September 2024 Edition | Page 21

submerged vegetation . They are more tolerant of low dissolved oxygen levels than bluegills . Young pumpkinseed feed on zooplankton , insect larvae , and amphipods . Snails can comprise a large percentage of the adult diet , but they also eat a lot of other invertebrates . Where snails and other mollusks ( e . g ., clams ) make up a high percentage of their diet , the lower jaw can enlarge to produce a strong bite used to crush hardshelled prey .
Many anglers collectively refer to pumpkinseeds , green sunfish , bluegills , and other sunfish species as “ sunfish ” or “ sunnies .” These species are often “ lumped ” together because many anglers cannot differentiate between the various sunfish species . In a study completed in Ohio ,
only 8 percent of 397 anglers correctly identified pumpkinseeds in their catch , most ( 60 %) anglers identified pumpkinseeds as bluegills .
A Little History
Lake Enemy Swim in northeastern South Dakota has the highest abundance of pumpkinseeds in the state . There are no records of stocking pumpkinseeds into Lake Enemy Swim dating back to 1914 . They may have been accidentally included with a stocking of other fish , or someone may have stocked a few fish they caught elsewhere .
Pumpkinseeds make up a small percentage of the fish anglers catch and harvest from Lake Enemy Swim , likely because they ’ re not abundant , and are small , most less than 7 inches .
Among the sunfish species , pumpkinseeds are known as above-average fighters .
Jeston Hassler ( undergraduate student at South Dakota State University ) was a fisheries intern for the Department of Game , Fish and Parks ( GFP ) in Webster during the 2023 summer . While working in Webster , Jeston completed a research project
assessing the pumpkinseed population in Enemy Swim Lake . The pumpkinseed population was previously examined in 1998-2003 by Eric Weimer ( graduate student at South Dakota State University ). The objectives for Jeston ’ s study were to describe

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