05-26-2016, 04:03 PM
[quote wormandbobber]TD, I will say this again...I know of no single place where smallmouth bass have been able to control or reduce chub numbers on their own. All of the reservoirs you mentioned have a bigger predator that is more voracious than smallies--Starvation had walleye, Flaming Gorge has lake trout, Deer Creek has walleye...these predators have been able to control chub numbers. Smallmouth have not.
[red]Again, the examples I listed where only smallmouth existed all show that chubs can thrive and flourish with smallmouth as their primary predator.[/red] You asked about what the smallmouth would eat in the meantime for the return of chubs...that answer is simple: chubs wouldn't take long to return. In fact, it would only take a couple years at most for significant increases of chubs to appear if perch were out of the equation. I can say that because I have seen it happen time and again at places like Minersville, Piute, and Otter Creek.
But, we can agree on the idea that we still have some fantastic fishing...[/quote]
Yep.
Perch are a scourge.
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[red]Again, the examples I listed where only smallmouth existed all show that chubs can thrive and flourish with smallmouth as their primary predator.[/red] You asked about what the smallmouth would eat in the meantime for the return of chubs...that answer is simple: chubs wouldn't take long to return. In fact, it would only take a couple years at most for significant increases of chubs to appear if perch were out of the equation. I can say that because I have seen it happen time and again at places like Minersville, Piute, and Otter Creek.
But, we can agree on the idea that we still have some fantastic fishing...[/quote]
Yep.
Perch are a scourge.
[red]⫸[/red][orange]<{[/orange][yellow]{{[/yellow][green]{{[/green][size 4][blue]⦇[/blue][/size][blue]°[/blue][#8000FF]>[/#8000FF]
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