Tim Smith

Seeking highly qualified graduate students to pursue graduate degrees inecology, starting in the Summer or Fall of 2008 in the lab of John Drake atthe University of Georgia Odum School of Ecology. Research in this labfocuses on population dynamics in experimental systems, infectious diseaseecology, and ecology of invasive species. We have strengths in modeling,computation, and stochastic population theory. Recent projects includeinvasive aquatic species in the North American Great Lakes, extinction inexperimental zooplankton populations, and models of the 2003 SARS outbreakin Singapore. For other past research seehttp://dragonfly.ecology.uga.edu/drakelab/. Students interested either inmodeling/computation/theory or in empirical research are encouraged to apply. Potential students are strongly encouraged to email (jdrake@uga.edu) aletter of introduction and expression of interest by December 1, 2007). Formore information about the Graduate Program in Ecology and instructions forapplying, please see http://www.ecology.uga.edu/programs/doctorate.htm. Funding is immediately available for the following position. Outstandingapplicants with other interests are encouraged to contact us about forinformation about fellowships and other sources of funding. POPULATION ECOLOGY OF BRANCHIOPODA IN TEMPORARY PONDS Drs. John Drake (University of Georgia) and Stephen Golladay (Joseph W.Jones Ecological Research Center) are seeking a graduate student at eitherthe MS or PhD level to study the population ecology of rare branchiopodcrustaceans in temporary ponds of the Ichauway conservation site insouthwest Georgia. Results of this work will be used in the conservation andrestoration of coastal plain isolated wetlands. The successful applicantwill complete coursework at the Odum School of Ecology (University ofGeorgia) and will be subsequently stationed at the Jones Center forresearch. For more information about the UGA graduate program in ecology,please see http://www.ecology.uga.edu/programs.htm. For more informationabout joint program between the Odum School of Ecology and the Jones Center,please see http://www.ecology.uga.edu/facilities/asso...phjones.htm.For more information about the Jones Center, including information about thesite, facilities, and programs, please see http://www.jonesctr.org/.

