Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Pike are spawning, everything else seems finished


Ben and I paid a trip to the falls yesterday to retrieve my trail camera. I had left it there for several days, hoping to get a photo of a bear fishing for spawning fish. All I got was a couple of pix of the rapids when it seemed something, probably a bear, bumped the tree the camera was attached to. I also got this artsy photo of Ben as I took the camera down.
Ben rolled over some rocks in the fast water and collected the debris in a rubber net. He found fish eggs that are either walleye or sucker and several dead smelt which also were loaded with eggs.
Other people have seen suckers spawning in creeks around Red Lake. They are usually the last fish to spawn in the spring.
However this year, with our topsy-turvy ice-out coming six weeks earlier than normal, it seems the usual order of fish species spawning has been turned upside down.
It now looks like the walleye spawned weeks ago and perhaps, most of the suckers and the smelt.
Northern pike, usually the first fish to spawn, are doing it right now. We've seen them in their spawning areas thrashing around.
The pike are more-or-less right on time, at least as far as the calendar goes. Perhaps they are most sensitive to the photo period. Walleye, smelt and suckers must go by the time of ice-out and not the length of daylight.
In other news, we've had a cancellation for June 9-16 for a cabin for four. If you've been wanting to come in June but couldn't get a reservation, here's your chance. I updated the Availability listing today.
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1 comment:

Harriet Carlson said...

I love this photo! Great post, guys!