Some bass stay and some bass go: Unraveling movement patterns of smallmouth bass in the great expanse of Lake Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI — Smallmouth bass migration patterns may be different than once thought. In large aquatic systems, such as Lake Michigan, smallmouth bass have the potential to move greater distances than those inhabiting smaller systems. But do all smallmouth bass take advantage of this larger area or do many of them stick close to home?
A study conducted during 2007 and 2008 investigated movement patterns of smallmouth bass in northern Lake Michigan by recording how much an average smallmouth bass moves in a day, how close to shore it stays, and whether it returns to the same site that it previously occupied the year before.
Researchers from Central Michigan University placed acoustic transmitters in 16 adult smallmouth bass in the Beaver Island Archipelago to determine their movement during three specific time periods: 1) before spawning 2) during spawning 3) and after spawning.
"We expected all the smallmouth bass to remain in the Archipelago; however, two smallmouth bass in the study were found approximately 40 miles from the tagging site," says Mark Kaemingk, a researcher at Central Michigan University. "While most bass in the study did remain in the Archipelago, this evidence supports the idea that two types of bass may exist: those that exhibit restricted movement patterns and others that exhibit more extensive movement patterns."
Currently, the Beaver Archipelago smallmouth bass population is managed as a separate population from that of the rest of northern Lake Michigan. The findings from this study indicate some smallmouth bass migrate away from the Archipelago to other areas of Lake Michigan, thus identifying a need to revise our views concerning the connectedness of northern Lake Michigan smallmouth bass populations. Future research is needed to examine the extent of smallmouth bass movement across northern Lake Michigan.
Original Publication Information
Results of this study, "Movement of smallmouth bass within the Beaver Island Archipelago, northern Lake Michigan,," are reported by Mark Kaemingk, Tracy Galarowicz, John Clevenger, and David Clapp in the Volume 37, No. 4, of the Journal of Great Lakes Research, published by Elsevier, 2011.
Contacts
For more information about the study, contact Mark Kaemingk, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007; mark.kaemingk@sdstate.edu, (605)-688-6577.
For information about the Journal of Great Lakes Research, contact Marlene Evans, Editor, National Water Research Institute, Environment Canada, 11 Innovation Boulevard, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 3H5, Canada; jglr@ec.gc.ca; (306) 975-5310.
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