Re: NANFA-- gizzard shad musings

William Allen jr. (billandbonnie_at_peoplepc.com)
Wed, 18 Oct 2000 12:01:44 -0700

I agree with Moon re; feeding behavior. I have also found them a bit
difficult to keep alive AND to trasnsport. I catch them in a cast net or
"throw net", sometimes dozens at a time. They are usually a bit far from
shore for much luck with a dip net. The small ones do not survive the trip
very well, almost 100% mortality, the big ones do OK if transported quickly
and not crowded. They are easily bruised - after catching several, I always
find lots of loose scales on the dock, the bottom of my collecting bucket,
etc. When i catch them in the Red River, I rarely catch them larger than
- 4 inches. when I catch them in smaller bayous, i frequently catch
larger ones up to 10 inches. My guess is that the big ones stay further from
shore out of reach of my cast net in large bodies of water, but close enough
to shore in smaller bodies of water.

I have noticed the larger ones I've caught lately seem to be filled with
roe. Does anyone know if they spawn this time of year rather than spring?
----- Original Message -----
From: <Moontanman_at_aol.com>
To: <nanfa_at_aquaria.net>
Sent: Tuesday, October 17, 2000 9:05 PM
Subject: Re: NANFA-- gizzard shad musings

> In a message dated 10/17/00 11:52:05 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> ichthos_at_charm.net writes:
>
>
> << How gizzard shad digest their food is unique among North America's
fishes.
> They
> feed primarily near the bottom, grazing over logs, plants, and other
> submerged
> objects, filtering out algae and other microscopic plants through their
long
> >>
> I have never seen this type of behavior, The ones I have seen here, and i
> have observed them many, many, times, swim in midwater to the surface and
> feed in the effluent of water treatment plants or any where the water is
high
> in organic material. The ones in my aquarium pay no attention to the logs
and
> plants in the aquarium and stay near the surface and ingest the tiny
> particles of micro pellets when I put them in the feeding ring.
>
> Moon
>
>
>
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