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<br />water and remarkably inefficient at foraging along the shoreline <br />for crustaceans or sunfish. If littoral or benthic forage <br />organisms are found and consumed there may be only a few <br />individuals within the striped bass school that benefit. Without <br />schooling pelagic forage fish the health of the entire striped <br />bass school suffers. Without question the health of the striped <br />bass population rises and falls with the peaks and valleys in the <br />threadfin shad population. <br />Larval striped bass eat zooplankton. Small rotifers are <br />often the first food consumed but after a few days nauplii <br />copepods are targeted. As striped bass grow larger they eat a <br />variety of invertebrates from adult copepods to cladocerans and <br />insects. At approximately 95-100 mm striped bass convert to a <br />fish diet, if available. Striped bass then continue to eat <br />clupeid fish throughout their life unless forced to find <br />alternate forage. <br />When shad have disappeared from the pelagic zone of Lake <br />Powell all sizes of striped bass from juveniles to adults revert <br />to eating zooplankton. Juvenile striped bass are able to <br />maintain body condition but adults gradually waste away without <br />pelagic forage fish for sustenance. <br /> <br />Feeding Behavior <br />An abundance of larval shad in pelagic zones allow striped <br />bass to feed leisurely as they travel in straight lines at low <br />speeds consuming small shad at will. Limited swimming ability of <br />larval shad make escape from striped bass difficult. Surface <br />feeding activity occurs as 100-5000 striped bass gently roll and <br />porpoise in unison. These "boils" only simmer as striped bass <br />roll and slurp on top. Disturbance by boats cause striped bass <br />schools to sound and then reappear a few hundred yards away as <br />feeding resumes in a different direction. <br />As shad grow in size and develop stronger swimming ability <br />the surface action gets more intense as striped bass corral shad <br />against the surface or trap them near shore. The tendency for <br /> <br />16 <br />