Skinny Fish

[J-Doc]

Been a very weird year for many this year.  

Walleye were few and harder to find.  Also most were 15"-17" and super skinny.  

Crappie were tough this year also.

Now the stripers are super skinny and lean also.  

 

Only thing that I've seen fat (besides me) have been bass.  I've caught some good ones this year and almost every one has a big belly. I lost a 4-5lb smallmouth at the boat while striper fishing about a month ago.  Darn things keep stealing my gizards. :-)  THE ONLY time I am disappointed catching big bass is when I'm targeting a food source (my food source).  
 

Anyone else noticed lean and skinny fish?  All the pics I'm seeing look like stripers are being starved to death. 

[fishinwrench]

Can't speak for your walleye but White bass and Stripers are notorious for puking up their stomachs during the fight. 

[J-Doc]

No I mean like no fat on them at all. No belly. Long and abnormally lean compared to previous years catches. 

Most of the ones caught had threadfin in their bellies. 

[fishhook1.0]

I agree, the walleye I've caught were real slim.

[Stump bumper]

I know the whites I have been catching have been huge, I had one a couple of weeks ago take drag like a big fish. One theory I have is fat is a reserve for hard times, most of us fishermen carry about two months supply around with us. With so much food around maybe the fish have been growing in length instead of girth. Fish have the ability to grow until they die of old age as long as there is a regular food supply. By eating more often maybe it goes into their length not girth, were as if the gorged alot less often it would translate to fat.

I have read studies on people like this where certain genes like that of the Native American Plains people had genes to produce fat to help them survive long times between finding game that hurt the current populations waist line.

With the shad population so big I think the fish adapt much faster then humans and switch over to growing longer instead of storing fat. Just a theory with no real data or study to back it up.

[Blll]

The stripers I caught a couple weeks ago were not skinny at all. Every one of the few walleyes this year looked starved but I've seen others pics and some seem fine. The few crappies I've been blessed with also seem very skinny from last year. Like you said, the bass all seem stuffed especially the spots. Whites seem ok. My few fish certainly aren't enough to make any conclusions but everyone seems to agree that the thin walleyes are the most noticeable but they did not at all seem sick or weak. Food is there fish, go eat it!.  The weather has been weird to us and maybe to the fish too.          My main concern now is the high water has made our dock inaccessible and still rising. Looking at the lake level history this seems to be really a weird time for high water. Am I missing a good bite? Does not seem like many are fishing lately. Last year F&F  and friends were all over a December striper bonanza. Anybody been out?

[Tanderson15]

Yes to skinny walleyes

[Guest]

I've caught plenty of chunky bass, but Im bank beating. Whereas the offshore fish tend to be skinny & humpbacked at times. Resident bass that hang out around objects like wood, rocks & docks tend to be a little fattter. The schooling fish are constantly swimming & chasing shad. However, Ive caught both fat & skinny fish offshore. Im happy as long as something is biting. 

[Notropis]

It is a little perplexing to see the skinny fish considering the amount of forage that seems to be in the lake.  Like all animals, fish must take in more calories than they are metabolizing to gain weight and it's hard to image they're having too expend much energy with all the shad I'm seeing currently. I've caught some really fat fish but some have been a little thin. 

A lot of interesting theories on this thread.  It sounds like the species that are being effected most are the walleye and stripers which happen to be the two least tolerant to warm water and low oxygen.  High water years are known for bringing in a lot of nutrients which create areas of low oxygen. Table Rock had some fish kills this year that were probably caused by pockets of low oxygen.   We might be seeing fish that were caught in some stressful conditions during the summer and haven't recovered yet.

Some years, the best feeding times for the stripers and walleye (and some species like crappie) happen when the water becomes cold enough to slow down the threadfin shad.  They usually start getting stressed when the water temps get into the forties and start dying when the water temps get into the thirties. They're easy picking for the predators then. 

It seems like the water temps are a little higher than normal for this time of the year, probably because of the warm weather we've had the past month. Hopefully the fish will get a little fatter when the threadfin become more vulnerable.         

[J-Doc]

Low oxygen pockets could explain it I guess.   Definitely going to have a big winter crop of bait with all the high water last few years.  I know some have been caught and pretty good weight but a lot of the pics I've seen have shown really lean fish.

I just found it rather ironic that most of the bass species I've seen, caught personally, or heard of being caught do not seem to be affected by any competition and they of all species........are flourishing well in the lake this year when the "hated species" are quite "homely".

Not poking fun, starting anything, or creating yet another argument.  Just found it a little humorous and ironic.   Especially with all of the controversy between the AGFC and MDC acting like kids over the whole striper issue.  They are embarrassing themselves......and this part of the nation.   But THAT is a different topic entirely and already discussed in another thread.  Not here. 

 

Thanks for the responses guys.  Guess I'm not the only one seeing some skinny fish this year.

Like I said.......pretty odd year weather wise and the fishing has reflected that.  I still enjoy getting out there.  If other lakes were as close, I'm sure I'd try them but Beaver is a 12-15min drive for me and I enjoy the challenge.  I keep telling myself, "If you can learn to master Beaver Lake, you can learn anywhere".