My Father owns land and a boat dock on Lake Hudson (AKA "Kerr Dam Reservoir" Below "Grand Lake 'O the Cherokee's", and above Ft. Gibson Lake on the Neosho/Grand River in NE Oklahoma). During the summer months we regularly see large adult "Spoonbill" jumping 3 to 9 feet out of the water to come crashing down at odd angles. During their peak of activity there is a fish jumping every 3-5 seconds (I should be able to capture an image next summer) out of the water. As you can imagine, it is quite a sight to see a 3 to 6 foot fish come leaping out of the water! I understand that these fish are filter feeders, so this clearly is not a feeding behavior...I have read reports of fish jumping like this to free their gills and bodies of parasites like gill flukes and certain copepods. Does any one know why these spoonbill are jumping?

Colby D.
"CD" AKA "Seedy"

Seedy,

Hi, and welcome to the forum! I see that you are a new poster. Regarding the paddlefish jumping, this was just the sort of thing that our speaker at the last Southeastern Wisconsin Regional NANFA Affiliate Club spoke about. In Wisconsin, apparently, the paddlefish jump from late June through August in the Wisconsin River to dislodge native parasitic lampreys that have attached themselves to the paddlefish. Dr. Lyons says that if you watch closely, sometimes you can see the lampreys flying off as the paddlefish leap! It must be quite a sight! I hope to experience it someday for myself. For the Wisconsin readers of this post, see Dr. Lyon's list of "Watchable Fishes" in this post. Again, welcome Seedy and I hope that you are enjoying the NANFA forum!

Thanks! That is really fascinating. I didn't realize it was a parasitic fish they were trying to free from themselves. I think I'll make it a project next summer to capture some images of them jumping. It is really spectacular, and it would be great to have an image of the lamprey on the Spoonbill in the air!

Ya that would be awesome if you could get some pictures of them jumping! They are really cool fish. BTW i'm jealous of your photography skills!

Interesting.
In and around the mouth of the Kennebec River in Maine we often see giant sturgeon doing the same thing. It's awe inspiring to see a nine foot long brown rocket fly five feet into the air. Even more exciting when you're out in a kayak on a moonless night and one goes off right next to you!
Although I've seen dozens, I've never seen any lampreys go flying off. Still, lampreys are common in the river so it's certainly possible.

Interesting.
In and around the mouth of the Kennebec River in Maine we often see giant sturgeon doing the same thing. It's awe inspiring to see a nine foot long brown rocket fly five feet into the air. Even more exciting when you're out in a kayak on a moonless night and one goes off right next to you!
Although I've seen dozens, I've never seen any lampreys go flying off. Still, lampreys are common in the river so it's certainly possible.

Wow! There are other people who will get into a boat and paddle around during the night using only the moon's light for navigation. That's good to know. Large paddlefish and carp/buffalo have exploded out of the water right next to me many times. One such fish cleared my flat-bottom aluminum boat and soaked me good in the process. I didn't even see what it was, but it was big. is exactly right