Do different species of fish compete for prime spots?

[bassgeneral]

 I live in western Pa where in most of the lakes bass are not the dominate preditor. They have to compete with the walleye ,muskie strippers and pike.My question is do these other preditors displace the bass from their text book spot to other areas? The reason I ask is that on one lake in paticular the largemouth move on the flats(3'to5') right after ice out while the water is still in the mid 30's when they have deeper water availible to them. Any thoughts on this subject?

[Popeye]

MUSKY: all other fish are just bait! Top of the food chain as far as freshwater species go. Large pike are pretty darn close, IMO. Big fish with TEETH and nasty attitudes.

[bassnleo]

I think that a toothy critter may bump a bass from a specific little piece of cover like a log or small patch of weeds (if there are any with the water temp that low) but all in all I don't think that the presence of predators will all together move bass out of an area. I often catch multiple species of fish in the same area.

In Spring bass are moving shallow to find the warmest water (shallow warms before deeper water), to feed, and ultimately to spawn.

[garry77]

The predator species may relocate a smaller bass or group of bass but I would think a 5 lb bass could stay wherever he wants.

[Mottfia]

I agree with Gary. A big Largehead will hold it ground against just about anything for that location...atleast until they realize that it would waste too much energy to stay there. I fish the Alabama River and Spotted Bass tend to be the dominant fish. A group of them have no problem running a largemouth out of a spot if they think they can feed easier there. But here it has a lot to do with the current.

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

Great question.

[detroit1]

That is a good question. Twice in my life i have caught a lm and a pike on consecutive casts. Once on a dd22 along the deep weed-edge at about 16' deep, the other on a spinnerbait on a weedy flat. I'm sure all of us have caught one species on a spot, and later that day, or the next time out caught a different species on that same spot. My vote is yes.

[Guest muddy]

While it has never happened to me in fresh water it has happened to a friend who fishes in the Susqy. More than once he was reeling in a smallie only to have a muskie hit the smallie!!!!!!!!

I would say from my experience fishing known fish structure put in lakes by fishermen that the bait fish gravitate to it, followed by the panfish which in turn draw bass and pickerel to it. So my guess is that if the lower end of the food cahin shows up, their preadtors will not be far behind.

  Manmade or not this is probablly one of the reasons weeds and rocks are so productive to fish in and around.

[XcoM274]

Through the ice I've observed pike chasing bass off the bait we have set up. Lots of times they don't even eat it.

[5bass]

In my home lake I have put out many, many brushpiles over the years. Sometimes when I look at the brushpiles on my Aqua Vu, I'll see stripers and bass hanging out together and the occasional catfish will be laid up in there with 'em. I suspect though, if a musky was to swim into the brush, the bass, smaller cats and smaller stripers would be gone quickly. I doubt the bigger stripers or huge cats worry too much about being eaten.  

[senile1]

The book, Largemouth Bass, written by the In-Fisherman staff, states that Pike and Muskies do affect where the bass hang out.  The book was released in 1991 but I still think much of its information holds true.  According to it, bass will bunch up in cover more when Pike and Musky are present.  They are less likely to roam open water.  I'm thinking if one of these predators moved up into the cover the bass are going to want to move.  

[hamer08]

I think it depends on the given lake and forage base. If the musky are eating primarily big gizzard shad, then bass are less affected. But, if bass are a bigger portion of their diet you can bet the population holds tighter to cover. I have one smaller lake (14 acres) I fish, that started stocking muskies 6-7 yrs ago. Those initial muskies are now probably 36" and prefer prey 20-30% of their length. So 8-10" bass are now on the menu. Last year I noticed the bass held extremely tight to cover. I caught a lot bass vertical jigging right next to standing timber, in the past the breaklines were more productive. I'm not sure if its the barracuda in the pool or something else has changed. I need another year or two to see if the pattern keeps changing. I also plan to try to catch some muskies to get a better feel for their population. I haven't seen any Gizzard shad in the this lake so bass and other pan fish are on the menu.

Walleye and white bass don't seem to impact the location of bass, but seem to limit the growth rate and recruitment of bass.