Professors Lake FISH & Other Creatures

Found in southern Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and south through to the Gulf Coast, this 12", 4 lb. Sunfish is also called the Calico Bass, Grass Bass, Speckled Perch, Moonfish and Strawberry Bass.  Living in the clear waters of large streams and medium-sized lakes that support an aquatic vegetation over a bottom of sand, muck, or aquatic debris, Crappies prefer heavily vegetated, shallow waters in spring, and then roam over deep water in summer, often hanging suspended in the water.

Spawning in May and June in 3'-8' of 58-64ºF water, the male sweeps out a nest in sand or fine gravel, where the female lays 20-60,000 eggs, occasionally up to 150,000. The male guards the nest until the young start to feed on zooplankton and insects, and they grow to 2-3" in first year.  During their second year, they feed on insect larvae, small fish and minnows. When mature, they become efficient predators of small fish, which they feed on at night, dawn and dusk.  The Black Crappie travels the open water in schools, and lives for 8 to 10 years!

Why Crappie? Pronounced “Craw-Pea”, they’re a cross between a bluegill and a trout. Something about a greek ‘n latin genre name derivative.

The 4” long Bluntnose Minnow is probably the most abundant fish found throughout the Great Lakes. They prefer living in the calmer parts of natural and man-made lakes and feed on algae, insect larvae, and the occasional fish egg or smaller fish. Used as bait fish for crappie, perch, and other panfishes, it spawns in the spring to late summer. The female deposits the adhesive eggs in masses on the underside of floating logs or flat rocks, which develop into fry after about 8-12 days, after which they live for about 2 years.

This small fish is prey to many larger fish as well as many birds and reptiles. To avoid predators, minnows move fast and travel in schools. It’s thought that when alarmed, they release an "alarm substance" (pheromones), which scientists think may be a chemical distress signal that attracts other predatory fish who interrupt the first predator, allowing the minnow to escape.

The common Carp, which can grow to 15-22” and from 1-7 lbs.  (they’ve been caught at 57 lbs.), is actually a native of Asia, but extensive introductions have helped to make it the world's most widely distributed freshwater fish. Living for up to 15 years, it’s an easily domesticated food fish that inhabits shallow, weedy shorelines. Considered a pest in some eco-systems, when feeding, the Carp stirs up bottom sediments and uproots plants, causing an increase in silt and turbidity, which is detrimental to other species.

Comfortable in cooler water, they require warmer waters for reproduction, and spawn 2 or 3 times over a 14 day interval. Mating in groups of one female and several males, they swim actively before spawning in flooded grass flats on grass blades, where the female deposits as many as 360,000 eggs, which are not guarded, but hatch after three days.

Feeding off the eggs and larvae of other fish, their flesh is firm and palatable if it has been grown in clean water, but many Great Lakes fish today contain relatively high levels of contaminants and are not safe to eat.

How did a Koi get into Professor’s Lake? Legend has it that one of the residents placed their Koi into a cage and put it on the bottom of the lake over winter. When they pulled the cage out in the spring, the fish had allegedly escaped.

Contrary to common belief, Koi are not big GoldFish, but arose from the Common Carp. Originating in China but developed by the Japanese over 200 years ago, the word “Koi” means “love” in Japanese. They grow from 2-3’ long, and although they usually live a quarter of a century, they can live as long as 200 years! Remarkably hardy and healthy fish, they can endure a wide range of temperatures, and can survive under the ice in extreme cold as long as the water doesn’t freeze solid.

Koi must be at least 3 to 4 years old and of sufficient size before they breed, and they deposit thousands of eggs at a time. Depending on the water temperature, the eggs hatch in 3-7 days, but the survival rate is less than 50%. Another fact? They’re alleged to spawn on the full moon, and they eat their young!

The Largemouth Bass is a rather slender, streamlined sunfish, with a very large mouth and an appetite to match. It feeds on minnows, Yellow Perch, sunfish, frogs, crayfish, aquatic insects, and any small animal or bird unlucky enough to fall in the water! Although it hunts largely by sight and smell, this fish, usually under 10 lbs. and 16" in size, has a sense organ running down its side that allows it to locate and capture minnows by vibration alone. 

