Answering Questions and Angling to Teach

Jarett C. Bies, AgBio Communications

David Willis, undergraduate Bethany Galster, and Ph.D. student Melissa Wuellner, and Ph.D. student Melissa Wuellner

"SDSU Distinguished Professor and Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences Head David Willis undergraduate Bethany Galster and Ph.D. student Melissa Wuellner are involved in research which seeks to answer questions involving the state's tp game fish: the walleye. Chief among the questions is, Are smallmouth bass harming both the walleye and walleye fishing?"

Fisheries scientists explore South Dakota reservoirs

South Dakota State University Ph.D. student Melissa Wuellner is leading a research effort that seeks to serve South Dakota anglers by answering questions about walleye and smallmouth bass. Working both on-site at Lake Sharpe and other reservoirs in the state and in laboratory settings, the team Wullner heads, which includes several SDSU undergraduates, is working in collaboration with biologists from the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish & Parks.

While the walleye is South Dakota’s No. 1 sought-after fish, anglers from around the state, and around the country, grow tired of casting for these “swimming filets” only to have an aggressive bass take their bait. Anglers perceive that smallmouth bass are detriments to walleye. “Over the years,” said Wuellner, “walleye anglers have asked if the introduced smallmouth bass have begun to have some negative effects on the walleye. Such effects could be due to competition for the same prey resources.”

But while competing for the same prey is one potential negative, actually eating another predator species is another, and some anglers suspect the smallmouth is doing just that to the walleye. Wuellner said she seeks to answer these questions. “This project was initiated to address these angler concerns,” she said, “to see if the potential competition was there and also determine if smallmouth bass consumed young walleyes.”

SDSU Distinguished Professor of Wildlife and Fisheries Science David Willis said the work Wuellner will complete not only might help answer such questions, it may also lead to a solution. “Part of the point of this applied research is to seek suggestions for management action,” Willis said. “Let’s say Melissa’s research shows that smallmouth are having a negative impact on walleyes. If that’s the case, and the book is still out on this, then GF&P might liberalize regulations on smallmouth bass in certain areas. That’s just an example, but there will be an eventual end point that could lead to management action.”

If it is indeed necessary, such management action may help South Dakota’s fishing enthusiasts, but the experience is already helping Wuellner achieve goals she set before she chose SDSU as her place of study. The Decatur, Ill., native, who attended Ball State University and completed her master’s degree at Montana State University, hopes to serve as a fisheries professor in the future.

“Three undergraduate fisheries majors work with me,” said Wuellner, referring to Bethany Galster, Jeff Grote, and Jonah Dagel, who comprise her research team. “Not only do they help me with my project, but they always have great questions. It’s like a 40-hour-a-week teaching experience working with them.”

Wuellner’s role as a Ph.D. student is, in part, part of a 2006 change in the Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences Department. While a biology Ph.D. was offered in the past, the department now offers a Wildlife and Fisheries doctorate. Wuellner is on the leading edge of the new Ph.D. program.

Her study is multi-dimensional, and it examines not only the hunting fish, but their prey as well. That means Wuellner, along with her team and staff from the GF&P, are gathering larval fish from reservoirs to study their growth and abundance. Gizzard shad are one species they seek, since that species turns up in the stomachs of many walleye and smallmouth.

Bob Hanten, a fisheries biologist with GF&P, has worked with Wuellner’s team as the project has unfolded. “The work Wuellner is doing will provide answers to the questions anglers have,” said Hanten. “We’ve heard the questions, and we do believe it’s a misperception that smallmouth bass are competing with walleye, but we really don’t know.”

Both sides benefit from the collaboration. Hanten and other state staff know the waters – and the fish – while SDSU students, both graduate and undergraduate, add keen eyes and strong backs to the work of collection and data recording.

Wuellner has begun laboratory studies of the feeding behavior of both the walleye and bass, giving her a chance to work with Willis, whom she met as an undergraduate at a fisheries seminar. “Her work is still ongoing, but we’re starting to see behavioral patterns,” Willis said. “Based on Wuellner’s lab studies, it does seem that the smallmouth are more aggressive, especially during daytime hours.”

Willis said the results from this portion of the study might clear up a misconception. “Walleye anglers out there may simply be seeing the results of the smallmouth being the first ones to get their bait,” he said. “It is not necessarily the negative effect of that species on walleye.”
As the study continues, it gives Wuellner valuable experience as an educator, whether in a lab setting, on a boat, or in the classroom. Her results will establish how walleye and smallmouth interact below the surface, helping both anglers and a key facet of South Dakota tourism. And by employing SDSU undergraduate students, she is giving them hands-on experience in their discipline.

“I have been learning and applying field skills, including gill netting and trawling, and I have learned to age fish,” said Brookings native Bethany Galster. “I really enjoy working with good people, and they take the time to answer my questions, not only about hands-on skills, but also theoretical questions about the fishery.”

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Answering Questions and Angling to Teach