Ah, it’s mid-April in Wisconsin and, right on cue, snow popped back up in the forecast and temperatures this week are going to struggle to get above freezing. Spring, it seems, is on hold for …
northern pike
New Online Tools Says to Catch the Big One, Think Small
When it comes to fish food webs, the basic narrative is that the bigger the fish, the bigger its prey. In fact, one of the measurements scientists often use to determine a predator’s potential diet …
Celebrating World Fish Migration Day at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium
This Saturday, April 21st, is World Fish Migration Day – a day to celebrate the incredible journeys that fishes undertake each year to spawn and continue their species’ existence. World Fish Migration Day is “a one …
Fish Migrations Underway in Wisconsin
Each spring, as birds take to the sky and head north, bringing bright colors and cheerful songs with them, an equally massive migration is taking place just beneath the surface of our inland waters. In …
Blog Redux: Fish Ears, “Tree” Rings and a Sectioning Saw
We thought we’d dig through the archives to see what we were up to in previous Novembers. Enjoy this look at “Limno in the Lab” from four years ago! Originally posted 11/13/12 – After the …
Fish Fry Day: Migratory Fishes Meet Social Media
If you live, well, pretty much anywhere in North America, you know that spring is springing early this year. And while that means ice-free lakes, blooming crocuses and the return of all sorts of birds, …
Fish Fry Day: If You Build It, Will Pike Come?
For many species of fish, spring spawning migrations are a crucial part of their life cycle. They swim upstream to habitat both more suitable for them to deposit eggs and where young fish that hatch …
Fish Fry Day: How Do Fish Live Under the Ice?
While we’ve been spared (so far) by any sort of climate shenanigans like a polar vortex this winter, our lakes have had a nice thick cover of ice on for a month or more. And …
Spring Has Sprung in Wisconsin’s Waters
It’s official! Not even highs in the low 40’s and a couple of overnight snow showers could stop it – spring has arrived in Madison. According to the Wisconsin state climatologist, Lyle Anderson (sorry, John …
Restore It And They Will…Spawn?
Last spring, we featured UW grad student, Dan Oele’s work on northern pike in Green Bay. Dan was trying to answer the question, “Do pike return to the waters where they first emerged from eggs …