Northern’s

Can anyone tell me when it would be a good time to see the,

egg milking, of the northern at the Guttenberg hatchery,

I have two Gransons that would just love to see this.

They set nets in the backwaters as soon as the ice is out of them. 2 – 3 days to get the females to ripen by adding a chemical derived from sheepies. and then they start the milking process. I would call them as they may already be started? 1-563-252-1656. Fishfever it is an interesting process. My brother (retired) was a biologist there for many (40) years.

Oo you know if the females are put back in the river or in man made lakes ?

The times that I watched them operate the hatchery, all the fish were returned to the river. I have not observed the effort for the last four years?

mostly lakes a few get in the river but not many. Guttenburg is the only hatchery in Iowa to spawn northerns. The spawn action dosnt get going intill water gets over 40 degrees It is definatly an experiance of a lifetime to milk out a northern that is ove 15 pounds watch those fingers they might get ya