Salmon at Mills Falls

[GTO]

MAybe its just me....I was at Mills Falls today around 5:00 and was outside watching the waterfall, When flying out of the water came first one salmon, and then another. I mean flying....some jumping a couple of feet forward through the air trying to work towards the falls (doubt they'll make it up). Just stand on the little bridge right behind Guessippis and watch the water.....entertaining for me anyway.

[Mee-n-Mac]

MAybe its just me....I was at Mills Falls today around 5:00 and was outside watching the waterfall, When flying out of the water came first one salmon, and then another. I mean flying....some jumping a couple of feet forward through the air trying to work towards the falls (doubt they'll make it up). Just stand on the little bridge right behind Guessippis and watch the water.....entertaining for me anyway.

What's next ? Rock bass around ship wrecks in Winni .... :laugh:

[SteveA]

MAybe its just me....I was at Mills Falls today around 5:00 and was outside watching the waterfall, When flying out of the water came first one salmon, and then another. I mean flying....some jumping a couple of feet forward through the air trying to work towards the falls (doubt they'll make it up). Just stand on the little bridge right behind Guessippis and watch the water.....entertaining for me anyway.

I've seen them too, not this year but last, with dozens of kids trying to fish for them.

Must be an old "spawning" instinct, because like wild salmon they wouldn't bite.

http://www.thinksalmon.com/professor/item/do_salmon_change_their_feeding_habits_during_the_s pawning_phase/

[DRH]

We see them every year about this time. Some try to travel upstream, and we saw them a couple days ago in the Minge Brook (Minge Cove in West Alton) and also in the brook at West Alton Marina. Each year, about a week or two from now, others come into the shallow areas around our docks to lay eggs. They stay for about three weeks, and then they disappear. It's a wonder any of the eggs survive, as the mergansers love to feast on them!

[AMC]

Are you sure they are not the bottom feeding fish (as kids we would call them sucker fish) they are fairly large and could be mistaken for salmon. As kids we use to catch them out of the same spot beneath the mills fall bridge

[secondcurve]

DRH:

I don't think any of the eggs survive. I'm pretty sure that conditions in the Lake don't lend themselves to Salmon reproduction. All of the Salmon are stocked.

[SAMIAM]

It's even more fun to watch people in the spring (when the suckers run) showing their kids all the beautiful salmon under the bridge.

[Grant]

At this time of year, you can look over the bridge on Main Street in Wolfeboro and see a good number of them swimming up toward the Back Bay. I forgot to stop and look last Saturday, because I was surprised to see the town Christmas tree up so early...

[Onshore]

I worked summers in the Fisheries Program at NH Fish & Game when I was in college. What I can offer with some confidence is that Landlocked Salmon area a "sub-species" of Atlantic Salmon. They are capable of natural reproduction, but might not be capable of reproducing with high enough survival rates to keep up with fishing pressure. For this reason Fish and Game steps in and traps several salmon each year, "strips" them, and raises the fertilized eggs in the hatchery over the winter for release the following year. Atlantic Salmon are very different from any Pacific species in that they don't die after spawning. Most will return in the spring and hold in their parent streams through the summer. They will eat during this time. Additional fish may return to the parent streams in the fall. The actual spawn occurs in the fall after which the fish move back down stream to the sea from which they may return and spawn again.

Seeing as it's been about 15 years since my time in fisheries and I dealt exclusively with ocean run fish, I'm going to see if I get convince someone from F & G to chip in some info on land-locked behavior...

[Glendale Girl]

Saw these beautiful fish at the dock ramp in Glendale. I couldn.t believe they were so close to the land. Looked like they were trying to swim up the ramp. I also stopped at the little bridge by marinia bay condos and they were swimming up the stream.