Sunday, April 29, 2012

Something spawning at "the falls"


We took a boat trip to "the falls" yesterday and although we didn't see any spawning fish, we did see lots of bird droppings and what looks like bear activity along the banks of the stream.
I also saw some fish parts on the bottom in the rapids but couldn't tell what type of fish they came from. Presumably it was walleye as they are the first of the bigger fish to spawn in fast streams.
I also saw one dead smelt on the bottom. Smelt spawn in fast streams too but of course they are much smaller than walleye.
There were several eagles hanging around, probably eating spawning fish but also there is an eagle nest right there.
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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the interesting posts! Curious if you know what the current water temperatures might be? If the walleye are spawning, safe to say that the pike have finished already?

Thanks very much!

Dan B. said...

No, I haven't measured the water temperature. We had a really warm day yesterday and that will have picked it up a bit; however, only one week ago it was still freezing over in places at night. So, the water is still extremely cold.
I saw an eagle catch a pike in a marshy area yesterday. The pike was very likely up there spawning. The season is so mixed up this year it looks like the walleye and pike are spawning at the same time.
You are correct that normally pike spawn ahead of the walleye. A month-early ice-out seems to be a game changer.