Big Ol' Fish

I have been working on getting my thesis completed for the last few months and finally have a pretty good draft. I sent it to my advisor for some final touches and it gave me an opportunity to get back out on the river. I've been in front of the computer since the middle of July and it was nice to go fishing and see some cool fish. On October 17 we caught a big pallid sturgeon that measured about 42 inches and weighed about 10 1/2 pounds.


The good news is that the fish had a very good length/weight ratio indicating that it was likely sexually mature. We called the federal fish hatchery in Yankton, SD and they brought a transport truck down to pick the fish up. They will assess the fish for reproductive readiness and if it is mature, they will over-winter the fish at the hatchery. Next spring they will collect gametes from the fish and artifically spawn a few new batches of fish to stock back in the river. Then a transmitter will be put into the big fish and it will be released back into the river. We'll use some newfangled technology to track the fish's movements through the next few years until it's ready to spawn again.

The thesis defense date is December 3. Be thinking of me that afternoon.