Found throughout the Great Lakes down to the Gulf of Mexico in small to medium sized hard-water lakes with clear water, sandy shallows and rooted aquatic weeds, from early May into June, when the water reaches 63º - 68ºF in 2'-6' of water, the male fans out a 20-30" saucer-shaped nest over firm sand, mud, or gravel. The female then lays 2,000 to 7,000 eggs per pound of bodyweight, which hatch in 3-6 days. The male guards the nest and will strike savagely at intruding fish, but does not eat. When fry reach an inch in length, they leave the nest, the male resumes feeding, and may eat any young Bass he encounters!

The Pumpkinseed fish is a small, extremely colorful Sunfish, probably known as the most beautiful of all sunfishes. Staying close to shore, they live in still, warmer water and use weed patches, docks, and logs for cover.

Spawning in May/June, the male digs a pit in the substrate, even removing larger objects like rocks by pulling them out with their mouths. Nests are built in colonies of 3-15 nests, and females lay from 1,500-1,700 eggs. The male guards the fry for the first 11 days, even returning them to the nest in his mouth if they stray. The fathers may even nip at people’s hands or feet that come close to their nests. Growing to 10” in length, they feed on aquatic and terrestrial insects, mollusks, small fish, and occasionally small pieces of aquatic vegetation.

Why Pumpkinfish? Because of their golden brown flecked colours, overlaid by iridescent blue-green spots, and a creamy white or yellow stomach.

A member of the Sunfish family, the sedentary but opportunistic Rock Bass is also called Rock Perch, Goggle Eye, Northern Rock Bass, Redeye, Redeye Bass and Rock Sunfish. Found in southern Canada, south through the midwest US to the Gulf of Mexico, it prefers to live in streams and lakes with clear, well-oxygenated, hard water. Spending most of its life under cover of rocks, ledges, logs, or overhanging branches, it darts out of its cover to feed on small fish like minnows, land and water insects, crayfish, mollusks, and other invertebrates.

The female carries about 5,000 eggs, and when spawning in the spring in 70 degree water, the male fans out a nest in coarse sand or gravel and guards the eggs and fry. After hatching, the young fish stay in quiet water, where they grow 1½"-2" during their first year, and reaching 5"-7" and 1 to 2 lbs. after 3 years, they move and feed most actively when best camouflaged at twilight, or at all hours on overcast days.

The 12-20” long White Sucker is predominant in Ontario. A bottom feeding fish, it spends most of its time in warm, shallow waters. The White goes by a number of other names, like common sucker, coarse-scaled sucker, brook sucker, gray sucker, mud sucker and mullet. Making its home in holes and areas around windfalls or other underwater obstructions, the Whites lay their eggs among pebble and gravel beds in lake and river shallows during the spring. Living for up to 17 years, they dine exclusively on aquatic plants, algae, and small invertebrate animals - especially worms and rustaceans.

Economically, suckers are a potentially valuable but underused sport fish – mainly due to their name – but their bony flesh has a fine, sweet flavor and is often fried in butter, smoked, or used in soups and chowders. In restaurants, it’s called "Freshwater Mullet."

A hardy fish, the Yellow Perch prefers cool, clear lake water, and lives in 65 - 70F water at depths less than 30'. They move all over a lake depending on the season; in spring they prefer rock piles and bottom drop-offs; in summer they move to the outside edges of submerged vegetation; in fall they're found in prominent land points with bottom structures; and in winter, they stay over the flat bottom reaches near bottom structures.

They don't build nests, but spawn once yearly in the cold water of early spring, usually at night or early morning. The female deposits 10,000 to 40,000 eggs in a long, flat, ribbon-like, protective mucous sheath, and she's followed by 2-25 males who fertilize the eggs. Surviving eggs hatch in 12-21 days, and the young grow from 3" in their first summer to 12" as an adult. The young Perch school near weedy areas where their favourite food, MayFlies, are abundant. Strictly carnivorous, they need light to find prey and also eat small fishes, aquatic insects, crayfish, snails and minnows.

The non-territorial Jumbo Perch (actually a larger yellow perch - Perca flavescens) was only introduced into the Canadian drainage during the 1970s. Normally a schooling species especially noticeable during the daytime when actively feeding, they prefer shoreline areas of clear lakes and ponds with moderate amounts of aquatic vegetation. Oviparous (egg laying) fish, they spawn in spring during periods of rising temperature, and lay over 10,000 eggs at night in depths of 3-9' over aquatic vegetation or submerged brush or over sand, gravel, or rubble.

