Effects of Turbidity on Reaction Distance of Smallmouth Bass to Fishing Lures of Different Colors
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Date
2025-05
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The Ohio State University
Abstract
Lake Erie is regularly experiencing massive changes in water quality that may affect commercially and recreationally important fish populations. Increases in turbidity result from summer algal blooms and meteorological events such as storms and wave movement that stir up sediments from the lake bottom. Algal and sedimentary turbidity both decrease light penetration, but algal turbidity leaves water with a green coloration, while sedimentary turbidity has no substantial effect on water coloration in Lake Erie. Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu) are an economically important species in the Lake Erie sport fishing industry and are visual predators. Turbidity increases can substantially impact visual ability in Smallmouth Bass, potentially impacting their interactions with fishing lures. I studied the effects of algal and sedimentary turbidity on the reaction distance (i.e., the distance at which a fish detects an object) of Smallmouth Bass to two common lure colors, black and gold. I conducted experiments using wild-caught Smallmouth Bass in a controlled laboratory setting at Ohio State University’s F.T. Stone Laboratory in the Western Basin of Lake Erie. When tested under algal turbidity fish had the shortest reaction distance, followed closely by the sedimentary turbidity treatment, meaning they had to be closer to the lure in order to detect it. Reaction distance relative to the clear control treatment was reduced 41.4% under the sedimentary turbidity treatment and 58.3% under the algal turbidity treatment. There was no difference in reaction distance related to black or gold lure color. This research suggests that both algal and sedimentary turbidity significantly reduces the effectiveness of fishing lures, in particular during algal blooms.
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Keywords
Fish Ecology, Turbidity, Lake Erie, Great Lakes, Smallmouth Bass, Ecological Stressors