Daphnia importance

In my never ending quest to improve others knowledge of the water and how to ketch fish ,it often requires a next level of tutoring . The signs in and on the water are often abundant and go unnoticed by the masses .
This episode involves daphnia and copepods and other zooplankton , daphnia magnus is a type of larger micro organism. They are noticeable to the naked eye in many spots and more often than not signal there are masses of fish close by . The fish food chain starts in this general area and fish up to around 4 to 5 inches long relish "water fleas" as they are often called .
Daphnia magnus are about 1/4 of an inch long and sometimes look like a cloud in the water , upon closer observation they appear to be swimming and often seem to go in circles . If you notice them it is very and mean highly likely there are small fish feeding on them . Small fish in turn attract larger fish as we all know . Typically the next size up on fish in this particular scenario includes crappie if they are in the waters where this occurs.
So when out and about with or without the help of boats and electronics look closely on the surface . If daphnia are present in an area ,you are probably on crappie very close to them . The baitfish feeding on them will attract the crappie pretty much EVERY time it occurs .:highfive

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Took this last time I was out night fishing. I was tild by SuperDave that these are water fleas. I had never seen them before. Pretty neat to watch that cloud swim around under the light

I use to raise daphnia for my aquarium fish. Boy howdy do fish love those little things. I've never seen any as large as 1/4 inch just sort of fruit fly size. But like you said fish love them and usually near the start of the food chain for sure.

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Originally Posted by SuperDave336

I use to raise daphnia for my aquarium fish. Boy howdy do fish love those little things. I've never seen any as large as 1/4 inch just sort of fruit fly size. But like you said fish love them and usually near the start of the food chain for sure.

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there are several species of them , you might have been raising red daphnia :dono

The white bass would come crashing through the cloud with their mouths open. I found that kind of odd since they don't seem to be filter feeders

I haven't a clue what species they were. I used to go to local aquarium club and a member gave them to me to breed. He had huge livestock feeders in his backyard of the things. Must have been millions of them.

Something for me to look for the next time out.
Bob

https://c.files.bbci.co.uk/12E7B/pro...1262786338.jpg


Thelma was much more important than Daphne. Thelma was the smart one. Daphne was just “eye candy”.

Wait a minute. What are we talking about?

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Originally Posted by deathb4disco

https://c.files.bbci.co.uk/12E7B/pro...1262786338.jpg


Thelma was much more important than Daphne. Thelma was the smart one. Daphne was just “eye candy”.

Wait a minute. What are we talking about?

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Absolutely :Rofl

what's wrong with a little eye candy? important part of team.

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Originally Posted by hdhntr

what's wrong with a little eye candy? important part of team.

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Not a thing. It is after all the first thing noticed.

I like Velma best :biggrin

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Originally Posted by DockShootinJack

Attachment 408635
Took this last time I was out night fishing. I was tild by SuperDave that these are water fleas. I had never seen them before. Pretty neat to watch that cloud swim around under the light

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It was late at night and I had watched too many episodes of the X Files. Thought them lake monsters were after me:biggrin

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Originally Posted by deathb4disco

https://c.files.bbci.co.uk/12E7B/pro...1262786338.jpg


Thelma was much more important than Daphne. Thelma was the smart one. Daphne was just “eye candy”.

Wait a minute. What are we talking about?

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I think a Scooby Doo Discussion forum might be a nice escape from the seriousness of Crappie fishin.

My apologies Ketchn for getting off topic. I would like to know more about these critters. Early July was the first time I had ever seen any

Great advice!! Thanks for sharing.

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Originally Posted by DockShootinJack

My apologies Ketchn for getting off topic. I would like to know more about these critters. Early July was the first time I had ever seen any

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the ones we encountered might be closer to 1/8 to 3/16 long , but I have read articles about keeper size black crappie feeding on them on bridge columns early in the day .
some spots they look similar to the ones in the photo and are tiny and almost look like milk in the water . The location of the ones lately we have been seeing they are much larger and in really high numbers .

These looked a little larger than pollen and kind of yellow looking color in that light. I thought it was pollen in the water until I realized it was swimming. The minnows were feasting on them for sure

they seem to vary in color and size a good bit , some places here they look really white and tiny here and sometimes I see black ones too, the larger version we see lately look yellowish

I have fished with lights at night a lot of times and that was the first time I had ever seen anything like it.

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Originally Posted by DockShootinJack

I have fished with lights at night a lot of times and that was the first time I had ever seen anything like it.

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they are not always in numbers and bunched up and when spread out just a bit ,almost impossible to see with the naked eye .
we see them more often in the winter time under the lights around docks trying to keep warm is my bet and find a spot or 3 of food for themselves as well .

I should certainly study up on them a little more. A man may learn how to attract and feed these critters to an area set himself an area where conditions were favorable to have this food chain established and thriving. Perhaps a food plot for crappie

they feed on algae is what I read and possibly other smaller plankton , it is my thoughts that ghost shrimp probably also feed on the daphnia and that in turn attracts crappie as well .

Essentially we are setting up a foodchain under the lights. I do like finding docks with lights on all the time is certainly lucrative

lit up docks attract bait , freshwater shrimp come to them in the herds in the fall .

They do love those fresh water shrimp

I do love learning something new!
Thank you sir!


Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

Yes they feed on algae. It’s funny because we try so hard to manage and keep the algae or green water out of aquariums but when breeding them it’s opposite you have to have a green tank full to feed them....lol