The young first feed on aquatic insects, but become increasingly piscivorous (fish eating) after the first year of life, after which their growth rate increases. They prefer calmer water with temperatures of 20-24C and the schools are most active during the day and at dawn and/or dusk.

The Common Map turtle is a medium to large sized (6–10” long) turtle. They breed in spring, and the females nest in late May through June. For survival, females may dig a few false nests before actually depositing 12 to 20 eggs, preferably on sand bars, and usually on overcast days with light rain. Depending on the weather, the young will either emerge in August or September, or overwinter in the nest.

Maturing at about 14 years of age, the Map turtles have a shorter active season compared to other turtles, and are only active from April to September, when they spend a considerable amount of time basking on anything above the water like snags and fallen trees with many limbs. Although they primarily eat snails and clams, which they crush in their powerful jaws, they also enjoy crayfish, aquatic insect larvae, fish, and a few aquatic plants. 

Why Map Turtle? Because of the light yellow lines that form a map-like pattern on the back before maturity.

Why Painted?  The scutes (scales) of a painted turtle have red lines or crescent-shaped markings, along with bright-yellow stripes and yellow spots along the sides of the head, and some individuals may possess a rust-colored plastron (bottom), caused by chemical absorption from the water.

Compared to the other turtle species, Painted Turtles are mid-sized with a carpace (shell) reaching nearly 10 inches in adults. A typical turtle will live five to six years, and they prefer wetlands, ponds and lakes with soft bottoms instead of rocks or gravel. Although they overwinter under the ice, in summer you'll find them basking in the sun around downed trees, logs, rocks, mudflats or exposed banks, sometimes stacked 3 high on top of each other. Their body temperature is largely governed by the temperature of their surroundings, and basking elevates body temperature, which assists digestion and fighting off infections.

They dine mainly on aquatic vegetation like pondweed and floating plants but they're true opportunists, and also eat small fish, amphibians, aquatic insects and dead animal matter like fish.  Nesting occurs from May to July with peak activity in mid-June, when a female can lay from 3-14 eggs in a sandy area she's excavated. The eggs incubate in the soil for 65 to 80 days, depending on the air and soil temperatures, and the sex of the hatchlings is determined by the temperatures the eggs are exposed to in the nest. For example, cooler temperatures produce males, and vice versa.

The Common Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina) will eat nearly anything they can get their jaws around. With a normal shell length from 8-18" it has a saw-toothed tail nearly as long as the shell. They feed on carrion, invertebrates, fish, birds, small mammals, amphibians, and a surprisingly large amount of aquatic vegetation. They kill other turtles by decapitation, and are known to kill young and adult ducks and geese, and from time to time, the odd unfortunate small cat or dog.

They mate from April to November and once the eggs have developed, the female excavates a hole in sandy soil and lays as many as 83 eggs, which, depending on the weather, hatch in 9-18 weeks. Interestingly, female snapping turtles sometimes store sperm for several years which allows them to mate at any time of the year independent of female ovulation, and it also allows females to lay eggs every season without needing to mate.

Not social creatures, they grow from 2-40 lbs., they can be very vicious when removed from the water, but become docile when placed back into the water. Preferring water bodies with muddy bottoms and abundant vegetation because concealment is easier ... they bury themselves in mud with only their nostrils and eyes exposed as a means of ambushing prey.

Snapping turtle shells were used in many ceremonies among Native Americans, who put corn kernels inside their dried shells for use as rattles.

Crayfish, also called crawfish or crawdad, are closely related to the lobster. Found in freshwater all over the world, they live for about 2 years, and are usually about 3” long. Most active at night, they use two pairs of sensory antennae, a pair of eyes on movable stalks, and four pairs of walking legs to probe cracks and crevices between rocks looking for snails, algae, insect larvae, worms, and tadpoles. Their pair of pinchers are specialized for cutting, capturing food, attack, and defense, and the crayfish can regenerate its legs if broken off.

It sheds its shell six to ten times during the first year of rapid growth, but less often during the second year, and although they mate in the October or November after they're born, they don’t fertilize until the following spring. The female carries 10-800 fertilized eggs attached to the swimmerets on her underside, and they change from dark to translucent as they develop. Depending on water temperature, the eggs hatch in 2 to 20 weeks and stay attached to their mother until shortly after their second molt.