Episode 44
Copyright © John Page Williams, Jr. all rights reserved.
This is John Page Williams with another reading from Chesapeake Almanac. The month is February and this chapter is entitled "Cold Water Brings a Quiet Season."
"February is the longest month," growled Bill Pike as he looked out on a cold, gray day and an iced-up Severn River. In his retirement, Bill normally fishes every day, but this month breaks his routine.
Winter temperatures force most of the Bay's creatures into inactivity or dormancy. Cold-blooded animals, whose body temperatures are basically dependent on that of their environment, are most susceptible to the season. As temperatures drop in late fall and early winter, they seek out the warmest habitat they can find where temperatures are relatively stable. In general, the most comfortable place to be is deep water.
Cold water can hold gases in solution at higher concentrations than can warm water. This property means that oxygen concentrations are higher in winter than in summer. As water temperatures in the Bay and its tributaries drop in the fall, the cooling surface waters, which are well oxygenated with contact from the air, increase in density and sink to the bottom, bringing up deep water and allowing it to be re-oxygenated. Stormy weather, with winds and rain, add more oxygen. Summertime oxygen concentrations are low in the deep waters of the Bay and some of its tributaries, but now they are much higher.
Thus these deep waters are stable, relatively warm, and well oxygenated, so they represent the best February fish habitat in the system for most species. Many of these fish that winter in the Chesapeake can be found in these areas, especially forage like anchovies and silversides, and larger prey like rockfish and white perch.
Although February is hard on Bill Pike, his favorite fish--the white perch--can be caught in deep holes on a number of rivers and creeks right through the month, so he does get out when the weather is decent. But anyone seeking bluefish, trout, spot, croakers, or flounder is out of luck. Except for a few spots in the lower Bay where speckled trout hold out in warm water discharges and in particular deep holes, with the onset of cold weather most of the other species hair head out for an even more stable environment than the Bay. That would be the Atlantic Ocean's continental shelf. They winter offshore out there, returning to the Chesapeake's rich feeding grounds when the weather warms up. Most menhaden, which are major forage for blues, trout, and rockfish, also head for the ocean, although a few schools will stay in deep holes in the Bay.
Some of the other cold-blooded animals are dormant this month. In late fall ,as we've seen, crabs seek out holes and channels where they bury in the bottom mud. Snapping turtles and diamondback terrapins hibernate in the mud too. Shellfish like oysters and clams may continue to feed through a mild winter, but their food intake slows way down with their metabolism. There's less food available to them anyway ,since plankton populations are now low (which also results in winter's characteristically clear water).
By late February, the Bay region usually experiences a thaw, and creatures begin to stir. Crocuses bloom to remind us humans that spring will come. Experienced bird watchers know that bald eagles have finished their nest repairs and are laying eggs. Bill Pike starts to fish a deep hole where yellow perch have schooled up for the winter. Even though the fish are nearly a month away from spawning, their bodies are swelling with milt and roe, so they're feeding at least sporadically. February may be long, but it doesn't last forever. By the end of the month, Bill Pike is smiling again.
For more happenings around the Bay in February see our other Chesapeake Almanac podcasts and read our blog posts "Skunk Cabbage are the Bay's Bouqet" and "Great Blue Herons Prepare for Spring in February."
