Fishing Forum

The last couple trips to mantua have been hit and miss. The bite has been far and in between and very light. I have noticed these little bug things swimming up to the holes I drill in the ice. I assume that they are the reason the fish are not biting like last year because obviously the fish have plenty to eat. Does anybody have any clue what they are and if that is the problem? Has anyone else even noticed?
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I would suspect it is some sort of zooplankton that your inquiring about. I have attached a Wiki link for your viewing pleasure:

[url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zooplankton"][/url][url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zooplankton"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zooplankton[/url]

If you haven't already, try downsizing your presentation to try to mimic the "nymph things". At Mantua, it seems the smaller the better, but that is just my experience.

Good luck and hopefully this helps...

[cool][#0000ff]More likely the little greenish daphnia. They appear in the drilled holes on quite a few Utah reservoirs. And yes, they are a food resource for many species. As relatives of shrimp they are very nutritious and contribute to the pink flesh of troutkind. There are times on Deer Creek when most of the rainbows you get will have bellies full of them. Then don't eat them one at a time but gulp mouthfuls when the the daphnia school up in greenish clouds at different depths.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Zooplankton are not large enough to see swimming in the holes.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]There are a lot of aquatic invertebrates in Mantua. With all the weedbeds and a mud bottom it breeds lotsa small wiggly things that the little fishies like. The problem is that once the fish grow larger there is not as much big food for them so without heavy harvesting the fish can stunt.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Fortunately, there is an abundant spawn of perch and bluegill each year and their young provide protein for the predators. Seems to be a balanced ecosystem...especially compared to some reservoirs that rise and fall great distances each year with water user drawdowns.[/#0000ff]
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Just trying to clarify. Daphina is a species of zooplankton
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I've been up there recently and I have seen them too. I'm pretty sure they are damsel or dragon fly nymphs. They stay as thier larval stage for up to two years and they can get pretty large. The ones I saw were about 1 1/4" long. They are one of the few flies you can use fly fishing this time of year. We should try droping one of those flies down an ice hole. Both times I've been thier this year it was slow and I figured it was from all those nymphs.
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I am on it. I am going up this week. I will drop one down the hole and try it. I will probably sweeten the deal with a spike to draw some attention.
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[quote midge]Just trying to clarify. Daphina is a species of zooplankton[/quote]

[cool][#0000ff]Not quite correct. While they are called "zooplantonic", they are members of the order "crustacea"...like shrimp. They are also called "water fleas".[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]A species is a specific member of a specific genus. And a genus is a member of an order...like crustaceans. The term zooplankton is a general classification that can include members of several orders and multiple genera.[/#0000ff]
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"I'm pretty sure they are damsel or dragon fly nymphs."

[cool][#0000ff]That explains a lot. I have fished Mantua a lot in the past...but not recently. Sounds like an explosion in the food source.[/#0000ff]

[#0000ff]There are many lakes in the midwest where knowledgeable anglers shift their offerings when the fish switch their primary feeding habits to include mayfly and damselfly nymphs. Just like trout in lakes streams, perch and gills can become selective when there is a lot of food of one type. You gotta "match the hatch".[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]But, a lot of the bigger fish are still feeding heavily on the tiny fry of perch and bluegill so if you can find some of the larger predators they will also hit larger jigs and even small spoons.[/#0000ff]
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[indent]They are damsel flies. I have fished that lake numerous times and love the damsel flies. They will usually swim to the surface latch on to my pontoon. Climb to the top and dry out in the sun and then fly away. It is really cool to see. I pulled three of them off of my camera line last week and watched one climb out the hole. I don't think he was going to do anything but freeze to death. They have a really cool swimming motion if you see them on camera. I am sure the trout are feeding on them and if you could mimic the motion of the damsel you would crush trout all day long. The trout we kept last week were full of them. Always check the belly if you keep the fish.

Riv
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[quote midge]Just trying to clarify. Daphina is a species of zooplankton[/quote]

Daphnia are small, [url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plankton"]planktonic[/url] [url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crustacean"]crustaceans[/url], members of the [url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_%28biology%29"]order[/url] [url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cladocera"]Cladocera[/url], one of the several small aquatic crustaceans commonly called [url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_flea"]water fleas[/url] (but they are not bugs)
Daphnia [url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Daphnia_pulex.png"][/url] [url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daphnia_pulex"]Daphnia pulex[/url]

[url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daphnia"]Daphnia[/url] [url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plankton"]Plankton[/url]

As TD has pointed out - it's a matter of biological classification - niches and roles = tropic levels, plus size matters!

Trophic groups
Plankton are primarily divided into broad functional (or [url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trophic_level"]trophic level[/url]) groups:
[ul][li][url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytoplankton"]Phytoplankton[/url] (from Greek phyton, or plant), [url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autotroph"]autotrophic[/url], [url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prokaryote"]prokaryotic[/url] or [url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eukaryote"]eukaryotic[/url] [url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alga"]algae[/url] that live near the water surface where there is sufficient [url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light"]light[/url] to support [url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photosynthesis"]photosynthesis[/url]. Among the more important groups are the [url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatom"]diatoms[/url], [url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanobacteria"]cyanobacteria[/url], [url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinoflagellate"]dinoflagellates[/url] and [url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coccolithophore"]coccolithophores[/url].[/li][li][url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zooplankton"]Zooplankton[/url] (from Greek zoon, or animal), small [url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protozoa"]protozoans[/url] or [url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metazoa"]metazoans[/url] (e.g. [url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crustacea"]crustaceans[/url] and other [url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal"]animals[/url]) that feed on other plankton and [url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telonemia"]telonemia[/url]. Some of the [url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_%28biology%29"]eggs[/url] and [url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larva"]larvae[/url] of larger animals, such as fish, crustaceans, and [url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annelid"]annelids[/url], are included here.[/li][li][url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacterioplankton"]Bacterioplankton[/url], [url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacterium"]bacteria[/url] and [url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaea"]archaea[/url], which play an important role in [url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remineralisation"]remineralising[/url] organic material down the water column (note that the prokaryotic phytoplankton are also bacterioplankton).[/li][/ul]
This scheme divides the plankton community into broad producer, consumer and recycler groups.
So - in the more than you wanted to know category. Yes - fish eat them. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. So Flatten Them Bugs, and catch some fish!

I was thinking that they may be dragonflies as well. The whole time I was fishing I was using the smallest stuff that I had, Gizzy Bugs. My friend was using cutter bugs and got no result either.
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