Correction... D'OH

We have 16 fish with transmitters. The 52" made #14. Apparently I can't add correctly!

End of the Day J... and Fish #17

Fished the morning and early afternoon with Charles Weiss and J Carroll. We flogged the water mercilessly to no avail. Water clarity was poor which I attribute to our lack of success (hey, all fishermen have to have excuses right?). The company was great though as Charles and J are both quite the characters!

J has been called "End of the Day J" by his buddies... and he lived up to it today. On our way back to the ramp - trolling with his bare hands - J caught this massive white and black buoy! Nice catch J! :)

Hedrik joined me for the late afternoon shift and to do a bit of tracking. We were only able to get about one hour of fishing in, but Hedrik made it count and added a 36" well-marked male to the study!

Artist Charles Weiss!

Famous wildlife and fish artist, Charles Weiss, joined Hedrik and me today for a day of fishing. It was one of the most enjoyable days on the water I've had in a long time. Constant laughter, stories, jokes. Great time to say the least.

Not only was the chit-chat good, but fishing was too! We moved seven total, including two caught: 28" by Hedrik and 43" by me. The 43" makes #16. It was caught in a classic river location where a smaller river meets a larger one. And (no surprise) the big male fell to a double 10 (Dinnerbell)!

Charles will join me (along with J Carroll of the Ottawa Chapter) again tomorrow on the Rideau. Hopefully Charles (and J) can get at least one tomorrow!

[The above sketch is by Charles. The oval shape and two muskies represent the capture and return, a completion of the "cycle", of the noble beast.]

We've Got a Runner!

I went back today to track the below 52" at the 24 hour mark. All fish were staying in the same area that they were originally caught from. So, I figured this one would be an easy track!

We pulled up to the weedbed that said 52" came from. I turned on the receiver expecting to hear the familar PING, but instead got nothing. Just static. After a 360 degree scan we went on a "hunt".

Let me rewind by saying that the day began fishing a very small spot weedbed/rock point that took about 20 minutes to fish. It's a spot we pass by all the time, but fished it today simply to kill time before tracking the fish at 0900.

So, we proceeded downstream from the catch location and towards the ramp. The further downstream we got, the more concerned I became that we would not hear the fish. Just when I thought it was going to be a lost cause, I heard that sweet lullaby PING! Where were we? 50 yards in front of the spot we began the day at!

The fish made a 2.25km/1.4mi treck downstream in a 24 hour period!

We're Half Way There [Livin' on a Prayer]

I'm not a huge Bon Jovi fan, but this song came to mind today as we reached the half-way mark in a BIG way. Fish #15 was 52 inches and my personal best!

Hedrik and I arrived at the ramp to a flat-calm river, warm, humid air, and a light drizzle. PERFECT fishing conditions! Yesterday we did a bit of trolling and found a small bay with superb tobacco cabbage. This was a spot we had not fished and since we have begun to hit our other spots fairly hard, we decided it would be a good idea to fish here.

My first pass went too shallow and on the inside of the thickest part of the tobacco cabbage. I circled the end of the weedbed and made a pass on the outside edge. Hedrik was casting toward deep water (milfoil patches) while I casted toward shore (cabbage).

I was using a bucktail for a while, but these conditions SCREAMED topwater and my Top Raider seemed too loud for the occasion. I picked up my Pacemaker (for those not familiar, it has a metail propeller that spins and hits the center hook to make a high pitched "clicking" sound) for a slightly more subtle presentation (versus the deep pitched "PLOP" of the Top Raider).

As the bait approached the boat maybe 20 feet out a dinosaur head appeared from the murky waters and T-boned the Pacemaker. This big muskie did not jump nor dive deep; it simply stayed on top and wallowed back and forth. The Pacemaker looked like a tiny toothpick lodged cross-ways in its mouth.

The fight was a short 40 seconds. The entire sampling process went very smoothly for an extremely large fish (she gave us excellent blood). I'm looking forward to tracking her and seeing where she goes!

Sampling/Processing

I've been getting questions recently about what exactly I mean by "sampling" and "processing". These are terms that encompass what data we take and what we "do" to the fish: blood sample, insert Floy tag, attach transmitter. After the previous three things are completed, we take the blood and do three field based tests to obtain instant data on 1) glucose, 2) lactate, and 3) hematocrit values.

1) Cortisol, a stress hormone, triggers the production of energy reserves to help organisms (including fish as well as humans) cope with stressors. This energy comes in the form of glycogen. Glucose results from the breakdown of glycogen (glycogenolysis). So, glucose gives us a proxy for the amount of stress (in this case) muskies undergo during the C&R process.

2) Lactate is created by the breakdown of lactic acid as an organism undergoes exhaustive exercise. Again, measuring lactate gives us a proxy for determining the relative amount of exhaustive exercise a fish has gone through after being angled.

3) Hematocrit is a ratio of red blood cells (RBCs) to whole blood (RBCs + plasma) volume. It gives a general indication of overall body condition and can indicate things such as severe blood loss, malnutrition, or anemia.

Transmitter attachment. See pictures...

"OK, Let's Go"

[Long sigh after eight hours of fruitless casting under near bluebird skies and near 80F temps]

Sean: "I'm not sure how much longer I can last."
Hedrik: "OK, let's go. We can troll back."

Hedrik, Rick Collins, and I snap on spinnerbaits for a weedline troll back to the dock.

Hedrik fires his spinnerbait a short distance from the boat. I engage the motor and.... WHAMMO!

Hedrik: "There's one!"

After chuckling for a few seconds at how clutch Hedrik was, the scrappy 38" male was scooped up and processed. Once again, very little movement (essentially took refuge in nearby weeds) post-release.

14th fish with a transmitter; one more until we're half way there!