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GOBY PREDATION
For Cayuga Lake , round gobies now represent the most likely nest predator . A study published in 2011 titled “ Round Goby Predation on Smallmouth Bass Offspring ( sic .) in Nest During Simulated Catch and Release Angling ” by Geoffrey B . Steinhart , Elizabeth A . Marschall , and Roy A . Stein addresses the potential for goby nest predation . In this study , smallmouth bass nests located around Bass Island in Lake Erie were observed from May through June of 1999 , 2000 , and 2001 via divers and cameras . They had treatment groups that included a control group with no angling , angling with divers preventing predation , and angling with predation allowed .
Angled fish were held for various durations , including immediate release , 6 minutes , or 12 minutes . This study found extraordinary results for the impact of round gobies .
First , the round goby accounted for 99 % of all nest predation but only when a nest was unguarded . In fact , in 10 hours of video recording , only once did a round goby successfully eat an offspring when a male was present guarding the nest . For unguarded nests , the average time for first entry by a round goby was 78 seconds . Gobies appeared to enter the nest with unhatched eggs at a greater rate than hatched eggs , with an average of 20 gobies in unhatched and nine gobies in hatched nest after 5 minutes . In total , nest predation for unhatched eggs was calculated at 2.8 eggs per second ; for hatched eggs , the rate was one egg per second .
Knowing these facts , we can see the potential impact round gobies could have on a nest if a guarding male was caught by an angler and placed in a livewell .
NEST ABANDONMENT
The question of how much predation is needed to lose a nest is also important . One of the key pieces of research in nest abandonment in the past 20 years comes from Cory D . Suski and co-authors J . H . Svec , J . B . Ludden , F . J . S . Phelan , D . P . Philipp in an article titled “ The Effect of Catchand-Release Angling on Parental Care Behavior of Male Smallmouth Bass .” The article was published in the Transactions of American Fisheries Society in 2003 .
The study started in 1999 on Charleston Lake in Ontario , where they observed 64 smallmouth males guarding nests and assessed nest abandonment using six different treatments that ranged from simple observation to catching fish with hook and line to removing eggs from the nest . Of these six treatments , only the two groups with a 50 % nest reduction showed a substantial abandonment ( between 67 % and 70 %). Angling alone resulted in only one of 11 nests abandoned for a 9 % abandonment rate .
Statistics tell us that Jordan Lee will need some smallies like this to be competitive at Cayuga this year .
This study showed that predation is one key ( if not the key ) factor in nest abandonment and that angling alone was not a factor .
The Bass Pro Tour ’ s fish-friendly catch , weigh , immediate-release format provides the solution for tournament organizations to compete on fisheries with seasonal restrictions on harvest . Bass Pro Tour anglers average 24 seconds of out-of-water time per fish caught , which is much faster than any scientific study uses , so we should expect an even lower impact than those calculated for everyday catchand-release anglers . Limiting out-ofwater time and fish-handling stress is fundamental to improved spawning success .
12 MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM | JUNE-JULY 2023