(03-12-2021, 01:33 PM)PAC12_AfterDark Wrote: I agree with what you all are saying.It is not just a matter of water temperatures. It really is is a whole ecosystem thing. First of all, Strawberry is at a higher altitude than most of the prime smallie ponds elsewhere. Second, it is a relatively "new" water...compared to the centuries old that some of the natural lakes are in the midwest and east. Habitat and food resources exist in the latter that just do not exist in "young" Utah reservoirs at high altitudes.
My guess is the ecosystem must be a little different in some of those Ontario/ northern Michigan lakes.
What I retain from edumacated input from DWR folks is that the main problem with Strawberry (and Scofield) is that the spawn occurs later...in the colder water...and the young do not get large enough in the short growing period before iceup to be able to feed on available food items. The phyto plankton and zooplankton decline greatly when fall waters chill and there is just nothing for the fragile young smallies to eat for several months.
Most of the ancient natural lakes where smallies thrive have a multi-layered ecosystem, with a variety of small forage fish species and several types of insect larvae year round. They spawn earlier and the young have lots of food to grow faster and to be able to survive the leaner months beneath the ice.
We have several reservoirs here in Utah that maintain naturally producing populations of smallies. But if you look at the average times of ice-off in the spring they are usually 1-2 months ahead of Strawberry. That can mean the difference between survival and not for the new hatchlings.