions limit ideal habitat or make some habitat unsuitable—because of faster currents. These difficult conditions force the bass to select poor or less-than ideal habitat for nest construction. Less-than-ideal nesting habitat can reduce the number of eggs or fry that survive.
Strong river flow and colder-than-average water temperature have a big influence on bass eggs and bass fry. Heavy river flow can displace bass eggs or fry from the nest. Eggs or sac fry can be covered with sediment. The fry may become disoriented in the turbid conditions and abandon their nest. Research has shown that fry cannot tolerate high water turbidity when combined with increased river flows. Older fry that leave the nest will have to use a lot more energy to swim and feed in heavier currents. Heavy river flows also reduce the amount of shallow areas that young bass need to survive. These shallow areas provide the ideal growing conditions. They are
warmer and have fewer predators. In cold water, fertilized eggs take longer to develop, making them more susceptible to disease and predators. Fry activity and swimming will decrease at low water temperatures. Cold water and high river flows together make it difficult for bass fry to move about, find food and survive. While many studies show that water temperatures influence Y-O-Y strength, studies conducted in Pennsylvania don’t show that. In Pennsylvania, river flow has the greatest influence on Y-O-Y strength.
Link to source > https://www.fishandboat.com/Fish/Fisheries/Documents/smbass_yoy.pdf