Title: Postdoctoral Scientist Position in Stream Network Modeling and Riparian / Aquatic Ecology (Research Ecologist, at the GS-11 or GS-12 grade, starting salary range is $55,702 - $66,762). Location: Aquatic Land Interactions Team, Pacific Northwest (PNW) Research Station, USDA Forest Service, Olympia Washington. Start Date: January 15, 2008 (negotiable). Application Closing Date: November 30, 2007 (applications will be accepted until the position is filled). The Position: The Aquatic Land Interactions Team seeks a motivated individual to pursue research in stream network modeling and riparian / aquatic ecology. The position is with the PNW Research Station at the Forestry Sciences Lab in Olympia Washington. The scientist will work with an interdisciplinary team involved in a major research effort to “Map current conditions and model the dynamic responses of riparian vegetation and salmon habitat in Oregon”. The team includes 7 PNW Research Station and Oregon State University scientists with skills in remote sensing and mapping, forest community ecology, biology of salmonids, riparian plant ecology, and hydrology and fluvial geomorphology. The project is divided into two major components: a remote sensing and riparian mapping component and a aquatic-riparian modeling component. The scientist will lead the aquatic-riparian modeling component of this research effort. The modeling component combines landscape ecology, riparian plant community ecology, fluvial geomorphology, hydrology, and aquatic ecology. The scientist will be responsible for (1) organizing and managing the overall research project, (2) developing state and transition models describing the dynamics of streams and their associated riparian zones, (3) linking these models with GIS-based classification of stream types and riparian areas produced in the remote sensing and mapping component of the research project, and (4) combining the models and GIS databases into a decision support tool to be used to evaluate likely outcomes of land management alternatives on stream habitat for ESA-listed salmonids. The planning model will be applied to two intensively monitored watersheds –the Nehalem and the Middle Fork John Day (MFJD) Rivers – to examine current conditions relative to the historic range of variability, examine potential of passive restoration to meet recovery goals, and examine the potential of active restoration to accelerate recovery. A brief overview of the project’s foundation and a non-technical description of the work completed to date can be found at http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/sciencef/scifi92.pdf The Scientist will bring critically important modeling and GIS skills to the team but must also have working knowledge and experience in riparian ecology and/or fluvial geomorphology in the interior west and/or in the Pacific Coast rainforests. This experience could have been gained in a variety of fields and/or disciplinary settings, including forestry, fisheries, botany, or geomorphology. Additionally, the scientist will be responsible for managing the research project, hiring and leading a summer field crew, preparing scientific papers and presenting results of research at scientific symposia, workshops and seminars. Qualifications:• Ph.D. in ecology, hydrology, geomorphology, fisheries, geography, remote sensing, forestry, or other related field.• Demonstrated skill in computer modeling. Previous use of state & transition models (VDDT) a plus.• Demonstrated ability to manipulate and analyze a variety of large, complex spatial and relational databases.• Demonstrated experience with geographic information systems (GIS) analysis and linking spatially explicit models with GIS.• Knowledge of remote sensing, vegetation sampling designs and data formats, and riparian plant communities of the interior Western US and Pacific Northwest are desirable.• Demonstrated scholarship through peer-reviewed publications and presentations.• Ability to work relatively unsupervised, plan work, achieve results, and meet deadlines.• Ability to work collaboratively in a team environment. Conditions of Employment: This is a full time position at the GS-11 or GS-12 level ($55,702 - $66,762), depending on qualifications and experience. The position includes health, retirement (including a 401k package), sick leave, and vacation benefits. Candidates must be one of the following (for more information see http://www.opm.gov/employ/html/citizen.asp):• Citizen of the United States;• Citizen of one of the following countries: Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba (as a signatory of the Rio Treaty in 1947), Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Korea (Republic of), Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, United Kingdom, Uruguay, and Venezuela;• Refugee of South Vietnam, Cambodia, or Laotia paroled into the United States after January 1, 1975;• Alien from Cuba, Poland, South Vietnam, the countries of the former Soviet Union, or the Baltic Countries (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence;• Native of American Samoa or Swains Island; • National of the Peoples Republic of China who qualifies for adjustment of status pursuant to the Chinese Student Protection Act of 1992. To Learn More About the Position: Contact Steve Wondzell, (360) 753-7691 or swondzell@fs.fed.us To Apply: By November 30, 2007, send electronic (preferred) or printed copies of: (1) statement of interest describing your qualifications and experience and availability dates; (2) complete curriculum vitae with all publications and presentations, dates of employment, hours per week worked, and descriptions of duties; (3) transcripts from graduate and undergraduate study (unofficial copies are OK); (4) names, e-mail addresses, and telephone numbers of three references; (5) reprints of up to five publications; and (6) Federal Application OF 612 (available at http://www.opm.gov/forms/html/of.asp) using additional pages to describe all relevant work experience. Send to: Steve Wondzell Olympia Forestry Sciences Laboratory, 3625 93rd. Ave., S.W., Olympia WA, 98512. swondzell@fs.fed.us (360) 753-7691 USDA Non-Discrimination StatementRevised 6/8/2005 “The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual’s income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202)720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write to USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, DC 20250-9410, or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.” Additional Information: About the Community: Olympia is located approximately 60 miles south of Seattle WA and 100 miles north of Portland OR. Olympia and the adjacent communities of Lacey and Tumwater have a combined population of approximately 100,000. Additional information about the community available at http://www.ci.olympia.wa.us or at http://thurstoncountywa.usachamber.com/. Olympia is located on Puget Sound, and is a two-hour drive from the Washington coast, and both the Olympic and Mt. Rainier National Parks. Olympia is a full service community with an abundance of medical, dental, and legal services; a wonderful Farmer’s Market, a vibrant downtown with local real live theater, and great coffee shops and bakeries. The Forestry Sciences Laboratory is located 5 miles south of Olympia in rural countryside. About the PNW Research Station: The PNW Research Station is comprised of 11 research labs and centers in Oregon, Washington, and Alaska (http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw). Forest Service Research develops scientific and technical knowledge for 1.6 billion acres of forests and rangelands in the United States. The Forest Service has the most extensive and productive program of integrated forestry research in the world. The PNW Research Station has about 500 employees, with expertise in biological, physical, and social sciences. Our mission is to generate and communicate scientific knowledge that helps people understand and make informed choices about people, natural resources, and the environment.

There's a reason for everything, but without looking at data I couldn't do more than throw out possible scenarios. It is my understanding from 2nd hand information from Don Labrose that water clarity might have increased recently due to wetland contruction and sediment removal associated with the thorium rehabilitation. That might explain additional plant growth. Or the Valesinaria might also have grown enough that it has clarified the water by trapping sediment and increased water clarity on its' own.... It's very easy to make up stories about what might have happened. It's much harder to be right.

