I was out fishing for specks over the weekend at a lake i've never fished through the ice before and when we drilled the holes we noticed these tiny brownish bugs swimming around. Has anyone seen this before? would it be good or bad for the lake and fish in the lake?
any info would help
thanks guys
Bugs in my hole
Without actually seeing them, I'd guess that they were probably fresh water shrimp, scuds, or other kinds of invertebrates that the fish eat. You always find this kind of thing in any lake regardless of the fish species it holds. Assuming you keep some of the fish you catch, why not check the stomach contents and browse an entomology website to find out what they were eating?
www.flyfishingentomology.com
If brookies live in the water, it's very clean.
www.flyfishingentomology.com
If brookies live in the water, it's very clean.
eric-
Based on the size, they were likely Daphnia, often called water fleas. However, that is a misnomer, as they aren’t insects, but rather, crustaceans. Anyway, assuming that’s what you saw, they’re not only harmless, but trout often feed on them. This is what they look like under high magnification:
Roger Rohrbeck
www.FlyfishingEntomology.com
Based on the size, they were likely Daphnia, often called water fleas. However, that is a misnomer, as they aren’t insects, but rather, crustaceans. Anyway, assuming that’s what you saw, they’re not only harmless, but trout often feed on them. This is what they look like under high magnification:
Roger Rohrbeck
www.FlyfishingEntomology.com
Scott-scott_from_the_shoreline wrote:interesting thread. I don't know why but I wouldn't expect to see those types of critters under the ice. Kinda neat.
The open water species are light-sensitive and known for their vertical migration, moving downward during daylight hours, and upward during hours of darkness. Assuming the ice is sufficiently thick and/or has snow cover, it's probably reasonably dark 24/7. As a result, one would expect them to be elevated, similar to Eric's thread.
Roger Rohrbeck
www.FlyfishingEntomology.com
Fishboy-Fishboy wrote:Eric,
That's why flyfishing was invented....
Too funny. By the way, thanks for posting a link to my site. You were certainly on the right track with "fresh water shrimp, scuds, or other kinds of invertebrates that the fish eat", and would likely have come up with Daphnia, had Eric included that tidbit about size in his first post.
Roger Rohrbeck
www.FlyfishingEntomology.com
Last edited by Taxon on Mon Mar 05, 2007 6:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Eric-eric wrote:That looks about right taxon, if you looked real close at them you could see 2 little tenticles at the head with a tiny black spot.
thanks for the info
now what worries me is maybe the trout have too much feed in that lake.
Right. The "tentacles" are actually antennae, which are used by the swimming varieties for propulsion, and the "tiny black spot" is the compound eye on the side turned toward you.
Although Fishboy's comment about flyfishing was likely made in jest, flyfishing professional Larry Tullis actually created a fly which imitates a cluster of Daphnia, and it is reputed to be extremely effective when they are present and fish are feeding on them.
Roger Rohrbeck
www.FlyfishingEntomology.com
wolfe-wolfe wrote:Taxon,
That's some cool info. That's why I love this site! You can always learn something...all's you gotta do is ask!
Welcome to the site, by the way, Taxon.
Entomology...wild stuff!
W.
PS: what is that in your avatar pic? It looks like a walrus.
Thanks for the generous welcome. Just discovered the site, but it seems to be have some very cool dudes. You got the head part right, but it's the head of a caddisfly larva, genus Apatania (Early Smoky Wing Sedge).