Where Have All the Perch Gone?

There's an interesting new story that just appeared in Minnesota Outdoor News.  Researchers with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources say that in 900 lakes they've surveyed in that state, numbers of yellow perch are down significantly.

Over the years, I've noticed the same thing while diving and photographing fish in Wisconsin lakes... there just aren't as many perch as there used to be.  The news report says in part that DNR researchers are looking at not only what might be holding back yellow perch, but also potentially dragging them down. 

"A new study looking at yellow perch is being led by DNR research biologists  Jeff Reed, of Glenwood, and Bethany Bethke, of Duluth. Related research conducted by Bethke during the past couple of years pointed to a likely decline in perch numbers; in more than 900 lakes studied, perch numbers had dropped on average, from about 10 fish per gill net to around five fish per gill net during DNR surveys.
“When you see something going in half over a 25-year period, it’s something you want to look at,” Reed said.

Examination of netting data yields some clues regarding why perch might be declining in some places. High water levels have created fertile breeding grounds for northern pike, and a corresponding increase in the pike population could be putting a bigger dent in the perch population, Reed said. Also, invasives – such as zebra and quagga mussels, and spiny water fleas, where they exist – could be reducing the foods available – like zooplankton – for very small perch.

One other factor could be in play, too. Longer growing seasons in lakes are helping species like bluegills, which compete with yellow perch.
  
Bethke adds yet another item to the list of possible culprits for perch decline: the loss of near-shore habitat, which could be lakeshore property owners removing woody debris or bulrush."

To read the entire article, go to this link.

5 Walleye Hotspots That Nobody Fishes (Inside Tips from an Underwater Photographer)

Often times when I'm coming off the lake and loading my scuba diving equipment and cameras into the car, fisherman will approach me at the boat landings to ask "Did you see any fish?"  Or, "Where are all the big ones?"  Since I'm actually under the water swimming with the fish, I do notice some things that escape most fisherman.  So in answer to the question, "Where are the fish?" I've compiled a list of the five most surprising areas where I regularly encounter walleyes that few fisherman pay any attention to. How many of these locations do you completely ignore when targeting walleyes?

1) Shallow Water. Since I'm trying to photograph fish, I tend to concentrate on areas where the light is the best.  This often means depths of 8 feet or less.  This shallow water is where I take 90% of my walleye pictures.  It's surprising how many fish can be found close to shore in water that's barely over your head.  If there are large submerged trees close to shore, I almost always find walleyes there.  Most walleye fisherman ignore shallow water, but I can tell you that the fish are there.

2) Under boat docks.  Not all boat docks have walleyes under them, but the ones that share certain characteristics will hold walleyes most of the year.  Nobody seems to fish for walleyes around shallow boat docks, but if you can find ones that have a hard or gravel substrate, extensive areas of shade, and deep water nearby, you'll find walleyes there.

3) Eurasian Watermilfoil.  This invasive plant is almost universally regarded as bad, but fish love milfoil.  If I'm on a lake where EWM is present, I head right for it. It's a fish magnet for all species including walleye.  Sometimes I'll find walleye cruising along the deep edge of milfoil colonies, but usually they're buried inside the thickest and most dense parts of milfoil beds.  It's hard to photograph walleyes in cover this thick and just as difficult to fish for them in these areas, but they're always there.

4) Fish Cribs.  Everyone knows that there are fish around fish cribs, but they aren't as famously known to be places to find walleyes.  The walleyes I see around cribs fall into two categories. Inactive fish are typically underneath the cribs, or buried deep inside them in thick brush.  Active fish cruise cribs in a radius that can extend up to 20 feet.  While it's easy for me to photograph them here, catching them here is harder because there's often an abundance of bass or panfish around that are higher in the water column that will strike the baits or lures before the walleyes get a chance to.  In the presence of other fish, walleyes are timid and won't fight a rock bass or smallmouth to get to a bait first.

5) Sunny days.  The last location where I always find walleyes isn't a location at all, but a condition.  Walleyes have a reputation for avoiding bright sunshine, or going deep on sunny days.  When I'm photographing fish, I relish bright sunny days with calm surface conditions and I'm usually in the water around high noon when the light penetration into the water is the best.  You might think these would be terrible conditions for walleye fishing, but I can tell you I encounter plenty of large walleyes actively feeding during these times... often in shallower water.  If you're a walleye fisherman and as a rule, avoid fishing during the midday hours or on bright sunny days, you're missing out on good opportunities to encounter fish.

