Quote:
Originally Posted by Don Andersen
This is the way it works.
The uncropped lakes are in balance between predators and prey. Curiously enough, all the predators are large, the prey small.
When a new predator is introduced (trout), it will turn to readily available larger bugs working it way down to smaller and smaller insects as the larger bugs are removed or very limited. Some insects are able to avoid this predation through concealment. Gomphus dragon and chironomids are examples.
One only has to spend 100 days a year on water for 50 years to see this occur.
What does happen when bugs are few is the catch rate collapses. Unlike the accepted horse**** that they are hungry and will hit anything, animals can’t waste energy this way. They will wait patiently for a abundance of food resources. Failure to do so where energy is expended with no return means you will die.
Many of the insects I saw 50 years ago have diminished. Cow Lake was a wonderful example. Stocking of perch nearly removed all the bugs like caddis. As the perch died due to winterkill, the caddis slowly returned . At one tine the hatch of dragon flies meant a touring of Hiway 752 past the lake killed a bunch of adults. Now, they are rarely seen. The leeches in Crimson Lake were famous for their abundance and size. Well, the perch got them too.
Sometimes environmental conditions decimate bug population. After the flood of 1995, there were few bugs left in the Oldman/Livingstone. Took sometime for the bugs to return. Presently, as WD cleans out the fish, bug life will explode making catching easier of the last few fish.
By the way, humans are one of the few organisms on earth who do things without a return on food, sex, shelter.
Don
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You missed my point. I’ll try again. Comparing numbers of stocked trout isn’t meaningful or correct. Stocking amounts need to be compared on the basis of biomass. You appear to be drawing conclusions based on a flawed comparison. Also, while I have a great deal of respect for the time you spend on the water, I don’t believe that one’s observations of the bug community and numbers provide a means to reliable know trends, which must consider averages and variation of the data, collected consistently. Even if those issues didn’t exist, theres a big difference between correlation and causation. Correlation doesn’t equal causation. We hunters and anglers are good at creating correlations, especially because we tend to only accept info that supports our theories and ignore contradictory info. We aren’t good a determining causation, which usually involves a formal experiment with treatments and controls. Knowing these things and being trained to conduct experiments, with peer review, is what separates scientists from the rest of us. That, plus a healthy dose of skepticism.
Be well!