Thursday, May 29

Well, this whole week we have just continued netting for juvenile fish in the river and have caught quite a few. We've tagged them, weighed and measured them and taken aging structures.
Yesterday we also caught a little northern pike in a net and today we caught a white sucker. Because we are using 1 inch gill nets we also catch tons of trout perch which are just little fish but are very tricky to get out of the net. Also, today we caught a burbot that had a perfectly round hole on the side of it's body, it was very strange as it was just this big hollow hole, we stilla ren't sure what it was from.
The weather is getting better and it has been a little less windy lately. The past 2 days have been nice and warm outside and today we were wearing t-shirts in the boat instead of 3 layers plus a jacket. Unortuneately, because I was only wearing a t-shirt I got some "sturgeon rash" which is what they call it when a sturgeon rubs up against your bare arm, and because they are so pokey and sand papery it irritates your arm so your arm goes all red.
Some of the geese and foxes in Pinawa have their babies already and i'm sure that the deer around town will have their babies soon too. Also on the topic of animals..whenever we are out pulling nets the seagulls immediately are beside the boat. Today there were not only seagulls but also a flock of terns flew around for a while and 2 pelicans who lost interest pretty quickly.
That's about all the news I have for right now. Here are some pictures.

I had the weekend off!

So, I haven't written on here for a week but I was busy during the week and not around a computer and then I went home for the weekend so I didn't have time to write on here.
I have now got my laptop in Pinawa so will be able to update more often.
I have switched over to a different project, the one that I will be working on for the summer. I come and go for Pinawa every day by boat so there are no more over night trips to slave falls. The project is working with Juvenile sturgeon in the river. We catch them using nets with a much smaller mesh than I got used to with the previous project, as we are now using 1,3, and 5 inch nets and i was used to working with 10 and 12.
We net the fish in the same way as we did with the adult fish but with these nets we often get fish other than sturgeon in the nets. These fish have to be untangled and released back into the river after we record what type of fish it was and it's length. So far we have caught walleye, sauger, trout perch, mariahs/burbots, perch..and I think that's it. Oh, and we also get crayfish in the nets as they sit on the bottom so the crayfish climb onto them.
That is basically what I have been up to this past week, just getting used to the new project and netting plenty of fish.
I will try to update this more often but for now I have to go!

Pictures 2

Here are some more pictures I took this morning of the cabin, the hill up to the cabin, the two sections of the dam and Holly and I putting a sturgeon into the holding tank.

Long weekend update

I haven't had a chance to post any updates on here since Tuesday so I'll just summarize.
Thursday we came home in the early afternoon through some strong winds so the water was a little choppy but we saw a group of 6 otters playing around on the bank so it was pretty neat. On Friday there were ridiculously strong winds so we were delayed from going back out to Slave falls. Saturday morning we got our stuff together and first had to rescue one of our boats from where it had been blown against the opposite shore on Friday when Claire took it to go try to save Laura. Laura's boat had broken down just outside of the marina when she had been on her way to get the guys who had taken the speed boat and broken down on the way to slave falls. Luckily Laura got her boat going again but they had to leave the smaller boat on the opposite shore as the wind was too strong for it to make it back. Laura then took her boat and went and got the guys, and after a couple more shenanigans the guys were at slave and Laura was back in Pinawa safe.
So, as I said, we went Saturday morning to get the smaller boat from the opposite shore. It was about half full of water from waves, so it took us a little while to bail it out and get it going again.
Once we had both boats ready to go, we headed for slave. It took an hour and a half instead of half an hour due to more strong winds. We had some down time at the cabin and then went out and set nights for the night.
This morning we pulled nets and caught about 6 fish but they aren't spawning yet, so we will be up here for a while. Now we are just hanging out for the afternoon and watching the hockey games and playing cards.
Soon I will add some more pictures I took this morning.

Pictures!

Well, we went out this morning and i finally remembered my camera so here are some pictures. We didn't catch any really big ones but it gives you the idea of what we're up to.