For over twenty years I've been photographing walleyes underwater and those are some of my go-to places.  They're certainly overlooked locations and might even seem counterintuitive to most walleye fisherman, but I wouldn't be wasting my own time with them if they weren't highly productive. 

(To view our walleye image gallery, click here.)
(For more on walleye behavior click here.)

Wild Ohio Magazine

From Chad Crouch, Photo Editor of Wild Ohio Magazine:

"I would like to give a long overdue "electronic high-five" to Eric Engbretson for his fantastic underwater photography of native freshwater fish. On the cover of Wild Ohio Magazine, we have had the opportunity to feature Eric's underwater "models" four times since 2009. Visit http://lnkd.in/dDTFyWm and check out Eric’s vast library of life under the water … you will not be disappointed!"

 

Thanks so much for the kind words and the wonderful endorsement Chad.  It's working with people like you over the years that's made it all possible and so much fun. 

Amazing Underwater Trout Photos From Montana

Westslope Cutthroat Trout (c)Patrick Clayton/Engbretson Underwater Photography

Patrick Clayton, our top trout photographer here at Engbretson Underwater Photography, has just returned from the back country of the Montana wilderness with some sensational new trout pictures!  Patrick has trekked into remote areas at high elevations to find and photograph native Golden Trout and Cutthroat Trout.  His new images are astounding.  You can view all of Patrick's work in our on-line gallery here.  All of his images are available for editorial and commercial licensing through our agency.

Engbretson Underwater Photography Featured on Minnesota Bound Television Show

It was very cool to have Ron Schara do a little feature piece on our underwater photography on the latest episode of the Minnesota Bound television show.  I thought Ron did a nice job of telling my story and showing what an average day "at the office" is like. To see the video, click on the picture above, or go to this link.

The Biggest Challenges to Underwater Photography

I'm often asked what the biggest challenge is to taking underwater fish pictures.  Well, there are quite a few obstacles and many things that have to be right to be able to get a good picture.  First, the water has to be clear, which is actually a greater challenge than you might think.  Freshwater lakes are typically pretty crummy so finding lakes that have the necessary clarity is an ongoing process.  I usually won't even look at a lake if the clarity isn't at least 18 feet.  Water clarity can change from week to week and season to season too, so even though I have my favorite lakes, they’re not always clear enough to work in.  Everything starts with water clarity and if you don’t have that, nothing else matters.  It’s always a challenge to find clear water.

Once I find a clear lake, I have to find fish.  Next I have to find fish of desirable size.  This is easier said than done too.  It's always a problem especially these days when it seems like there’s fewer and fewer really nice fish available.  If I do find a lake that’s clear and it does have a few good fish, another challenge is getting close enough to photograph them.  I like to be 2 or 3 feet away.  Any further and I won’t take a picture at all.  Fish often times have a problem with a diver being that close, so it takes a lot of patience to even get close enough to think about composing a picture.  But once I have clear water, good fish, and get close enough to shoot them, I still have to make the shot.  So even if everything else is right, sometimes I blow it all on the final step because I was moving, or the composition is bad or I forgot to turn on the strobe, etc.….

A lot goes wrong.  Sometimes I feel like it’s truly a miracle to get any good pictures at all because so many things that I can’t control have to be right all at the same time.

Conditions underwater are typically very hostile to a photographer.  The lakes and rivers where I shoot can be very cold.  In rivers, currents can be strong, and visibility is always an issue.  Underwater photography is inherently tricky.  Water is 800 times thicker than air, and there's always particles floating around or algae and things like that, so you've never going to get the really "clean" look you can get shooting through air. The water is often cold, the fish can be elusive, and you've got to always be concerned about your air supply, so there's a lot to think about. The light underwater is very poor too, so often I have to carry underwater strobes to illuminate subjects in deeper water. If you can imagine taking photos on a dark, cold, foggy, windy day… that sort of comes close to the everyday conditions of the environment I work in.  Saltwater environments are infinitely easier.  The water’s 100 times clearer, there’s 100 times more light, and ocean fish are used to seeing very large things swimming around them.  In freshwater, you look like Godzilla to those poor fish.

So, yes-the challenges are many, but as I always say, "If it was easy, everyone would be doing this".