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tadpole glut


blockend

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Guest tigger

Just a point of interest....frogs, toads, newts etc are all protected species so using them as bait is a no no. There not exactly sustainable bait either and already on a massive decline ! Not that they'd be fish magnets at any rate, I've seen shoals of perch etc swimming amongst then and ignoring them only to snaffle up my maggots at first sight.

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Weird starter topic for a newbie, but has anyone else noticed a larger than usual tadpole count this year? My local pond was solid with them a few weeks ago. Also, has anyone noticed whether perch eat small frogs? It's not a thing I've given a lot of thought to but a predator (not a pike, there's none in there) was going crazy after them the other day.

 

I suppose if there's a glut they'll eat whatever's in season!

As your pond was stuffed with tadpoles a few weeks ago then my guess is that they were toad tadpoles. Toads spawn later than frogs which, by now will be well developed, indeed into froglets by now. Toad tadpoles are black and, like the adults contain toxic skin secretions which are found unpalatable to fish and a lot of other vertebrates (birds including thrushes and blackbirds seem to have no problem with the toxins though and will frequently be seen at the water's edge gorging themselves).

 

Frog tadpoles are less toxic although they do contain a lesser amount of the same toxins but they have much better cryptic colouration (camouflage) and as such are protected from predation to a certain extent. They will however be eaten by most fish if available.

 

As the vast majority of tadpoles are laid in still water (although they are sometimes laid in slower moving rivers and, can be washed into rivers from ponds) wild brown trout predation of tadpoles is less likely in natural waterbodies in England as most occur in rivers (any help on lake district trout as an exception here?).

 

I am sure that perch would take froglets as I know that chub are very partial to them (and anything else come to that!).

 

Although all UK amphibians are protected (amongst much other legislation) under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (plus amendments), the 'common' species are only legislated for and protected under against sale and advertising for sale. Offences could be brought against you for cruelty however. So, sticking a frog or a smooth newt on a hook could be justified as cruel. The less common species such as Great Crested Newt, Natterjack toad and Pool frog have total protection regarding all life stages and habitat and big fines if you get caught disturbing them (includes photographing them without a licence!)

Eating wild caught fish is good for my health, reduces food miles and keeps me fit trying to catch them........it's my choice to do it, not yours to stop me!

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Interesting stuff Worms. As the toad/frogs were so small it was hard to tell, they were just post tadpole stage. I'm not a livebaiter anyway, a small surface popper lure would get the predator's interest just as well I should think.

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Guest tigger
Interesting stuff Worms. As the toad/frogs were so small it was hard to tell, they were just post tadpole stage. I'm not a livebaiter anyway, a small surface popper lure would get the predator's interest just as well I should think.

 

 

It's quite easy to tell frog and toad tadpoles appart....the toad taddies are black as coal ! Also as worms says thy're a bit behind frogs spawning.

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i keep a garden pond that gets filled with tadpoles (both from frogs and toads) early in the spring the water is usually filled with thousands of tiny tadpoles, within a few months there are only a quarter of what was originally there, when they they become the size of a raisin just before they start sprouting limbs

 

i always assumed reduction of them was due to the fish eating them as the pond is covered with fine mesh to keep off any birds and the garden is relatively free from predators,

 

i have seen a large golden orf sucking in and ejecting a tadpole but never see it actually eat it

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The bigger aquatic nymphs like dragonfly nymphs eat quite a lot too.

And along with beetles and larvae such as great diving beetles probably take the lion's share in many ponds!

Eating wild caught fish is good for my health, reduces food miles and keeps me fit trying to catch them........it's my choice to do it, not yours to stop me!

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I had an eel regurgitate a load of tadpoles (and red maggots) in the weigh sling about three years ago when there were masses of tadpoles in the margins. The eel was caught at least forty yards from the bank - on two grains of Enterprise corn!

Dave

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Tadpoles also eat each other!!

 

We kept a load of spawn at primary school one year, when we had to walk to school with candles in bear feet etc. and to out horror one day, the larger taddies were happily munching the other smaller taddies.

 

Safe to say, Ol' Teach took them away before any lifetime complexes set in.

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