Something Fishy here

[JohnSR]

Wish you guys could have been with me today. Mary Ann and I took a trip out to one of the local beaver ponds which dumps into a small creek.



The creek is only about a foot deep. (sorry Sparkey, don't know what that is in metrics ) It was full of spawning salmon. Far as I could see there were salmon.


In this photo you can see the hole they dug for their eggs. After the female lays the eggs, the male swims over the hole and fertlize them. They both, using their tails cover the hole.


This pair looks like they have done thier job and now is just waiting to die. I have heard they only last a couple days after spawning. Bet the place is really going to stink soon as there are thousands of salmon in just this small creek. It was an enjoyable trip.

[jon.oman]

This is interesting! I knew that it happened, but I've never seen images from an eye-witeness.

I wish I could have been there.

At this point, are they good to eat? Did you snag any?

[JohnSR]

Don't think I would eat them as they are just about to die and are pretty well beaten up from their trip and spawning. Bet the bears and raccons will enjoy them though. It looked like most of the males run 15-20 pounds and that is after the long migration up the rivers and streams to get to the spawning grounds.
These salmon return after 4 years from the ocean to spawn in the same water where they are hatched. I have always thought it was such a waste seeing all the dead fish laying on the bank but guess they make good feed for the eagles and other creatures.
It seems that I read someplace where the Alantic salmon returns to the ocean after spawning but I could be wrong on that. The pacific salmon always die. The large king salmon returns between 4 to 6 years and that is why they are so much larger the the other species. That extra two years really makes a difference in their size. They can get up to near a hundred pounds. The largest I have caught was 47 pound and that was in the ocean.

[Sparkey]

Life in wild can be cruel but sure the bears and who ever else gets a free meal wont complain.

[jon.oman]

I'd still be tempted to try one!