Skunk-O-Rama

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Corey
Corey's picture
Skunk-O-Rama
<p>Sometimes, you throw a pout party and the pout don&#39;t show up.</p> <p>No burbot caught by anybody today.&nbsp; Fun day on the water with a great bunch of people, but extremely disappointing fishing.</p>
Deftik
Deftik's picture
That's fishing for you ditto

That's fishing for you ditto on what Ben said hope it was a drunken skunkin

Outdoors4life
Outdoors4life's picture
Man that is too bad!

Man that is too bad!

Think it has to do witht the flooding this summer changing the lay of the area? They still have to go there but gotta wonder if they used to stay in the area longer before or a fluke that missed the timeing?

 

 

 

It is all perspective!

Acer Home Inspections

Corey
Corey's picture
I dunno

I just think it got cold really quick and the pout went up and spawned early and left.

JK
JK's picture
Ruffe Photo

 

Howdy Cowpokes,

 

A few lucky anglers landed fish even if they were not 'pout. My only contribution was handling the camera.

 

 

JK
Eli
Eli's picture
It happens. I'm sure the

It happens. I'm sure the gathering was worth it in and of itself.

Eli

 

 

Eric Kol
Eric Kol's picture
It was a good time though.

It was a good time though. Very comfortable in the elements department. We had a good turn out for the un-pout-o-rama. I caught a 6" walleye, a couple of fat rockbass and a ruffe. I also broke the recoil on my auger, and ate a ton of raisins. As always, the time spent on the water catching up with friends is the draw, so even without the pout the trip was a success.

 

when I figure out this whole technology thing I'll post some pics

Carpy Diem!

E. Subvaria
E. Subvaria's picture
whoa what?!  so guessing no

whoa what?!  so guessing no point in heading up there next weekend

TonyS
TonyS's picture
It was a great time - even

It was a great time - even though I couldn't even pull catching a rock or stick.  Still a bit shocked that we didn't pick up any post spawners at dark, but then reports of all species from the Harbor and Chequamegon Bay were terrible for Saturday too.

 

E. Sub - don't bother this weekend.

TonyS
TonyS's picture
Early Spawn...

The concensis was definately a spawn on the early end this year.  Unfortunately fish don't conform to the gregorian calendar.  I'm a little doubtful about temperate mattering too much to a fish that spawns under the ice and happily lives in 40*F water in Superior, could be though.  It is bizzare to me that there is no real hard data out there (that I can find) on what prompts the Burbot spawn.  My buddy in Superior and I formed a theory on the Pout spawn, backed up by some anecodatol references from others as well - but very little hard data kept track of there too.  

 

Do we have record of the dates and relative success of past Pout-O-Ramas?  I know last year and this year...  If anybody wants to chime in with the date of any and all previous Pout-O-Ramas and subjective assessment the fishing (poor, fair, good) I'd appreciate it.  Lumping that data MIGHT teach us something...

Outdoors4life
Outdoors4life's picture
1-9-2010 Fair year but not

1-9-2010 Fair year but not many for numbers I got 3 and I have very few pics of anyone else.

1-2-2011 Was a good year for numbers I think that was the date because I could not make that day work.

1-7-2012 Large fish and decent numbers

1-5-2013 Skunk

 

Any earlier dates I did not attend.

It is all perspective!

Acer Home Inspections

D.T.
D.T.'s picture
Blame it on me.

The real reason nobody caught a pout is because I forgot the damn pout whistle this year.

Seriously though I had a great time. I caught a walleye and a perch, and any ride in the pale van is gonna be a fun time. Plus a bonus two-trip White Castle.

Hengelaar
Hengelaar's picture
Puke-0-Rama

D.T. wrote:

 

Plus a bonus two-trip White Castle.

 

Yikes...

Fishn sure is neat

Korman
Korman's picture
I don't know about an early

I don't know about an early spawn. I was up there December 26th and fished from 8 in the morning till 1 PM without a single pout looking mark on my Vexilar. Hard to say with only one angler for a morning but I didn't see any evidence of a migration that day.

I will be up there again this weekend and am probably still going to try Saturday evening. I'm hoping for a late run this year!

Corey
Corey's picture
Thanks!

Good info Korman, good luck this Saturday and let us know how you do!

Korman
Korman's picture
Do you guys catch them on the

Do you guys catch them on the bottom ever? The few I've ever caught were up in the water column.

