September 22, 2014 — Last week we shared details on discovering fish life in two newly dug ponds and attempted to describe an unusual panfish presence that defied identification. The photo was forwarded to three DEC fishery biologists.
Catching fish from Western New York waters has a war-like aura. Not counting contests and competitions, onslaughts from winds and waves in open waters or any other conflict-based occurrences, area waters have been threatened by and exposed to invasive species entering every kind of waterway open to local and regional anglers.
From the east comes the prospect of seeing snakehead fish in our waters; from the south and west come the threat of Asian carp. The Great Lakes have seen everything from rainbow smelt to round goby profusions in Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. Experts peg species known to anglers today that had not been seen a half century ago at somewhere in the high 50s. Microbiologists put that number in the several hundreds of fauna species, not counting unwanted aquatic flora that now inhabit area lakes, ponds, rivers and streams.
Last week we shared details on discovering fish life in two newly dug ponds and attempted to describe an unusual panfish presence that defied identification.
This odd fish, resembling a cross between a bluegill and smallmouth bass, appeared among the usual run of bluegills and sunfish that often get into ponds not stocked with these species.
Read the full story from The Buffalo News