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Where do fish go in the winter?

Started by Guest_jimv8673_* , Nov 20 2008 10:28 AM

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#21 Guest_FishofSchool_*

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Posted 23 January 2013 - 11:05 PM

Wished to add to this earlier and very cool thread (pardon the pun)--such a fascinating topic about how and where fish survive in winter!

Alaskan natives are said to harvest Alaska blackfish by digging them out of mud banks in wintertime, where they are encased in mucus cocoons. I’ve never personally seen this. But I have had blackfish “fly out” of my freshly drilled ice hole when I pulled out the auger in a shallow wetlands pond. I speculate that they were just below the ice possibly gulping bubbles of air stuck to the ice.

#22 Guest_FirstChAoS_*

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Posted 24 January 2013 - 02:49 AM

I had to eat my own words on this one after last winter. I was icefishing and caught a bullhead, it was very lively. I was quite suprised. It was only about 4 inches though. How big was the one you saw? All the ones I encountered diving were about 10 to 12 inches.

I'd guess eight inches but it's been a while since I seen it.

I searched online and found videos of bullhead caught or seen through the ice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61A2PoTUfN4

So apparently enough observations exist that bullhead and maybe bass and the bait shop owners frogs go dormant in winter, but that they also have active streaks. the question is why? how? what triggers it? Is it a reaction to temperature shifts under the ice? is it an energy saving mode to save time between feedings so as not to waste energy when food is scarce?

#23 Guest_gzeiger_*

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Posted 26 January 2013 - 02:45 PM

Energy saving mode doesn't really make sense - if hunting for food took more energy than they obtained from it then they wouldn't go into an active phase, and if they can gain energy by hunting then it makes sense to stay active.

#24 Guest_Irate Mormon_*

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Posted 29 January 2013 - 09:34 PM

I have kept natives in outdoor tanks over the winter, and they LOVED it. They were at their happiest when it was cold. Well, I guess that's true of Mississippi in general, where it's summer 10 months out of the year.

#25 Guest_FirstChAoS_*

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Posted 30 January 2013 - 04:08 AM

A few other questions crossed my mind, is the temperature blow water variable? could some pockets under ice be warm enough to prevent hibernation in bullheads? What species of bullhead were they? could different ones react to cold differently? Does the speed of temperature dropping matter? I wish I didn't get rid of my bullheads (and that I had free tanks to experiment with) so I could chill them under different conditions to see how they react.

#26 Guest_FirstChAoS_*

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Posted 30 January 2013 - 01:43 PM

It just hit me! The bullhead in the lake are either active or catatonic and the exact state is not determined until the bullhead is observed. It's Schroedinger's Catfish. :biggrin: