Don Moir: Wishin’ for the good old days…
Hello, my fellow anglers. The other day I was having yet another conversation with a concerned angler. Our conversation usually starts something like this ... Shoot, have you seen Lake Mendocino? Oh by-theway, Lake Pillsbury too.
What in the world is going on? Why is the water so, so low?
Why is the Corps of Engineers releasing so much water? Don’t they know that the sand bar is blocking the Russian River entrance for the salmon?
Why is our water being wasted? It is just going out to the ocean!
How come the agencies that regulate water cannot change policies quickly when we are in drought conditions?
Don’t they understand that a lot of salmon are not going to come up to spawn anyway? The streams they spawn in are not flowing. They cannot smell them.
I have beat this drum in the past. But, to reply to my fellow anglers’ questions, all I can do is shake my head and say, “Welcome to California and politics.”
How do salmon know where to spawn?
Pacific salmon live in many different habitats and travel long distances over the course of their lives. Adult salmon retrace these lifelong paths as they return to their natal streams. Some to complete the final stage of life—spawning. This journey takes all of the salmons’ energy and causes many people to wonder.
Unfortunately, the answer to this question is not as clear as the waters in which salmon prefer to spawn.
This subject is still being studied; however, scientists are discovering that there are two key ways salmon find their spawning grounds: scent and magnetism. Which homing mechanism salmon use depends on the environment they are in at the time — either open ocean (where they live most of their lives) or freshwater habitats (where they are born and return to spawn).
In the ocean, it is believed that salmon have sensors in their brains that function like a mapping system by detecting the earth’s magnetic field. Any given location on earth has its own unique magnetic makeup, like fingerprints for humans.
Salmon use these sensors to find their home watershed’s “magnetic fingerprint.” Once they find that watershed, they can continue the freshwater portion of their spawning migration. Scientists are still learning about magnetic field detection mechanisms in salmon and other living organisms as well. Studies of sea turtles, migratory birds and other animals may help explain how salmon use and detect the earth’s magnetic field.
Thanks for reading and remember to keep it reel ! Don = 4REEL Fishin’