During the summer, fish eat about everything they can find. Small bream and juvenile bass must stay close to cover in hopes of eluding the larger bass, but all fish will be looking to eat whatever closely resembles food. In early summer, bream and bass eat pounds and pounds of insects, whether floating or tumbling through the water column. If it wiggles, kicks or undulates, these fish will inhale these morsels with little hesitation.
During late spring and early summer, fire ants begin swarming in their winged form, often dropping into ponds from nearby colonies embedded in the pond banks. Bluegill and shellcrackers along the banks will be either bedding or patrolling these shallows, gobbling these white-winged creatures as soon as they land on the surface film. While a few fire ants will not necessarily kill fish, large consumptions will kill fish quickly. The large swarms give fish ample opportunity to get a belly full in a very short duration. Every year, fire ants are responsible for many significant fish kills within farm ponds where fire ants proliferate near or at the pond banks.
Nobody likes stepping into a fire ant bed while trying to catch a few fish in their favorite pond, either. All of the pond banks around the perimeter should be inspected for fire ants. Immediately these large beds should be treated with an appropriate insecticide to prevent growth and spread of these invasive pests.
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