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    • Why did the fish cross the road? Here's why

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    The Arm River low level crossing was host to a fascinating sight over the weekend — as schools of determined fish made their journey upriver.

    Dozens of residents made the trip through the backroads south of Last Mountain Lake to reach the river crossing for a front-row seat to the show.

    Fish of all sizes battled against the current, over a long stretch of concrete road, before continuing up stream to warmer waters.

    “What they’re doing is preparing for their spring spawning ritual,” explained Jason Matity, editor at getfishing.ca. “As soon as they’re done, the males and the females will scoot back down to the lake.”

    The eggs then hatch in the oxygenated waters of the streams and rivers that act as spawning grounds.

    “[They can then] hopefully make it back to the lake before the water levels drop,” Matity said, referring to the young fish. “So they can have a chance at having a life in the lake.”

    While some fish, like pike require regions of flooded hay grass to lay their eggs — others, such as walleye and suckers require sandy straits for their spawning grounds.

    As for how long this whole process takes — it depends.

    “Its really weather dependent and flow dependent,” Matity said.

    If runoff conditions aren’t right — there can be no spawning cycle for the year.

    “They may not even bother — they’ll just reabsorb their eggs and there won’t be much if any spawning happening, for pike specifically,” Matity explained. “If there is good flow and the weather is warm enough, like it has been, they’ll get up there and they’ll do it as quickly as they can. They won’t mill about.”

    Low level crossings are generally set up on low traffic roads in Saskatchewan where spring runoff is expected to flow overtop of the road.

    Due to this, the crossings are made of concrete, to resist erosion.

    “Those low level crossings are important so that the fish can have passage to go over a road and those types of things,” Matity said. “When they don’t and when they’re stuck behind a culvert or a dam or something — that impedes their ability to make more fish.”

    Even as dry conditions continue this year for most of the province, Matity said it’s not unusual for Arm River to continue hosting a steady stream of aquatic travellers.

    “Even though it may not seem like it — the Arm River is a medium to major tributary to Last Mountain Lake,” he said. “I’m not surprised that the fish continue to use it.”

    As for what people can do when they come across a low level crossing — Matity says to remember that the fish have right of way.

    “If you see fish at any time going up stream, just leave them alone, don’t harass them, let them go and do their thing because it’s only going to help make more fish for all of us to enjoy,” he said.

    “Plus its illegal to harass them in those situations,” he chuckled.

    Arm River is located approximately 55 kilometres northwest of Regina.

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