Whitefish fry
Imitate this?
Did some bug netting at the Cobblestone fishing access on Montana's Madison River this morning. This is way down low on the river. Not many mayflies. There are quite a few caddis cases. Virtually no Pteronarcys or Skwala stoneflies this far down the river, but vast numbers of golden stoneflies. Mind-boggling numbers of midge larvae. A few scattered cranefly larvae and sculpins galore. Lots (lots) of baby whitefish too. This one is about an inch and a half long. There are so many baby whitefish in March it must be most of them get eaten long before they grow up. Else the river would be bank to bank whitefish. Baby whitefish have a long skinny profile with mottled, sculpin-colored backs and bright bright white bellies. They flash like silver dollars when they move. There are lots of theories about why killer whales are black on top and white below. What about whitefish fry? They are even whiter on the belly than the eventual adults. Whitefish spawn early--or late, depending on how how you look at it. They do their thing in Jan/Feb I think. So these 1-1/2" long whitefish minnows must be yearlings from last winter. Ainoway they grew two inches in a week or two.
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