07-24-2023, 05:48 PM
I appreciate the input so far. Far smarter than me know this stuff well.. I should offer my thoughts, though, since I profferd the inquiry.
Temps: ya they matter - a lot- not disputing that at all, but I can personally attest to how cold it gets in Old Town Maine and the local smallies just thumb their nose at the thermometer and go about procreating and consuming as if they had some God given right to such nonsense. And the ones in upstate Michigan apparently did not get the blizzard memo either. I also mentioned pike and walleye. Well at some point a few of them took a vacation to northern Canada, lost thier visa, and just decided to stay. They now offer some of the most amazing fishing short of a midnight fence- jumping trip to the Kamas fish hatchey. So temps matter but I belive many of our warm water friend are figuring out how to wear wool without itching.
Food base: no question the food base is a factor. The abundance of Chicken Nuggets in the Penobscot River was astounding. Even if you offered to super-sized the meal you would often got an eye roll like Cookie gives me when I suggest I don't have enough elk har caddis in the bag and a trip to Cabelas is in order. So to Pat's point I bet they have wandered up the Weber from Echo ( in fact I know they have
) but they did not appreciate the forced entry into the Jenny Craig weight watcher club and opted to return to deeper waters to
slurp up some more perchy fries.
A new idea to ruminate on...
One thing that I think is a major factor as it impacts temps, habitable habitat and food base is the significant variation in our river levels due to drawdown from irrigation demand. I suspect that creates challenges that are hard to overcome. I mean when a crawdad has to sneak out of a rock hole to get his head wet when in is raining it might be asking a bit for bass to take hold. Just for reference our family farms ground along the Weber so I am not implying that the irrigation is wrong just that it creates challenges to river critters.
Temps: ya they matter - a lot- not disputing that at all, but I can personally attest to how cold it gets in Old Town Maine and the local smallies just thumb their nose at the thermometer and go about procreating and consuming as if they had some God given right to such nonsense. And the ones in upstate Michigan apparently did not get the blizzard memo either. I also mentioned pike and walleye. Well at some point a few of them took a vacation to northern Canada, lost thier visa, and just decided to stay. They now offer some of the most amazing fishing short of a midnight fence- jumping trip to the Kamas fish hatchey. So temps matter but I belive many of our warm water friend are figuring out how to wear wool without itching.
Food base: no question the food base is a factor. The abundance of Chicken Nuggets in the Penobscot River was astounding. Even if you offered to super-sized the meal you would often got an eye roll like Cookie gives me when I suggest I don't have enough elk har caddis in the bag and a trip to Cabelas is in order. So to Pat's point I bet they have wandered up the Weber from Echo ( in fact I know they have
) but they did not appreciate the forced entry into the Jenny Craig weight watcher club and opted to return to deeper waters to slurp up some more perchy fries.
A new idea to ruminate on...
One thing that I think is a major factor as it impacts temps, habitable habitat and food base is the significant variation in our river levels due to drawdown from irrigation demand. I suspect that creates challenges that are hard to overcome. I mean when a crawdad has to sneak out of a rock hole to get his head wet when in is raining it might be asking a bit for bass to take hold. Just for reference our family farms ground along the Weber so I am not implying that the irrigation is wrong just that it creates challenges to river critters.
Remember: keep the lid on the worms, share your jerky, and stop by to say hi to Cookie and the Cowboy-Pirate crew