Posted By: leanin post
DAPHNIA !!!!! what a remarkable creature - 01/13/18 04:59 PM
several years back I was given a book by a friend, that was written by a great fisherman that really opened my eyes to alot of the WHYS abt baitfish locations. I was surprized to learn of these almost microscopic animals that live in the lakes. They have 33 genes in thier DNA sequence, more than a human, can reproduce both sexually and Asexually, kind of like an oyster, but they clone themselves.
These tiny creatures move up and down in the water column, have a heart,and eyes, and live by filtering even smaller organisms with several tentacles. They tend to move up and down in the water column, depending on sunlight penetration . They get moved around alot due to wind and current, and are a primary food source for many baitfish, and gamefish. These creature do not cling to or grow on trees or brush, they just kind of drift around, in groups, kicking up and down in the water column. This explains many things. Like why shad tend to move around the lake alot, and why there usually seems to be what I like to call " the life line". When your leaving the boat ramp
and turn your sonar on and notice that most of the baitfish seem to be hanging around, along with the gamefish in a band that may rannge from one foot to several feet. That is the SECOND thing I always try to take a mental note of, after what the current wind speed and direction is.
I lived close to a meager crappie fishing lake for over 20 years, and often wondered what the problem was, why was it such a clear, pretty, clean lake but so sparce of many fish. I spoke with the chief biologist for bell county and he told me it all starts with the nutrients, that zooplankton can feed on, and it goes either good or bad from there. For several reasons, there just isnt alot of nutrient rich water in this lake. THerefore the cycle is broken from the start.
Many lakes that I have fished and heard of, you will find the best fishing on the north end. I believe it is because that is where the nutrients tend to enter in, and number 2, the wind blows primarily out of the south most of the year, which blows the plankton and Daphnia to those areas. The baitfish congregate, and so do the gamefish. Many times Daphnia are refered to as water fleas. Most people have never seen one if you do not know they are there.
Capps and Coleman, 2 of the legendary crappie fisherman, once said they will ride around a lake looking for the "right looking water". I have found that the emerald greenish, plankton rich looking water is what I like to fish in, it has a certain tinge to it, that may be why the fish are there, the color is the plankton, and the plankton are eaten by the Daphnia and so on.
Do some research abt these strange little animals that have been underneath your boat affecting where the fish go, and you will look at the dynamics of the lake in a new and exciting light!!
I know that everyone who has cleaned a crappie has cut opened the stomach, to see what the fish has been feeding on, in larger crappie, I have seen what looks like a wad of jellylike , snot. No bones, no scales, just a blob. I often wondered what is this.I now think, that this stomach content may be larger daphnia that the crappie is eating. Its just a guess.
https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/daphnia?mediatype=photography&page
https://betadifferentiatie.sites.uu.nl/w...-on-daphnia.pdf
These tiny creatures move up and down in the water column, have a heart,and eyes, and live by filtering even smaller organisms with several tentacles. They tend to move up and down in the water column, depending on sunlight penetration . They get moved around alot due to wind and current, and are a primary food source for many baitfish, and gamefish. These creature do not cling to or grow on trees or brush, they just kind of drift around, in groups, kicking up and down in the water column. This explains many things. Like why shad tend to move around the lake alot, and why there usually seems to be what I like to call " the life line". When your leaving the boat ramp
and turn your sonar on and notice that most of the baitfish seem to be hanging around, along with the gamefish in a band that may rannge from one foot to several feet. That is the SECOND thing I always try to take a mental note of, after what the current wind speed and direction is.
I lived close to a meager crappie fishing lake for over 20 years, and often wondered what the problem was, why was it such a clear, pretty, clean lake but so sparce of many fish. I spoke with the chief biologist for bell county and he told me it all starts with the nutrients, that zooplankton can feed on, and it goes either good or bad from there. For several reasons, there just isnt alot of nutrient rich water in this lake. THerefore the cycle is broken from the start.
Many lakes that I have fished and heard of, you will find the best fishing on the north end. I believe it is because that is where the nutrients tend to enter in, and number 2, the wind blows primarily out of the south most of the year, which blows the plankton and Daphnia to those areas. The baitfish congregate, and so do the gamefish. Many times Daphnia are refered to as water fleas. Most people have never seen one if you do not know they are there.
Capps and Coleman, 2 of the legendary crappie fisherman, once said they will ride around a lake looking for the "right looking water". I have found that the emerald greenish, plankton rich looking water is what I like to fish in, it has a certain tinge to it, that may be why the fish are there, the color is the plankton, and the plankton are eaten by the Daphnia and so on.
Do some research abt these strange little animals that have been underneath your boat affecting where the fish go, and you will look at the dynamics of the lake in a new and exciting light!!
I know that everyone who has cleaned a crappie has cut opened the stomach, to see what the fish has been feeding on, in larger crappie, I have seen what looks like a wad of jellylike , snot. No bones, no scales, just a blob. I often wondered what is this.I now think, that this stomach content may be larger daphnia that the crappie is eating. Its just a guess.
https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/daphnia?mediatype=photography&page
https://betadifferentiatie.sites.uu.nl/w...-on-daphnia.pdf
...Thank you for that Good and knowledgeable read!