Lake Barnett

Spent a few hours out on Barnett today without a single bite. I did see a lot of shad dying and even more "gulping" at the surface of the water. Can anyone tell me what that means?
Thanks

More than likely they were threadfin shad opposed to the larger gizzard shad. Threasfin shad are often stressed by cold water temps. This causes die offs of this species most years. This is normal, nothing to worry about. Lake Barnett's crappie population is heavily influenced by the residence time of water in the lake. On years of heavy rain, the entire lake gets a big flush. This negatively impacts the crappie. This is why we stock them annually. We see some pretty good ones in our spring bass electrofishing samples. Much better bass in Barnett though.

I've been lurkin on Barnett but I won't spill the beans yet!!

Thanks Matt, the surface temp was 39 deg. And the way you explained it will probably change my choice of rods next time.
Thanks again.

Sorta off subject, but Matt, maybe been answered before, but what is the alien looking algae growths in that lake off the trees and stuff.

Gary, been trying to get Barnett figured out myself. Seems hit and miss for me, but I'm still learning the lake. Had mixed results with Electric Chicken Jokers. Watched eagle fish all day this fall.

Aaron, he was there today. Didn't get to see him fish but he was circling.

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Originally Posted by AR_Aaron

Sorta off subject, but Matt, maybe been answered before, but what is the alien looking algae growths in that lake off the trees and stuff.

Gary, been trying to get Barnett figured out myself. Seems hit and miss for me, but I'm still learning the lake. Had mixed results with Electric Chicken Jokers. Watched eagle fish all day this fall.

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I am not quite sure what you are describing. Next time you are out there, take a picture and send it to me. Thanks.

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Originally Posted by D10

I am not quite sure what you are describing. Next time you are out there, take a picture and send it to me. Thanks.

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Will do. Saw it more towards end of summer/fall last year and meant to ask on it then, but forgot about it. It almost looks like cross between a califliwer head and some soft coral. Not sure if there is a fresh water relation. Kinda figured it was some sorta alga. Seemed to be growing off trees and The channel markers mostly. Some of The masses ranged from catalope up to watermelon in size. There was also smaller chunks that seemed to be present also but free floating. Not sure if pieces or what.

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Originally Posted by AR_Aaron

Will do. Saw it more towards end of summer/fall last year and meant to ask on it then, but forgot about it. It almost looks like cross between a califliwer head and some soft coral. Not sure if there is a fresh water relation. Kinda figured it was some sorta alga. Seemed to be growing off trees and The channel markers mostly. Some of The masses ranged from catalope up to watermelon in size. There was also smaller chunks that seemed to be present also but free floating. Not sure if pieces or what.

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Good discription Aaron! That is a colony of invertebrates called bryozoa. They are filter feeders that attach to any kind of hard substrate (such as a tree or boat lane marker). They kind of look like a blob if jelly with spots in it. What probably happened was that they attached to things and were filtering water just fine. Then the water dropped out and they were left high and dry.

Used to fish barnett and caught a many crappie by the dam. I told ol Matt Barnett to give that lake a try lol. I see he is up to something. Deep water by dam was good.