Adopt-A-Fish update – April 17, 2008
winter travels of burbot
By ALAN ANKRUM
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks
GLENDIVE – During the winter months, the Missouri and Yellowstone River Adopt-A-Fish Program biologists and technicians have various responsibilities. Some duties include data entry and analysis in a warm office while others entail flying the Yellowstone River in a Super Cub airplane when the temperatures inside the plane match the below-zero air outside.
I was the lucky one to be in the airplane last winter, not only following our radio-tagged fish, but also drooling over great views of the frozen river and wildlife below.
Seeing the river from above is an amazing sight; watching the ice form, jam up in areas, and raise the water level to flood some of the usually-dry side channels illustrates how dynamic and harsh the river can be during the winter.
However, cold-loving fish species, such as burbot (ling), prefer this seemingly harsh time of year. Several of our radio-tagged burbot were actively using these newly flooded side channels.
Unlike most species in the Adopt-A-Fish Program, burbot spawn under the ice and make the furthest of their movements during the winter as they forage for prey and migrate to spawning areas.
To gain a better understanding of these winter movements, there was a big effort last fall on the Yellowstone River to radio-tag more burbot. Some anglers may have noticed the red or orange buoys floating in the river indicating where nets were placed.
Judging by the abundance of crankbaits and spinners we found in our nets, it seems fishermen must think we know the best places to fish. However, this isn’t always the case and our nets are frequently out-fished by savvy local anglers.
Overall, catch rates of burbot were relatively low but we were successful enough in our autumn sampling to radio tag enough burbot to provide data on important winter movements.
While flying the river during the winter, we observed some interesting movements from our 34 radio-tagged burbot. Most fish started to move in December and January and continued to travel throughout the winter.
One fish that was caught near Miles City ran downstream almost to Glendive only to return back to the Miles City area. A second fish was caught in the Terry area and dropped down to the same stretch of river as the first fish only to return home in March. A third fish ran upstream from a nice hole in Fallon to the Powder River area, and then has been slowly heading home. A fourth fish came from above Glendive and ran downstream to near Intake before heading back in March.
Now not all of the burbot we caught last year were movers. We had just as many homebodies as travelers. One of our fish has hung out all winter in the same area upstream of Forsyth. Evidently he likes his rocky home and had no ambitions to socialize this winter. Another homebody, perhaps sitting on a great agate find, has been hanging out between Intake and Savage and has made no attempt to go check out new scenery.
With the help of radio tagged burbot, whether they stay home or make long migrations, researchers on the Yellowstone River are gaining a better understanding of the biology and habitat requirements of all the species that are part of the Adopt-A-Fish Program.
Weekly updates on our radio-implanted fish can be found on the Missouri-Yellowstone Adopt-A-Fish home page with updates posted Thursday mornings in April and May. Just click on the Find your Fish button on the home page. The program is sponsored by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, The Billings Gazette, Walleyes Forever, Montana PikeMasters, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Geological Survey, Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The program is free.
School classrooms, youth fishing clubs and home schoolers can sign up for the program and adopt and name two fish. Just go to the Web site and click on the How To Adopt Button or send us an e-mail at Missouri-Yellowstone Adopt-A-Fish.
Adopt-A-Fish correspondents Dave Fuller at Fort Peck, Matt Jaeger at Glendive, and Nate McClenning at Billings, are fisheries biologists with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. They’ll post weekly updates every Thursday throughout April and May on this site and in the Outdoors section of The Billings Gazette.