Native MN River Fish Saw today:
- Thread starter ewurm
- Start date
I normally fish 1 or 2 big poles with big bait, but I catch most of my fish on a light or ultralight spinning rod with 10lb powerpro.
hehe it can be disappointing to lose a big fish, but these days I can't help myself. I have'nt been spooled on the ul yet this year, but I camt close on a nice drum last week. Caught about half these bowfin on ul, but that was from a boat so it does'nt count.
We have been collecting them for my friends reaserch. He wants to get an idea of the life histroy characteristics in the bayou that we fish and to see if the current regulation will be effective based on the results. We measure and weigh the fisn to begin. Next the gular plate, the bony plate under the mouth, is cut off and boiled. You can determine the fishes age from the rings on it. Next the gonads are removed and weighed. This allows us to find the GSI, or Gonadal Somatic Index. GSI is basically the ratio of egg to body weight and it can indicate the reproductive condition of the fish. Last we pull the otoliths, or ear bones as a secondary ageing structure. The all dark eggs were collected earlier in the year, while the orange eggs were collected 2 weeks ago. Since the water in the bayou never inundated the flood plain the bowfin did not have access to their spawning grounds. We think the orange eggs are being reabsorbed by the fish meaning no spawning this year. Most female we have caught recently have orange eggs which could mean total year class failure.
16 min rec. and 22 min commerical with no bag limit
One bad year will not hurt the population to much, but a few in a row could lead to trouble.
One bad year will not hurt the population to much, but a few in a row could lead to trouble.
