Today’s post comes from James Burns, a Conservation Officer, and former Quetico Park Interior Ranger from 2000-2013.
If the water is too cold for you to look forward to a deep dive in the lake after a long portage, that means the water is too cold for most species of fish in Quetico Provincial Park’s lakes as well.
Some resilient fish thrive in icy cold-water year-round, like the Lake Trout. The majority of Quetico’s fish, including Walleye, Northern Pike, and Smallmouth Bass, prefer water the same temperature as you or me: a nice, even 20 degrees Celsius (or 68 Fahrenheit).
But what do most sensible fish do when the ice has come off, and the temperature in most of the lake is a fin-shriveling 4 to 17 Celsius?
Continue reading Muddying the water for Quetico’s spring Walleye