Tim Smith

Based on what you find in their stomachs, the ratio of the crayfish cephalothorax length (head and abdomen) to bass total length should be under 10%. Anything bigger than that in a bass' gut is likely to be a softshell.

Well guys. I tried...that is to say "we" tried. That plus the fact that the fish were all holding deep in heavy cover and we ended up using a spinning rod most of the day. Some day I swear, I will grow up and stick with a fly rod more than 30 minutes at a time, but probably not under conditions like that.

Thanks for the advice, guys. We'll see how this goes. The first smallmoth I ever caught was on a flyrod on a popper in the Caddo River. I think conditions will be a little more challenging than they were then. Hopefully we'll have something to show for our efforts this time around. It all sounds encouraging...except that part about long casts. With heavy cover on the banks and my penchant for false-casting I forsee some frustrating moments. Maybe I'll get a little lucky and the water will be just slightly stained. I'll be sure to drop by the fly shop and mention your name, Steve. I guess we'll find out how well you behave when you're out of state by their reaction. Clousers and wooly bugggers...we'll see how it goes.

It turns out I am going to get a chance to fish for smallies in Arkansas very soon. Now it looks like my father is bringing his fly rod and I guess I need to whip mine back into shape and try to do this with him. He has never fished smallies with a fly rod at all. We're both hacks. This will be a high gradient bouldery stream in heavy forest canopy with high water clarity (I hope) about 40-60 feet wide with water temps bouncing around between 45 to 65. We're going to be on what is supposedly some great smallie water but I don't have a single smallie fly. I've also never tried to fish for pre-spawn smallies with a fly rod. I think we both have 6 weight rods. Any advice would be gratefully received. Also, if there were any way I could get some streamers and top waters and crayfish patterns appropriate for those conditions, I would be grateful. Obviously, I'd be willing to pay. HELP!

That's the approximation I use in my head, Dick. C to F is 9/5 of C +32 F to C is 5/9 of C -32 So 10 C is 50 degrees. Those 2 degrees usually aren't worth the extra hassle. It's funny though, I still think in F for air temperature but since I went to school to study aquatics, everything in my head for water is in C. At 0C, water freezes. At 4 degrees C, water starts to become less dense. Around 13C is when things start getting interesting around spawning season. Steelhead start to stress at 18C. Steelhead start to die at 25C. Anything at 30C or higher is really, really hot. At 40C start adding salt and seasonings and put a little parsley on the side.

Kathy, welcome to the boards and may I say I overheard quite a few positive things about you as well.

There's a little note in the Central Fishing section, Mark. One big carp on the float and fly and that was about it. The rain didn't do much last night but water clarity seems to still be an issue in a lot of streams. Jonn says the Mac is still dirty and there was a little bump on the Salt Fork hydrograph this morning as well. Temperatures are still climbing, though. We'll have peaks over 10C next week at this rate.

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Last night the low water temps in the Salt Fork were the highest they've been in 2 months. The high today is going to be near 60. I can't stand it another minute. I'm going TODAY!!

All true, Paul. I would also add, that the severe competiton for those jobs also forces you to deal with some nasty politics and more than one person I've known has been seriously injured or killed doing jobs like this. You have to be a certain kind of person to thrive in that environment.

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Check out the temperature lows in the Salt Fork over the last few days...and those peaks! Toasty!! http://waterdata.usgs.gov/il/nwis/uv?03336900 I've used float and fly (we called it "jiggerbobbing" where I come from) for crappie and I've used it on the Middle Fork but never to target smallies specifically. I have a couple of Jonn's jigs and I don't think I can stand waiting too many more days. If the weather can just hold out a bit, this will be my first try for cold water float and fly smallies.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/...70221093217.htm This article is about marine fisheries, but the principles apply to fisheries across the board.

Thanks, Don. We'll need something along those lines, yes.

Thanks for asking Jude, and thanks to Mark Hedger I did make it home alive. Fortunately, the snow and ice weren't bad after the first 1.5 to 2 hours. I made it home about 1 a.m. Mark must have hit the door at about 2a.m.. I agree it's a tribute to the group as a whole that in spite of some nasty weather the Blowout was just as big a success as ever. The years of groundwork, talent, foresight and just plain elbow grease (yes, especially by Jim and Scott) were fully apparent last night. Rich did a great job running the show his first time around. That was also the first Jonn Graham talk I've seen. I was truly impressed. Don's DVD's were quite the eye-opener as well.