Monday and Tuesday

Well I realized that we have a laptop here and slave and most websites are blocked but apparently this one isn't so that is handy because I can get anything exciting on here right away. Yesterday was Monday and I was in Pinawa attending a meeting and getting some stuff done with the MSA. After lunch we headed back up to slave falls and set our nets, it was a pretty uneventful day.
Today we went out to pull nets and had some difficulty because we had placed nets right near the dam and they opened the gates more over night so the current was stronger and made pulling nets super difficult. Then one of the tracking buoys worth more than i'll make all summer was under water, also due to the extra water coming through the dam. So a large portion of the afternoon was spent first trying to pull the 200lb buoys into a boat, untie it and get it fixed and dry. We then set nets and cam in for some supper. We are now about to play some cards so I will cut this one short.

Sunday, May 11

Well today is Mother's Day! That is about the only way I remembered what day of the week it was this morning though, you can kind of lose track of what day it is when you are out there. I am now back in Pinawa just getting cleaned up, and doing laundry so everything is clean and smells better by the time I am headed back out there again tomorrow afternoon.
When we went outside this morning is was gorgeous and much nicer than some of the other mornings. It was warm (well, warm enough), sunny and there was no wind. We caught 6 fish, including a big male that was about 6 feet long. After we pulled our nets we ate some lunch and then had down time until we were being picked up by a faster boat around 3 to go back to Pinawa for the night.
In yesterday's post I mentioned I was dehydrated in the evening. I had a bunch of water but when I tried to go to bed I had a bad headache and could not fall asleep. The last time I checked the time on my phone it was 3:52am. Being up at 7 this morning felt terrible so during our down time on the afternoon I took a nap which seemed to help me not feel so dead.
I'm glad to be back at the house in Pinawa because I really need a shower, some sleep, and some clean clothes. I was a little bummed out when I checked my email and remember I have meeting to attend at 9 tomorrow morning so I can sleep in but not as much as I hoped.
Also, we had a camera on the boat today so I will get those pictures emailed to me as soon as I can and put a couple on here but I am taking my camera up tomorrow so I will have plenty of pictures to come.

Saturday, May 10

Same schedule this morning as yesterday. Up at 7, on the water by 8 etc. We caught a total of 8 Sturgeon and were unhappy when we had 2 nets get messed up.
One of our nets was so full of pine tree branches it looked as if we murdered a Christmas tree, and the other got caught on some unknown object at the bottom and ripped in the center. Luckily we got both halves of our ripped net back into the boat, this is important because if we had lost a length of net fish could have gotten caught in the net and died, but we didn't so all was well. Though, re-tubbing took about 2 and a half hours because we had to fix the ripped net and untangled every piece of pine tree from the other bad net.
I wasn't too unhappy though, because we had caught a fish about five and a half feet long. The only down side being that sturgeon are fairly slimy fish, which means you have to hug them close to your body when holding them so they don't slip away and a five and a half foot long fish has a lot of slime to go around. My rain jacket will never be the same.
We decided not to set nets for the afternoon as we didn't catch too many yesterday so we took it easy for the afternoon. I spent some time looking at the sturgeon tracking system they had working with 2 computers upstairs. Last year they put acoustic tags in about 40 fish and they put 2 sets of 3 buoys in place which send out pulses which get signals off the tags if that fish is in the area and it shows you on the screen exactly where the fish is between those 3 buoys. It's pretty cool but only about 6 of the fish that were tagged are around right now.
I also discovered that there are plenty of Grouse in the area and those birds are really stupid and kind of perverts. I gather this from the fact that they will not run away or move until you are about to step on them and because I had one come up and look at me while I was going pee. We go to the bathroom in the bush out there because there is no running water so the toilets have to be filled with water manually and it is a long haul bringing water up from the river. So if you really have to go at night, you don't have to go outside but mostly you take a charming walk to the bush.
By the time we had reset 5 nets for the night and were back for supper I was tired and dehydrated but thinking of what a solid fitness program I am now on. I also found out that though we are going home tomorrow evening, we will be coming back up Monday afternoon for another 4 days. I don't know how I feel about this yet as catching fish is fun and interesting but it is pretty hard work at certain points.
Tomorrow is also mothers day and I tried to call home this evening but my parents had taken off for Riding Mountain without warning, how terrible. Haha, I'm kidding, but they better be home tomorrow!

