Recently talking with a conservation officer who works my area, I've learned that gobys may soon come into Missouri.              They've been found in the Mississippi River near St Louis, in good numbers.                                  Here's what I've learned about them: Gobys are considered an invasive species. Adults can reach a length of 7" to 9", but most are smaller. They're voracious feeders, and, can and will destroy the nest of bass and eat the eggs. They're also very sensitive to movement in the water, which allows them to feed well at night.                                 They thrive in lakes, rivers, and streams. The MO conservation dept is most concerned about our rivers and streams in the Ozarks area. These rivers have good fishing for small mouth bass, but also have a delicate balance as far as bass and prey. Gobys easily disrupt this balance.                                 The conservation officer told me that like many invasive species, they multiply fast, and can spread quickly.                                   If you happen to catch one, they recommend throwing them up on the bank, far from the waters edge. Raccoons or some other critter will find them.                                                           As fisherman, it's always a good idea to learn what species are native to your area, and learn which ones are invasive.                                                   Small gobys are a greenish color. Adults are a mottled brown shade, which gives them a good camouflage.                                About the only good thing you could say, is that bass do eat them.                                   

 

Goby's are the reason the Great Lakes gives you the chance to catch football shaped smallies and record sized perch and brown trout. I'm not saying they are good but, the predators have adapted. The biggest issues with the goby's is they reproduce multiple times a year. I believe 3 or 4 times annually. They are egg eaters during the spawn and can decimate a nest. They also eat zebra mussels, another invasive species, year round. Zebra mussels filter toxins out of the water. The goby's eat the "toxic" mussels and then become toxic themselves. Then Mr. Samllie or Mr. Brownie consume the goby's. The toxins are not necessarily harmful to fish, but to humans ingesting the fish. 

 

In IL and WI, it is illegal to be in possession of live goby's. Goby's are to be disposed of if you catch them. The seagulls love them. The "I know better than you" people walking the Lake Michigan shoreline not so much. They want nothing to do with "You're supposed to kill the fish" as I toss the goby to the gulls.

Lucky…..

and the smallmouth fisherman of the great lakes and st. lawrence river are very upset from that dang invasive little critter and the bass definitely are not thriving 

we will have to revisit this in about a decade and see what happens.  I remember when the snakehead were first found here and everyone was worried....well a decade later and the bass are thriving and the snakehead are doing just fine and a much sought after game fish and good table fare as well.  

 

They were super concerned about zebra mussels here and then every lake that got them, the fishing got better, water cleared up, and the bass, especially the smallmouth, got bigger and there was more of them. They're a pain to deal with, probably the biggest impact is the reservoir inlet/outlets, but I'm still waiting for the doomsday that was promised when they eat all the plankton out of the water and all the fry and forage species starve. I've even had adult smallmouth puke up mussel shells in my livewell. Maybe accidentally ingested when they were eating something else off the top of a rock, but interesting to see. 

12 hours ago, flyfisher said:

we will have to revisit this in about a decade and see what happens.  I remember when the snakehead were first found here and everyone was worried....well a decade later and the bass are thriving and the snakehead are doing just fine and a much sought after game fish and good table fare as well.  

 

Gobies have been in the Great Lakes for as long as I've been alive. 

 

As a kid, I recall there was a plentiful population of alewife and smelt. The primary food source for the predators. So much so that the alewife would die by the millions during the summer and wash up on the beaches and shorelines. To combat that, IL, MI, and WI began stocking king salmon. The salmon decimated the alewife and smelt populations. The goby took over as forage for the inshore predators. 

I do not possess nearly enough expertise to say how in the long run,

the Goby population will affect any body of water that has them.

What I can say is, of the inland lakes I fish,

the ones that have these;

 

ALL have the Full Framed, Deep Bodied fish I just don't see on lakes that do not have a goby population. 

 

It's like a different species.

A-Jay

 

Only time will tell.  It may help, or it may hurt the bass population.  It has helped in the Great Lakes, but those lakes are a completely different ecosystem than rivers and lakes in Missouri.  Warmer water may enable the Goby's to reproduce at a more rapid rate, causing them to over populate and completely dominate the fisheries.  They may end up becoming the top prey for bass, and DD get to be common.  There may be no affect at all.   I would hope for the best, and learn to use a drop shot.

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

I do not possess nearly enough expertise to say how in the long run,

the Goby population will affect any body of water that has them.

What I can say is, of the inland lakes I fish,

the ones that have these;

 

ALL have the Full Framed, Deep Bodied fish I just don't see on lakes that do not have a goby population. 

 

It's like a different species.

A-Jay

 

The black spot on the dorsal is the telltale. We also have sculpin which look very similar to goby minus the black spot. They might even be in the same family.

2 minutes ago, slonezp said:

The black spot on the dorsal is the telltale. We also have sculpin which look very similar to goby minus the black spot. They might even be in the same family.

 At my best spots, I'll repeatedly snag these guys; usually with a rattle or blade bait.

Almost always around or on zebra mussel beds. 

Which is my new favorite "hard cover" btw.

A-Jay