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The ongoing winter of weirdness that Northwestern BC has been subject to has made the implementation of my sampling strategy interesting and challenging. Temperatures during my sampling period have ranged from well above freezing to close to -30 degrees Celsius. The only precipitation that has occurred since I started collecting data has fallen as rain. My study area has therefore been transformed from a veritable winter wonderland into a poorly-conceived skating rink!
The biggest challenge that the odd weather has presented to me has been maintaining access to my sampling locations. I initially chopped holes in the ice with an axe to create my three sampling locations. I was surprised at the time to find upwards of 50 centimetres of ice at my middle and upstream sampling locations. Since then it has rained and gotten cold. The additional load of the rain water on top of the existing ice has caused it to sag and create a positive pressure when a hole is established in the ice. This pressure forces water to the surface, where it freezes almost instantly. I have therefore had to chop through 15-20 cm of ice each time I set my traps and each time I check them. This takes some time and usually results in me being covered from head to toe in a thin veneer of ice. If I was going to maintain these sites for much longer I would definitely be exploring other means of accessing them!
I was also surprised to find that my upstream location was of moderate depth and minimal velocity. I had initially thought that this site would represent a relatively deep and fast sampling location. Given the time and effort it had taken me to establish the site, I decided to use it and shifted my definition of a relatively deep and fast flowing sampling location to the middle location near the bridge.
The results of my first sampling effort were a relief and a surprise. I was expecting to catch juveniles at the site near the bridge where I had observed them during summer months. I was therefore somewhat surprised and disappointed when I pulled an empty minnow trap from this location after my first sampling effort. I was equally surprised and relieved to find a juvenile in the trap that I pulled from the upstream location.
Capturing this single fish provided me with some assurance that I would have results to discus and that my project was at least feasible. Prior to this point I was not certain, as a number of people had suggested that my chances of capturing juveniles during the winter months were low.
I took my initial success as a good sign and elected to continue utilizing my initial sample design and collection methods. I have since completed three additional sampling efforts and have captured juveniles each time. My thoughts on why I am catching juveniles where I am catching them are evolving, but my results appear to support my initial hypothesis thus far. I am therefore going to keep on fishing!
Winter challenges are always bad I thought our spring should have started in March but we had cold temperatures up into April to a point where I was getting desperate to find life besides trees in the park I am observing. I do like your “lets do this attitude” to chop the ice and continue with the project, way to go! I am glad you were able to prove people wrong and find juveniles in the winter months sounds like you have interesting and fun research on the go, look forward to seeing more.