Thinking back about or trip to the refuge, was just wondering what everyone views are on why panfish numbers seem to be in low numbers on the refuge. I understand the carp are terrible for the ecosystem of the lakes where they are present. Does the depth of the lakes have anything to do with it also? These seem to be the two obvious differences, is there something else I’m missing? Less food in the food change? fishing Pressure? Maybe we are clueless on now to fish that shallow of water 
You look at the pressure that we receive on our lakes in eastern Nebraska and yet somehow we still have found fish to chase. I know whitetips always talks about habitat. It’s probaly been talked about before and if so sorry for bringing it up. I understand it’s a wildlife refuge first but just curious if we where thinking right as we where talking about it while fishing.
It is about habitat, and the fish population dynamics usually are different in different habitats. We happen to have years of research on sandhill lakes about some of those very questions. . . .
First of all, weather, climate, is a larger player in those sandhill lakes. For example, water level fluctuations of only a few inches, a foot or two, can have huge impacts. Dry periods mean less fish. We also know that in those relatively shallow lakes, extreme weather events have more of an impact on fish reproduction and recruitment, and that can be a limiting factor on the numbers of fish.
We also know that northern pike are a big player. Pike can be useful in controlling the numbers of common carp, but they also impact panfish numbers, especially the numbers of big yellow perch.
Bottom line is our sandhill lakes are tremendously productive fisheries that can provide some outstanding fishing. Panfish numbers in most of those waters tend to be lower than what you would see in a pond or small reservoir. On the other hand, those panfish can be some of the fastest-growing and largest to be found anywhere.
Daryl B.