Dr Flathead
Dr Flathead's picture
I think I've caught Pout at

I think I've caught Pout at every level of the water column possible.  Got them on Lake of the Woods/Rainy River on balls of crawlers, much like open water bottom fishing, but thru the ice on both the still water of the lake and the fast currents of the river.  Got them at the pout round-ups in the past just swimming under the hole.  Seen them bumping the transducer off the vex before too.  Caught a bunch just straight jigging the bottom there too.  Gotta love an 'all levels' feedin fish.  A damn tasty one too.  I gotta say that we were pretty bummed to not be bringing home more tasty ling treats this year...

TonyS
TonyS's picture
Korman - can be tough to find

Korman - can be tough to find Pout going solo.  Several times I've fished within yards of guys catching multiple Pout and not marked a dang thing on my flasher.  Sometimes they follow really tight migration lines.  Helps a lot to have a group of people to track them down.  We do catch them on bottom in the river but more so post-spawn.  Seems like the bottom running Pout are eating, they usually smack a jig without too much hesistation.  Some of the suspended fish need more teasing.

TonyS
TonyS's picture
Spawn Dates

Finally got ahold of my local contact.  He said they got some Pout right at first ice (which is not unusual).  And had good fishing right around Christmas.  General local opinion was that the fish were done spawning before New Years.

 

Here is what little we know for sure on the Pout spawn.  The males show up first on the spawning grounds, by quite a bit.  The females show up shortly before spawning, once the spawn is done the fish start to fade out at variable speeds. 

 

Many people in different locations claim their Pout spawn in response to a full moon at particular point in winter, no hard scientific data but multiple people in different location observing similar behavior. 

 

The Pout that spawn in Gooseneck spawn sometime between Late December and Early/Mid Janurary, depending upon the year.  I know last year the Pout spawn was within days of the Pout-O-Rama, likely that is why we saw good numbers of big Females around.  The next weekend the fish were definately post spawn with moderately tough fishing.  According to multiple sources the Pout spawned before New Years this year, hence we were on the tough post spawn period.  General local concensis is that the males start showing up a month before the spawn, increasing in numbers as the date gets closer.  The best fishing is considered to be the period from 2 weeks before spawn right up to the spawn.  Post spawn things get tough, fish can be found and caught but it is sporatic.

 

Given the data from this year and last I'm going to toss a SWAG out there: Gooseneck Bend spawns right around the first Full Moon after the WInter Solstace.  Of course the quality of the run (much less the pre- and post- spawn bite) is likely subject to yearly variation, just like the runs of Walleye and Salmonids.

 

Here is how our old data fits:

 

2013

First full moon came early, December 28th.  According to locals this is pretty much spot on with the dates for the Pout spawn this year.  That put the Pout-O-Rama 7 days into the post spawn, the post spawn is a highly variable and often tough bite -  hence the skunk-o-rama.

 

2012

First full moon was Jan 9th - two days after the Pout-O-Rama.  If my theory is right we were right in the midst of the spawn.  The makes sense with the big females roaming around and the tougher bite the next weekend.

 

2011

There was a full moon on the Solstace that year, probably too early for the Pout to spawn.  The Next one would have been the 19th.  That would put the Pout-O-Rama about 2 weeks before the proper spawn.  2 weeks before is considered to be about right for starting to get into good numbers of fish (males).  And the group caught many males but did not find large females.  Still fitting the mold fairly well.  This would make 2011 a very late spawn.

 

2011

Full Moon would have been Dec 31, putting this Pout-O-Rama most likely well into post spawn.  My experiences have suggested the post spawn bite to be tough and sporatic.  O4L suggests the fishing was fair but not as good as 2011 or 2012.  That seems still within reason for the theory.

 

Obviously these rambling should be taken with a grain of salt but it seems like the only theory we really have right now.  Temps wouldn't likely be the issue, this year Decemeber temps (and all of fall) in Duluth were well above average and Pout spawned early.  They clearly don't hold tight to length of day, otherwise we'd see more consistancy between the Pout-o-ramas.

 

IF (and it is a big if) these writings are not the ramblings of a deranged individual suffering from Burbot withdrawls, then I think we can assume the weekend of Jan 11/12 2014 will rock.  

 

Most likely the deranged individual thing though.  Maybe we should just bring the Pout whistle next year...

Jason E.
Jason E.'s picture
I targeted a lake near Duluth

I targeted a lake near Duluth on Sunday and managed a few small perch and a small northern on my dead creek chubs.  Disappointed to not get any pout but it was fun to reconnect with everyone.

D.T.
D.T.'s picture
Wow Tony!