City of Los Angeles Job Title: WATERSHED RESOURCES SPECIALIST Annual Salary: $68,857 - $107,532 The salary range covers multiplepay grades within the class. Duties: A Watershed Resources Specialist performs environmentalanalyses, research, surveys, investigations and studies to managenatural resources within the Owens Valley and Mono Basin watersheds;recommends management actions to improve water quality and avoidresource conflicts that may threaten the City's water supply; analyzesgrazing systems and recreational uses on City lands; makesrecommendations to insure that land and water resources are used in amanner consistent with sound ecological and range management practices;conducts forage inventories and vegetation monitoring programs; studiesthe distribution, habits and classification of wildlife; providestechnical guidance and assistance in the preparation of environmentalimpact reports and other environmental reports regarding water resourcerelated projects; cooperates with federal, state, and local agencies inthe improvement, management and protection of the City's watershed;develops and implements habitat restoration plans including severalmajor stream restoration efforts; makes public presentations on relatedresource issues; assists in providing technical support for legalhearings regarding water resources issues; assists in providingtechnical support for legal hearings regarding water resource issues;and does related work. Requirements: Graduation from a recognized four-year college oruniversity with a degree in plant or animal ecology, biology, watershedmanagement, soil science, fisheries biology, wetland ecology, rangemanagement, or natural resource management, and one year of full-timepaid experience or field coursework in any of the above fields. Possession of a Masters degree from a recognized four-year college oruniversity, in plant or animal ecology, biology, watershed management,soil science, fisheries biology, wetland ecology, range management ornatural resource management, may be substituted for the requiredexperience. Apply online at: http://personline.lacity.org/job_list/inde...pec&CC=7862

Shading by phytoplankton blocks out light and prevents periphyton and weeds, yes. It's a function of depth and water clarity. At low depths, phytoplankton can't block out light so that becomes less important. In general, there's much less phytoplankton in small streams (and proportionally much more attached algae) and much more phytoplankton in large rivers (and proportionally much less attached algae). Phosphorus in shallow water can do a lot of things...mostly get bound to the substrate, but also promote algae growth on the leaves of aquatic plants and promote the growth of the plants themselves. Because most rivers in Illinois have much more phosphorus than they can use, there is no statistical relationship between algae growth and the amount of P in the water. I'm not sure if that's true for aquatic plants.

A Durational Research Assistant position is available at The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station to assist in laboratory and greenhouse studies focusing on the Biological Control of theInvasive Aquatic Plant Eurasian Watermilfoil. Background (course work) and experience in biology, entomology, and/or insect identification are desirable. Duties will include assisting scientists in the maintenance of aquatic plant/insect colonies and the processing of vegetation samples for chemical analysis. The position is available from November 1, 2007 through April 30, 2008. The hours of work are 8:30-4:30, M-F (35 hr/wk) and the salary is $10.00/hr. Interested candidates should send an application to Dr. Jason White, Department of Soil & Water, The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, 123 Huntington Street, New Haven, CT 06504. Phone 203-974-8523, FAX 203-974-8502, e-mail: jason.white@po.state.ct.us The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station is an Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer.

This is to notify you of a recruitment for a Lake Management Specialist,an academic staff position in the College of Natural Resources atUW-Stevens Point. For full consideration, applications must be receivedby November 27, 2007. This person will work as part of a team to deliver educationalassistance to lakeshore property owners, lake users, other agencies andlocal communities. This position has statewide responsibilities andprovides public policy education, lake management education, and fosterscapacity building. This person will operate by collaborating on thedevelopment of educational programming and materials on subjects suchas: watershed and lake ecosystems, human impacts on water, water law,lake district law, dispute resolution, and community based socialmarketing. This person will work to support lake communities inorganizing and achieving lake protection and restoration. The positionwill provide an opportunity to explore new ways of energizing andreaching lake communities, such as linking the arts with science andusing distance learning techniques. Assistance is provided by continualcontact with people via telephone, email, web and local meetings.Program planning and delivery is coordinated within University ofWisconsin Cooperative Extension and University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point College of Natural Resources in partnership with the WisconsinDepartment of Natural Resources and the Wisconsin Association of Lakes.(More specific details of the position will be outlined by thesupervisor.) Travel throughout the state and teaching in a wide varietyof settings and times will be required.

CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS WHAT: Volunteer assistants are requested to partake in a PhD projectinvestigating diet and foraging ecology of bottlenose dolphins. WHERE: Bunbury, South Western Australia (180 km south of Perth). A beautifulcoastal town with easy access to Perth, the Margaret River wine region,surfing and bush walking. WHEN: Research assistants are needed on an on-going basis, however theperiods of January to March, and late June through August 2008 and 2009 aremonths of the highest fish sampling activity. DUTIES: Relative composition and abundance of prey species in the Koombana Bay region will be sampled using beach seine nets and z-traps.Volunteers will be required to manually deploy and retrieve fish traps,assist in the operation of a research vessel, deploy beach seines, identify,count, weigh, and measure fish and invertebrate species. Stomach contents of stranded dolphins and scat samples will be analysed forprey content. This will involve separating and identifying hard parts inscat and stomach samples. Volunteers may also have the opportunity to assistwith post mortem examinations of stranded dolphins. Spatial analysis to determine foraging “hot spots” will be carried out usingpoint observational data. Assistants will be required to assist in thecreation of data layers by entering data into an ArcGIS format and learn touse some basic GIS tools. Data entry and management, equipment maintenance, and other office and labtasks will be required. QUALIFICATIONS: Mandatory-Primary requirement is a good attitude, work ethic, and ability to work ina physically demanding environment. This can include long hours in extremeweather conditions and long days on the water. Hauling fish traps and netsis physically demanding work. Volunteers must be able to repeatedly liftover 23 kg (~51 lbs). -Must be able to commit to a minimum of one month. People able to commit forlonger periods will be preferred. Preferred, but not mandatory-Undergraduate degree in the biological sciences -Previous field work experience, specifically with fisheries or marine mammals -Experience using ArcGIS or similar spatial analysis software-Experience managing large datasets-Experience operating vessels up to 7 meters in length COMPENSATION: Regrettably volunteers will be required to arrange their owntransportation to Bunbury, accommodation and all living expenses.(Backpackers and rooms in shared houses are available for approximatelyAU$16/night). Schedules may be flexible to allow volunteers to work on apart-time basis if legally able in Australia. Academic credit may be earnedif arranged through your local institution. Valuable field and labexperience in the ecological sciences will be gained through participationin this project. HOW TO APPLY: Please send a CV, letter of interest, and two letters ofreference to: Shannon McCluskeyMurdoch University Cetacean Research Unit c/o Dolphin Discovery CentreBunbury, Western Australia 6230 or electronically to: S.McCluskey@murdoch.edu.au LINKS OF INTEREST:Murdoch University Cetacean Research Unit: http://www.cffr.murdoch.edu.au/mucru/Dolphin Discovery Centre: http://dolphins.mysouthwest.com.au/Information on Bunbury: http://www.mybunbury.com/ or http://www.travelau.com.au/wa/bunbury/

Ron, I agree that P loading is a problem in Illinois, but you're not going to find many limnologists who agree with the notion that increased P in the water column generally leads to higher water clarity. In large rivers, nutrients cause phytoplankton blooms that cloud the water and reduce water clarity. In our statewide data sets in rivers, we found a negative correlation between the rate of algae growth on hard surfaces and the amount of phytoplankton in the water column. Suspended phytoplankton (augmented by bioturbation by carp and other bottom feeders) is what makes the water cloudy behind those dams you want to save. The P standards for the state are still being adjusted, but it appears that a "decision tree" approach will be used. The graphic below is what was resently presented at an IEPA meeting as an instrument to determine when and where P regulations should be enforced. The notion appears to be that in situations were P effects are mitigated (by high turbidity or canopy cover, for instance) enforcement of P standards will be limited or set aside. There are some aspects of this model that I agree with and others that I find disappointing. On the plus side, some rivers would benefit from restoration of 35% canopy cover (although that's not possible on large flows and heaven knows why the number is 35% and not 50% or 10%). I was fairly vocal in those meetings about including a canopy cover standard and I hope it fosters more riparian restoration. Those trees will provide riparian cover, and when the river meanders, they'll fall in and create habitat. Anyone familiar with Illinois streams knows that habitat is the single most limiting factor for biodiversity (and smallmouth fisheries) in Illinois. On the negative side, the 0.075ppm cut off for enforcement is disappointingly low given that in some experiments it is just about at the peak level of growth for periphyton. The national standard has been 0.05 but here in Illinois, we're on the verge of deciding that we just can't meet that standard (and granted, there are some complexities here that make this a complicated situation for soft-bottomed, warm water streams). The regulation also rewards conditions that cause high turbidity in streams (and conflicts with EPA turbidity regulations).

