Minnows? Are You Sure?

Soon after ice-out I do canoe reconnaissance: slow paddle around the shoreline to look for signs of life. When I did that recently here on Birch Lake (at Harshaw), I encountered huge schools of little fish at the far-in end of what we call Indian Bay.

My mind reflexively said, “Minnows!” But of course that was both non-specific and taxonomically incorrect. The vertical black stripes on these guys, anywhere from about 1.5 to 2.5 inches long, clearly labeled them as young yellow perch.

It amazes me how soon fish fry take on the markings of adults. Baby smallmouth bass, for example, have the signature black-tipped tails and red eyes. Largemouth bass have the black stripe along the side, northern pike the oblong oval spots. And so it goes.

The young fish seem to mimic adults in temperament, too. Little muskies, for example, are hyper-aggressive. Last summer, I caught a 4-inch musky that slashed at and grabbed a crappie minnow impaled on my hook.

But back to the matter of minnows: We tend to apply that label to any small fish, especially in schools. That’s probably because we refer to the baitfish we buy at the tackle shop as minnows (again not precise, but a well-accepted term).

Scientifically speaking, the term “minnow” applies to a family of fish defined not by size but by characteristics. Members of the minnow family have one brief dorsal fin with nine or fewer soft rays. They have smooth-feeling scales that may come off when the fish is handled. They do not have true spines in their fins. They have no teeth in the jaw but have rows of toothlike structures on the bony frame that supports the gill tissues. Their teeth are in the throat and help grind food.

Most minnows are in fact small, a few inches long. That’s true of the shiners we use for bait – they are in fact minnows. But the minnow family also includes carp that can grow to three or four feet or longer and can weigh 50 pounds or more.

Chances are the schools of fish you see beside your pier will not be minnows but small game fish or panfish. If you can net a few (not easy, I admit), you’ll get a clue to what’s breeding in your lake. The fish I saw in Indian Bay on my canoe ride assuredly were not minnows; from their numbers I can conclude that our lake’s perch of brought off some successful hatches.

That of course is not the same as successfully reproducing: Hatched fry do not a large or stable population make. Those little perch have a tough gauntlet to run before they reach adult size. All I can do is wish them well.