Invasive American Bullfrogs

[krusty]

Fished a NE Washington lake last week and observed something very unusual...huge numbers of humongous tadpoles (4" to 6" long and thick-bodied). Fished the lake (and many others in the region) for years and never encountered anything like this.

I'm thinking they were American Bullfrog tadpoles, an invasive species.

Anybody here having had a similar experience with waterbodies in your neck of the woods and (if possible) what was the ultimate impact upon its trout fishery?

 

[RRSmith]

There are others on this board that can answer the fisheries impact question better than I. What I can tell you is that bullfrog presence generally spells doom for native amphibians. Back in the late 1970's when I worked for NPS in Yosemite, I spent a week with a spotlight and pellet gun killing bullfrogs in Yosemite Valley. We were concerned about their impact on Sierra Nevada yellow legged frogs. They will eat anything that fits in their mouths.

 

[HauntedByWaters]

There are others on this board that can answer the fisheries impact question better than I. What I can tell you is that bullfrog presence generally spells doom for native amphibians. Back in the late 1970's when I worked for NPS in Yosemite, I spent a week with a spotlight and pellet gun killing bullfrogs in Yosemite Valley. We were concerned about their impact on Sierra Nevada yellow legged frogs. They will eat anything that fits in their mouths.

They will eat anything that fits in their mouths including each other. I hatched a bunch of bull frog eggs in a tank as a child and learned a lot about survival of the fittest.