I'd be interested to know where exactly it did come from if not California. Brian said he got the image in an email from Chris Wolfgram, who is cited in this article about Lake Pardee in California that has this fish in the masthead. I would believe the picture wasn't really associated with Lake Pardee...especially since there are other articles online about record fish that show real smallmouth caught from there. http://www.fishsniffer.com/ckellogg/070416pardee.html

Big floods mobilize sediment. That's probably true. The weeds that are growing in the Kank have round cylinder shaped stems and "leaves" for lack of a better word with branches rather than long flat leaves. Tim what are they? I haven't been on the Kank recently. Might be Eurasian milfoil. Does the leaf look like a herring-bone?

Just to clarify, John, you're saying here that paying for gauges on an ongoing basis would be beyond our means, but a one-time deal to augement the current data (i.e. with temperature probes) would have long term benefits that you would support. Yes?

They're in there year-round, Steve, lunkers or no. That program isn't attached to the bank work. They'll be watching to see who and what uses the lunkers and they're expecting the trout and smallmouth to both benefit.

Welcome to the ISA, Ru.

According to Brian Waldman, that one is from California. I called it a spot the first time I saw it on the Indiana boards, but I can't see belly spots and it's atypical for a spotted bass as well. The person who sent the email to Brian called it a smallmouth. It's almost certainly not that.... ....whatever it is.

Thanks, Jamie. I'm trying to get the full story from the Urbana USGS office, Jamie. What I have so far is that funding for the St. Joseph gauge is threatened. That site has several different parameters loaded there including precipitation, turbidty, air temp as well as gauge height and discharge (water temp is gone now, but was there last year). The director in Champaign confirms that they're still looking for funding and he indicates that their funding for the northern gauges is secure. Perhaps it would be possible to add water temperature probes to sites like the Kank, Apple, Mac, DuPage, Fox etc. If that data were of use to someone (anyone doing any ecological work on those rivers should benefit) it would be nice to have the side-benefit for the angling community. I'm still trying to find out if our grants are substantial enough to be helpful and why this particular gauge is in trouble (maybe because it has so many other parameters on it?). I was once told those gauges cost many thousands of dollars per year to operate, so I don't know how much is possible. I don't want to appear to be lobbying for a particular project, but I do want to be sure this one at least elicits comments. It's a type of project we haven't considered before now so we're gathering comments and information at this point.

The IEPA is currently in the process of giving the state a "pass" for nutrient abatement. Unless we can get levels down to 0.075 or below (and in many places that's going to be very, very difficult), nutrient abatement is going to be a herculean process in Illinois. There's an unimaginable amount of work left to be done in that arena. In the meantime, documenting the problems associated with dissolved oxygen and algae will be useful. Yes. We have a proposal out that's still in the running last I knew. We're geared up and ready to begin this one once we have some solid news. The old plantings have probably matured to the point that we can transplant water willow from existing beds on the Fox. I agree keeping a careful eye on the Dupage would be wise. That's exactly the idea, Don. I think Mike G captures the stream gauge potential here nicely.

Here are the full pics. Pictures 1, 2, and 3 were all the same fish. A spotted bass from the Little Vermilion. This one's a good example of the connected fin Jamie uses to ID this species. The green pigment below the horizontal bar points out that you can't really trust that characteristic across drainages. The even rows of belly spots are clear on this one as well. Other characters that could have been used to ID this fish were mouth size (although that seems ambiguous on this fish) and eye color (red). Jason's right that the belly pic has a parasite on it. The little black dot is "Neascus" a trematode that is commonly found on Midwestern stream fish. Picture 4 is also a spotted bass, also from the Little Vermilion. It also has green pigment below the horizontal bar, but a nice evenly spotted pattern on the belly. Picture 5 is a largemouth. This one is a bit of a difficult read for the dorsal. It's not a great picture, and there's a bit of overlap between the spinous dorsal and the soft dorsal. This one's somewhat atypical for a largemouth dorsal fin. Picture 6 is largemouth and truthfully, an impossible call just by looking at the dorsal fin. Everyone missed it, but it's clearly a largemouth. The mouth extends well beyond the eye. Fins aren't fool-proof either. Picture 7 is supposedly a state record smallmouth for California. I don't agree with that ID, but there's no way I could positively ID this fish. Smallmouth are not supposed to have a horizontal bar on their sides. As Brenden says, it's probably some kind of hybrid. Spot-smallmouth or possibly largemouth-smallmouth. Picture 8 is a largemouth. Picture 9 is from the USGS site for spotted bass. However, it has no horizontal bar and the mouth ends well before the eye. If I were IDing this fish...I'd check for a tooth patch and call it a smallmouth until I found one. If everyone gets a pass on 7 and 9 (which only seems fair), then Brenden, Jamie and Mike missed the fewest with 2 misses each. I hope you enjoyed the quiz, and I hope that when they're really there, we're all.... ...seeing spots.