That was some good reading. Where's the "like"button? I wanna click on it.

andy
andy's picture
great observations!
Thanks for posting this tony. The full moon burbot spawn theory sure seems to correlate the past few years. Can't wait to test it next year, but sucks that its more than a year away...
TonyS
TonyS's picture
Agreed, too bad Burbot only

Agreed, too bad Burbot only spawn once a year!  Guess I'll have find the time to hit the Smelt spawn...

 

I hope this pans out to a consistent correlation, that would be handy...

Outdoors4life
Outdoors4life's picture
Hey might be on to something!

Hey might be on to something! We will have to include this into the burbot page under "possibly" Between all of us we should be able to get back further in history and put together a little more solid info and be able to paln the pout get together right nuts on to the closest weekend possible.

 

 

It is all perspective!

Acer Home Inspections

Corey
Corey's picture
Previous posts about Pout-O-Rama's

2008 Eric Kol:  Burbot in my Tummy

2008 Andy Announcement:  Pout-O-Rama

2009 MN Bowfin: Finally, A Burbot!

2009 finsfeathers:  411 from the 27th Trip

2010 Corey: Burbot Trip pics (Pout-O-Rama)

 

Thought these might help you guys piece together the pout mystery.

Looks like my "New Forum Display" view on the left under navigation is working, lets you view the old site content.

TonyS
TonyS's picture
Hmm... 2008 fits, 2009 is

Hmm... 2008 fits, 2009 is really thin on info, but 2010 really bucks the full moon theory.  Might be time to look for other correlations.  Dang Burbot!  How do you time your runs!?  And why does the near shore Superior population spawn so early compared to the off shore population and populations in most other lakes?!

Jknuth
Jknuth's picture
So this is interesting to me.

So this is interesting to me. 
Lake Winnebago has a good burbot population although its very shallow. 
We know they spawn out on the rocky reefs around Feb normally around the middle of the month. I have seen many cam shots showing huge schools spawning. 
but.. In late October to early December we start catching them in open water at the mouth of the Fond du Lac river and as I just discovered this fall at the mouth of the Fox river and in the Fox about a mile upstream. 
We dont get them anywhere else in the main lake at this time of year. 
I have caught both males and females then both appear to be "ripe" I assumed they were not spawning because they spawn out on the reefs. It seems like a run to me though, Eric and Gjis experianced it in late October when we caught 26 in one night. 

So is this common? 
For a lake to have migratory spawners and non migratory? 

Do they just make the run into the rivers for food? 

TonyS
TonyS's picture
I can't speak to other lakes

I can't speak to other lakes but in Superior there are populations that spawn:

1. In Rivers where good ones exist, at least at Gooseneck the time is with a week or two of New Years

2. Shallow Reefs, spawning sometime before the end of January 

3. And some that apparently spawn on deep reefs, the one report said those had not spawned out yet in early March.

 

So if Superior has multiple spawning populations, why not 'Bago?  There are lots of river locked populations of Burbot too, that might be coorelated somehow.  I'm beginning to understand why nobody has a solid understanding of the spawning habits of these fish other than "they spawn in winter..."

TonyS
TonyS's picture
That said food could be a

That said food could be a possibility too, if there was an unusually high concentraition of quality forage.  High enough compaired to the Lake to draw them in to travel just to eat.

Gunnar
Gunnar's picture
And the really important

And the really important question: Why don't they completely mess with everyone's theories and make a run into the sluggish, shallow, nasty-looking creek near my house in NE Illinois?

 

Redhorse ID cheatsheets, gars, suckers: moxostoma.com


2020: 10 days fishing 11 species 0 lifers. 2019: 34/45/13 2018: 39/40/5

JK
JK's picture
Hippos?

 

Howdy Cowpokes,

 

I'm having the boys over in the lab pull three years worth of satellite imagery for a couple miles up and downstream from gooseneck. I became suspicious when I contacted Hippos Unlimited to see if they had been doing any habitat improvement in the area, and got a flustered, panicky denial of any involvement on their part. I suspect HU used the flooding last year as cover to sneak in and dig some undercut banks, wallows, and place some sunning boulders in the channel.

 

The HU Spokesopotamus (yes, that's his actual title) later faxed me some highly suspect "research" denying any link between the decline of burbot in the St. Louis watershed and the ravenous appetite of the Hippopotamus for burbot and walleye eggs.

 

I don't need to tell you guys that the hippo-first management policies of the zealots over at HU have devastated more than one quality 'pout river.

 

JK

 

Korman
Korman's picture
Empty river at gooseneck last

Empty river at gooseneck last evening - should have heeded your advice and fished elsewhere.