Howdy, ‘Bovers!
It’s January, and the ceiling of our home is thick, beautiful ice—it’s like living inside a giant, frosty igloo!
Life down here is quieter than a library, and moves slower than a grandpa trying to find his reading glasses. We fish have officially shifted into Winter Snooze Mode. We’re cold-blooded, which means when the water temperature settles just above freezing (around 39°F at the bottom), our whole system slows right down. We barely move, barely eat, and mainly just drift in the dark, conserving every bit of energy until the spring thaw. We call it “low-power mode.”
It’s a necessary thing, because as the lake locks up, the oxygen in the water gets trapped. Moving around a lot would waste our precious air supply, so we’re all very, very lazy.
A Word to Mike Leis…
Speaking of movement, I don’t know who this Mike Leis guy is, but we ‘Neathers sure appreciate that he keeps drilling so many holes in so many places. It makes the lake surface look like Swiss cheese and we thank him for the extra oxygen!
We also appreciate the tiny little bits of sunlight that shine down through them—it gives us something to look at while we float around. We don’t see much color down here, but we definitely notice shadows and flashes. When you’re standing on the ice, you look like giants to us. Just know that when you drop a colorful little minnow down through your hole, we often just look at it and sigh. Too tired to chase!
Who Else is Down Here?
You might think we’re alone, but we have neighbors who are just as weird as we are:
- The Deep Sleepers (Turtles & Frogs): Our lake’s turtles and frogs are in a deep sleep called brumation. They bury themselves in the mud at the bottom, slow their heart rates way down, and actually pull the tiny bit of oxygen they need right out of the water through their skin! They’re basically unplugged until May.
- The Busy Engineers (Muskrats & Beavers): These guys don’t sleep through winter. Muskrats keep small air holes open near the shore and use channels to swim around looking for roots and plants. Beavers are tucked away in their lodges, munching on their underwater food cache. They are the only ones down here moving at full speed, proving that mammals are just too hyper.
- The Little Stuff: The zooplankton (tiny swimming creatures) are still active, but they mostly hide in the dark bottom layer during the day and rise up toward the bottom of the ice at night. They are the main reason all the fish survive the long winter!
So, next time you are skating or ice fishing, know that we are right below you, enjoying the quiet and the dark, waiting for the spring alarm clock to go off.
See you next month!
Your friend,
Musky Chuck Beneather, Fisherman Avoidance Specialist, and Lake Historian