Don't look now, but 2007 will soon be in the history books. We've had a banner year in terms of projects and accomplishments. We should feel proud of the things we've accomplished and help support. The inaugural year of the ISA granting program has been a great success. The Clear Creek bank restoration and lunker structure installation has gone quite well. The Indian Creek bank stabilization went smoothly and the INHS and SIU research projects in turbidity and heat are proceeding. Before we know it, the Bronzeback Blowout will be upon us and it will be time to consider funding for 2008. Considerable preparation will be needed for that process to work well. One step in that process is that the officers of the ISA need quality feedback about the kinds of things the membership wants to fund. Options abound. The USGS real-time stream gauging program has fallen on hard times. They're looking for funds to keep current sites running. We might be able to help them do that, or expand current monitoring by adding stream temperature gaugues to selected sites. There are researchers working in sediment effects, genetics, stream restoration, nutrient abatement...all projects that would benefit smallmouth fisheries and worthy of funding. The ISA stream monitoring and angler diary proposal needs funding. Bank restoration projects are out there and worthy of consideration... Now is the time to start thinking seriously about 2008. What kinds of conservation projects do we want to see happen during the year?

Here's a conceptual graph from Greg Whitledge, a Southern Illinois University researcher (funded by the ISA granting program) that could support your point, Norm. For cold-blooded animals, metabolic demand is driven by temperature. Beyond 25C-28C, growth of smallmouth bass is impaired by temperature. The observed increases in fall fat content of smallmouth and other species could be due entirely to a more optimal temperature range for growth. They might not be eating more at all. Yes. Protein and fat as well.

I've been mulling how to handle this, and I'm still working on an exact response, but something probably needs to be made clear on this thread before all of that happens. Rich put me in contact with this reporter who apparently wanted our comments on some program, although that wasn't clear to me at the time exactly what program the reporter was investigating. I sent him a brief e-mail about Lake Kinkaid (the one above that says our members don't usually fish there) and offered to talk to him on the phone. That 3 line email was what he quoted. We never spoke on the phone. I did not say in that e-mail, however, that the ISA supports this program. There may have been a time that all stocking programs got a seal of approval from angling groups. Now that we know enough about the effects of stocking now to make that time is long, long gone. I have been told by IDNR personnel that the fish for this program came from the hatchery (not native smallmouth stocks in the area). Additionally, fish escaping from Lake Kinkaid have been linked to reductions of native fish species in the watershed downstream. http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin...=1&SRETRY=0 Those are not things the ISA officially endorses. In fact, we are specifically opposed to any management activity that shuffles local smallmouth genotypes (possibly locally adapted genotypes) or threatens native species. Check out Trent Thomas' program on the Kaskaksia for a positive example of a program that uses artificial propagation of smallmouth. Those are Kaskaksia fish going back into the Kaskaksia because the native habitat has been impaired. Trent's doing it the right way. This is probably an item that deserves some discussion here. I'm still deciding how to respond to Outdoor Illinois.

You guys still need to clean up your axiom.

That's my understanding as well, Steve. The flux of numbers and sizes around here makes it pretty clear that fish are moving long distances (several miles at least...probably dozens of miles) between small and large flows to spawn, over-summer and over-winter. Genetic studies show that smallmouth remain faithful to specific spawning areas. Phil F was involved in a pilot study that examined smallmouth movements by implanting PIT tags on hook and line caught smallmouth bass then monitoring for re-captures. He might chip in a few comments here.

The reports I'm getting over the last two days seem to indicate a real slow down in numbers of fish caught (Raymond, you did WAY better on the Kank than we would have done here). Here are the air temperatures over that time period. Next time I get out, I think I'll be targeting those warmer peaks in the afternoon.

Getting out the shovel for the chicken poop.... ....it has gotten thick in here all of a sudden.