Thread: Ask the Biologist

Originally Posted by fishingtim

Craig,
See my thread on the main Kansas Crappie Fishing page, title Woodson Trip 9/12. Courious if you have any comments regarding the catfish?

Tim,

Sounds like the cats may have been feeding (or had been recently feeding) on fish feed from the feeders. The channel cats at the State Fishing Lakes with feeders get very accustomed to eating that feed and sometimes are oblivious while following the free meal. Sounds like you had a great trip!

I have done research on channel catfish at a couple of places in the South. Both places had a number of catfish ponds that were probably 1/4 - 1/2 acre each. The fish were fed when a truck came by and sprayed feed over the pond. As the truck rolled up to the pond, you could see the fish breaking the surface and making a ruckus.

Pete

Craig,
Can you pass my question in the thread "Mined Wildlife Question" from 9/22/10 to Carson Cox or whomever the biologist is for the area down there? Any input would be appreciated.
Thanks,tim.

It was reported at Smithville, Mo. that it hailed so much & large, that it lowered the water temps enough that it killed fish. Reported also that a number of geese fell victim also. Craig, ever heard of this happening in KS ? <*)}}}><

Originally Posted by Crappie Chatt

It was reported at Smithville, Mo. that it hailed so much & large, that it lowered the water temps enough that it killed fish. Reported also that a number of geese fell victim also. Craig, ever heard of this happening in KS ? <*)}}}><

Nope, sure haven't Chatt! Apparently Jake Allman Fish Biologist with MDOC hasn't seen it either in his 24 years on the job.

Sometimes in Kansas we get hail storms that knock many leaves off of the trees and into a stream below and the decomposition of the leaves causes dissolved oxygen depletion which kills fish. Other times hail will shred crops such as wheat and then accompanying rains wash all of this torn up wheat in to an adjacent downstream lake which also can cause dissolved oxygen depletion. I have never seen radical water temperature declines cause by hail that killed fish.

We have had severe hail storms in western Kansas that have killed pheasants and other critters. Luckily, these intense storms are usually pretty isolated so large areas of critters are not affected.

Originally Posted by fishingtim

Craig,
Can you pass my question in the thread "Mined Wildlife Question" from 9/22/10 to Carson Cox or whomever the biologist is for the area down there? Any input would be appreciated.
Thanks,tim.

I'll pass it along Tim.

Craig,

Tried catching some Hargis Creek slabs two weeks ago using jigs and minnows. No luck on crappie, but I couldn't keep the channel cat off my line. Even pulled in a small(4 lb)flat head. Anyway, I thought about trying Butler State Lake. What are your thoughts on the crappie population out there? I noticed the lake brochure on the KDWP web site shows several fish attractors in the lake, but states that they were placed in 1980-81 timeframe. Do you know if these "attractors" were built to last, or were they something that might decay over a 30 year period.

Thanks,
John

craig, how is the new walleye length limit on el dorado working out so far?