Adopt-A-Fish biologists
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks
Missouri River Adopt-A-Fish is a free Internet-based program where students and others can “adopt” native fish – paddlefish, pallid sturgeon, shovelnose sturgeon and blue suckers – and follow their movements on the Missouri River below Fort Peck Dam and on the lower Yellowstone River.
This year’s early spring allowed tracking crews to make it out on the river in the last week of March and despite the low flows we were able to make the 300-mile tracking run without parking the boat on a sand bar.
This past week, we relocated thirteen of the sixteen fish that are in the Adopt-A-Fish program. Most of these fish are right where we found them on our last tracking run of the year in November. I can’t blame them. Water temperatures ranged from 36-42 degrees on the Missouri this past week. That’s just a little too cold to start a spawning migration.
One of the few fish that is moving, slightly, is pallid sturgeon No. 1. This is a fish that was implanted just below Fort Peck Dam two years ago. He spent the entire spring there, then swam 190 miles down to the Yellowstone River for about a week, and then came back up to above Wolf Point.
Maybe he’s getting a jump on things this year because he’s already heading downstream – for the moment. We learn more and more about our native river fish every year of the study. However, just when you think you have things figured out, you’ll have a handful of fish that do just the opposite, which then stems even more questions.
We are ahead of schedule this year. We already have our ground based telemetry stations out and one full tracking run in before April. We can only hope that a few of our weekly tracking runs will have to be postponed due to much needed rains.
Some other native species are also on the move. The river was loaded with bald eagles as they begin their migration north towards Alaska. There were well over a 100 between Fort Peck and the Yellowstone confluence.
After a long winter, it was nice to get out of the office, away from crunching numbers to get out and reunite with a few friends. What will they do this year?
Next week we’ll keep you updated on the fish’s movements, learn a little about paddlefish and take a look at a very interesting fish that is up for adoption - paddlefish No. 2.
Missouri River Adopt-A-Fish allows schools, classrooms and home school students to “adopt” two fish and name them. They can then watch their movements on animated maps on the Internet and check out other web pages to learn more about fish, fishing, the Missouri River and native species.
To learn more about it, go to www.walleyesunlimited.com/adopt-fish/home.html. To adopt fish, go to www.walleyesunlimited.com/adopt-fish/howtoadopt.html. For more information, e-mail Gazette outdoor editor Mark Henckel at flatlander@montana.com.
Missouri River Adopt-A-Fish is a joint effort of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Walleyes Unlimited, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and The Billings Gazette. Weekly updated will be posted on the Adopt-A-Fish site and in The Gazette each Thursday through April and May.