Coping with change is the single greatest challenge for life on the planet. Organisms (plants, animals, fish, and every other living thing) live in a world defined by change and adaptation. Fish adapt by shifting their behavior or physiology to meet new conditions. If water temperatures become too warm, fish adjust by finding shade or retreating into cooler, deeper water. Longer, seasonal adjustments occur as fish “retool” their physiology to allow digestive processes to operate more efficiently with changing water temperatures. Anglers need to recognize these changes and adjustments, as fish may become more or less vulnerable to fishing as conditions progress over time.
Beneficial Change
Not all change is bad, and some of it can be kind to adaptive anglers. For example, when zebra mussels began their infamous journey through the waters of North America, dire predictions were made about the impacts on gamefish, the food chain, and the aquatic environment. Although some damage was done and may in places continue, spreading zebra mussels also brought clear water through their filter-feeding action. Clearer water sparked new vegetative growth as sunlight penetrated to greater depths, setting off a vast resurgence of the ecosystem in many areas with new and better fishing opportunities (like on Lake St. Clair and the St. Lawrence River, among others). Adaptive anglers were quick to discover expanding populations of huge smallmouth, walleye, muskie, panfish, and others in the wake of environmental change.
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