Friday, May 9

I was up at an ugly 7am this morning. I haven't gotten up that early since my last chemistry lab in university a month ago. So needless to say, I was feeling a little rough. We had some breakfast quick, and were on the water by 8 ready to go pull nets.
After pulling in all 6 nets, we had caught a total of 6 fish. After every net, you tag the fish you caught and then put them back in the water before pulling to next net so as to stress the fish as little as possible. It was very cold though, as the rope of the nets you are pulling in is soaking wet and you are out on the open water where it is windy and I think it was a charming 8 degrees out or something. I also hurt my shoulder a little pulling in an anchor, just because I had my arm in a weird position. You have to pull the cement block anchors up about 70ft from the bottom of the river while the current pushes against it. You will probably be able to call me "the gun show" by the end of the summer because my arm muscles will be huge.
Once all our nets were in, we went back to shore to re-tub our nets. Re-tubbing is not the funnest thing in the world but it has to be done. This is where you dump the nets out of their tub and slowly put it back in, making sure it is straight and free of sticks so that when you set the net next it goes in properly. It took about an hour and then we went and reset 3 of the nets for the afternoon.
We pulled in our 3 nets around 4, caught a couple fish, one with a circular mark on it from where a lamprey had been attached, and then reset 6 nets for overnight. We went back to the cabin for supper, watched the hockey game (the Penguins won!), played a game of crib and were in bed by 9 again.
I'm a little concerned about pulling in the nets in the days to come when the big sturgeon start to show up in the area to spawn. The nets are hard enough to pull into the boat against the current with nothing in them, I don't want to imagine what it's going to be like pulling the net in with a couple 90lb female sturgeon in it who are thrashing around because they are less than thrilled.

Thursday, May 8

Today I met up with my project group in the morning with my stuff packed and ready to go and we headed to grab some groceries. We loaded up quite a bit since there are four of us and we will be staying at the cabin pretty frequently for the next month during the sturgeon spawn. We got everything loaded into the big pontoon boat, affectionately named "the tub" due to it's slow speed and poor maneuverability, and headed off for the cabin at slave falls.
After a very cold and windy hour, we arrived at the cabin. There are 3 cabins up on a hill right at the slave falls dam and they are owned by hydro, they are fairly large, have 2 floors and electricity (we are right next to a hydro dam) but no running water. So it was a little tiring carrying our gear up the hill and across the lawn to the cabin, but it was nice just to be indoors after our boat ride. One of the other project teams just doing day work in the area was there having lunch so we did the same. Once the other team had left we cleaned up a bit and got organized.
At 5 we went out on the boat and set 6 nets. You know you are catching something fairly large when the holes in the net are big enough for your head to fit through with room to spare. We were back by 6:30, had some supper, watched a little TV and were in bed by 9:45 knowing that we had to be out on the water Friday morning at 8 to pull our nets.
A couple side notes about being at Slave falls..
#1. I am impressed by the fact that I not only have cell reception here, but actually have better service than in Pinawa!
#2. We have cable so I can watch my Pittsburgh Penguins play Friday night!

Back from Slave Falls

Well, I am back in one piece from my 4 days at slave falls. I kept track of what I did each day so the next 4 posts will be each day separately since there was plenty going on every day. So here we go..

First week

Well, I didn't think I'd be the type to make my own blog but i figured that since I'm in Pinawa for the summer doing neat things and won't be able to see people as often, that I would make a blog so people can find out what I'm up to if they'd like.
So yes, I am working on a research project in Pinawa that deals with sturgeon. My first "adventure" of sort starts tomorrow. We will be taking a boat to an area near Slave Falls and staying at a cabin kind of thing until Sunday evening. Apparently we stay up there because it is such a long boat ride that going back and forth every day wouldn't be as charming as one would think.
Once we get up there we will be catching adult Sturgeon. How big is an adult sturgeon you ask? Well, we use 10-12 inch gill nets and I think they said last year their largest fish was about 6 feet long. We have to pull the nets into the boats ourselves so I also wonder if I will have arms of steel by the end of the summer.
Though I am a little nervous about dealing with a fish that is about the same length as me I think it is going to be lots of fun and I will write about how my first trip went when I get back Sunday evening.