RiverMan Posted June 2, 2005 Report Share Posted June 2, 2005 Click on the link below to see the Bonneville Dam, Columbia River Webcam. You may have to check a few times to see them...the camera takes a snapshot of the fish ladder every 15 seconds. Tons of shad and some chinook too, very cool. jed http://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/op/b/fishcam/fishimage.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Posted June 2, 2005 Report Share Posted June 2, 2005 Thats slick...1 salmon and 4 shad in the picture..Nathan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodsac Posted June 3, 2005 Report Share Posted June 3, 2005 I've been watching these fish all day :oops: This link updates the image every 30 seconds automatically and it explains what the lines are. http://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/op/b/fishcam.asp Use this link to see the massive numbers of fish that pass through here daily https://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/op/fishdata/home.asp Cool site Jed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiverMan Posted June 3, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2005 My boy and I went down the other day and caught some shad, they are like shooting fish in a barrel. The average about 3 pounds, some larger. We anchored and lowered down some tiny jigs with about 3oz of weight to get it to stay in the current....wham! They come in schools so we would wait for 5-10 minutes and then have all three rods go off at once...lots of fun. The run is just starting, this wknd there will be so many that a 100 per day is not out of the question. They sure are pretty fish, shiny as a nickle but not much to eat. jed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodsac Posted June 3, 2005 Report Share Posted June 3, 2005 The freaks come out at night What are these things Jed? A type of eel or big sucker fish? I've never seen one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheesehead Posted June 3, 2005 Report Share Posted June 3, 2005 Those are lamprey eels. They attach themselves to salmon and feed off of them until their host fish dies or knocks them off, then they move on to another fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiverMan Posted June 3, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2005 He is exactly right, Pacific Lamprey which are an anadromous species. Near my home here in Oregon we also have Western Brook Lamprey which are a resident fish and never get very large. Pacific Lamprey are amazing critters and like crocodiles their form and function has not changed since the time of the dinosaurs, you don't fix what ain't broke. Pac. Lamprey actually have a interesting life cycle. The parents spend a period of time in the ocean as parasitic fish that attach to other fish and feed off of them. Generally the host fish does not die as a result of this activity. The adults migrate upstream to spawn but unlike salmon, research at this time indicates that they may not return to their point of birth. Instead they key in on several phermones released by juveniles of their own species that are residing in the stream. The adults build a nest by moving rocks to one side and the eggs are deposited and fertilized. The little ones hatch out and drift in the current until they settle in an area of the river contaning a silt bottom at which time they burrow. Here they will spend 5 or 6 years as plankton feeders with their heads up above the river bottom, mouths open like filters, before going through a metamorphisis that includes growing eyes. At about 5 or 6 inches in length they then head for the ocean and the cycle is repeated. Many of our rivers here were once reported to have literally millions of Lamprey in them and they are a native species unlike the lamprey found in the Great Lakes. The lamprey were extirpated from most systems as a result of inadequate or non-existent screens and passage facilities at various dams and irrigation diversions. The eels are highly prized by native americans as a food source and are thought to help improve survival of juvenile salmonid fishes by providing an alternate food source to predatory fishes. I also know of guys that love to use them as bait for sturgeon. Many are working at this time to reintroduce the Lamprey into river systems and to better understand their habitat needs. I probably told you more than you wanted to know...sorry, I type fast. Jed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tally Posted June 3, 2005 Report Share Posted June 3, 2005 all I can say is: AWESOME Tally Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallard Posted June 3, 2005 Report Share Posted June 3, 2005 They sure are pretty fish, shiny as a nickle but not much to eat. Fried shad roe mixed into to scrambled eggs used to be quite a breakfast delicacy down here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheesehead Posted June 3, 2005 Report Share Posted June 3, 2005 THank's for the reply Jed, Here in the great lakes we rue the day that they first were dumped out of someones ballast tank. I wonder if our salmon also feed on the young ones? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiverMan Posted June 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2005 I am sure they do feed on them altho there is likely a fairly narrow window in which the juvenile lamprey are vulnerable. Beyond that the "fecundity" (number of eggs) of lamprey is enormous which means that even under heavy predation there will be strong numbers of eels reaching adulthood. Jed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiverMan Posted June 5, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2005 Shawn, No, their eyes are on each side just like most fish but they are not strong swimmers. The current speed in the viewing windows is desinged to "attract" the salmon into the fish ladder. The current speed, however, is such that it requires the lamprey to hold onto the sides and rest. What is really wild about the lamprey is when they come to a vertical wall with water running over it (a waterfall), they will climb it inch by inch with their mouth! Their body and tail just hangs there and they hop along a few inches at a time with their mouth until they go right over it, amazing! A hundred foot rock wall will stop a salmon but not a lamprey, he will go right over it. The downside for lamprey tho have been dams. They are very confused by them and they try to climb through the dams in various cracks and crevices only to meet their demise. Salmon are far better able to locate and move through fish ladders. Tons of shad moving right now in the fish ladder! http://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/op/b/fishcam/fishimage.jpg Jed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Brush Posted June 5, 2005 Report Share Posted June 5, 2005 Jed, That was a great post on Lamprey. lol sittin next to the photos it's comparable to an article in National geographic. I noticed the eels are on cam more in the early hours where as the shad run more in the day. Also in the cam pics I noticed the eels all swim sideways with their mouths ready to attach to the side of a fish. Which makes sense as all the lamprey scars I've seen on fish are on the flanks. Do the eels all swim on the same side? Are their eyes like a flounders? Eyes on top with mouths open to the right? If so then that would mean all the flank scars would be mosly on the left side of fish? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tally Posted June 25, 2005 Report Share Posted June 25, 2005 thanks for posting this. sometimes I just turn the thing on and kick back and watch. Tally Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