Michael, we did have a split decision and the contest was close but you captured the madtom profile and color perfectly. That fly passed the "glance" test with flying colors. If you were looking for a madtom and your eyes swept over the group of flies, yours was the one that consistently drew the eye of the observer. It looked the most like a madtom to 2 of the 3 judges and IDNR biologist Dan Sollee, who has also seen quite a few madtoms. The dissenting opinion also liked your fly and had it ranked 2nd. However, we DO need a tank test next year. Last year's silverside was innovative, but its' hydrodynamics were those of a straightforward streamer. This year, some of the designs that didn't win were potentially brilliant, but impossible to evaluate. Several of the innovations included in those ties would imparted a complex movement in the water. Standing there at the table, it was impossible to know how well those would have worked. Next year we need to the contestants to submit 2 flies of the same pattern and then test one of them in the tank. An even better (but logistically difficult) test would be to test these flies against each other in the field. Even if some of those ties weren't the most faithful mimic of a madtom, they may easily have been the most effective fish catchers... ...and this year we really want some forum pictures of fish caught on these flies!!!

I sure hope not, jamie...there's a reason they're in piles, and it wasn't so I could photograh them.

The moon issue is still interesting. It seems to me there are quite a few researchers who have made their names by formally studying "myths". The progress from myth, to data to printed page is still a slow one in ecology. Something like that might have been studied and then turned down by the journal reviewers...who's logical processes can be inscrutible at times. I think by Blandingii acutus you mean Procambarus acutus. Here's a picture of those. They like siltier bottoms and are more common in lakes. They're very similar to, and often live together with Procambarus clarkii, the aquacultural species that supports the cajun food industry down there. Most of these are O. virilis. The one with the blue chela in the middle is an O. virilis. The one with the greenish mottled chela just below it is O. immunis. The colors for all these species becomes more pronounced when they have high protein diets.

They are molting more often, yes, but the smaller ones also put up less of a fight and have less effective claws for fighting. Bass do eat hardshells, just not as readily.

It all depends on growth. If an exoskeleton is getting tight, a crayfish will molt. Most of that happens in the spring. A few of the older stragglers give it a whirl later in the year. In their first year of life, when growth is rapid, crayfish are molting constantly. I've also pulled plenty of hardshelled crayfish out of bass guts (non-destructive diet analysis after electrofishing surveys) but they're generally smaller proportional to the bass than the ones pictured here. I believe your "testing" hypothesis, but I suspect that's more true for larger crayfish than smaller ones.

Mr. Engbretson kindly forwarded some additional pictures of smallmouth bass consuming crayfish. The crayfish species on the bottom left is a common one in Illinois, the Northern crayfish (Orconectes virilis). I think the one being caught off a log is a rusty. I'm not sure about the one in the upper left...probably a rusty too. Definitely check out Eric's site. Very, very cool pictures all 'round. I get the impression Eric is doing this as a business, so if you use the pics, be sure to pay.

Hey Jude...You'll find clusters of molts in late spring that lead me to believe the molts are often done close together in time. I don't think it's quite as tight as a mayfly hatch, but there would be advantages for the crayfish if it were. Spring is a big growth time when forage is abundant and temperatures are ideal. Jamie, it has been my experience that crayfish spawn whenever and wherever they can. I've collected them in buckets from the bottom of drained ponds during the fall and summer and sometimes they'll be locked up together then (I have a picture of that some where, but this is a family forum after all). Maybe there's MORE spawning during the full moon? I've never heard anything along those lines. Where did you hear that?

Soft shells happen after a crayfish "molts" or sheds its outer shell. After a molt they are soft and rubbery (you can even bend their claws and legs like rubber). During that time they are easily eaten by predators of all sorts including each other. I'm not aware of any connection to phases of the moon, but I suppose it's possible. The thing that definitely drives crayfish molts is growth. Very young crayfish molt every few weeks until their growth levels off. Adult crayfish tend to molt once in late May or June. Some species may molt more often than that, but most grow slowly in the later stages of their lives.

...I was curious enough to e-mail the photographer and here is his reply. Hi Timothy, Thanks for your kind words and interest in my fish pictures. As I recall, the smallmouth in the picture did in fact briefly pick up that rusty crayfish. But he dropped it almost immediately, and swam away. After years of viewing the interaction between crayfish and smallmouth bass, I've come to learn that they will not eat adult crayfish during the hard shell period. As you may know, crayfish go through a molting process periodically when they shed their exoskeleton or outside shell. After this process, the new shell is soft, but gradually hardens. When the shell is in the hard condition, smallmouth avoid eating them. I'm not sure why. They absolutely love them however, when they're in the soft shell phase. Also, although I can't tell the difference with my eyes, the bass can almost always determine if the shell is hard or soft. I cannot determine weather they do this by sight or by smell. I've seen evidence that would support the notion that both senses are capable of this detection. It's all pretty interesting. Anyway, a long answer to your question. I will go to your website and check it out. Thanks again for your email. Nice hearing from you. Eric Engbretson Engbretson Underwater Photo

I'd like to know the back story... ...does the smallie catch this crayfish? I'd give even odds. This pass looks like a likely miss. The smallie has a closed mouth and the crayfish is in cover and looks to be rotating fast to get it's claws in position to fight. That's a pretty big crayfish for that size of smallmouth too...can't see enough to be sure, but from the size and the black bands on the claws it looks like it might be a rusty crayfish too...very nasty species. Who wins this battle, Jim?