This article was so befuddling I am still scratching my head. There is very little it that makes sense to me, but maybe that’s just because I’m not from Minnesota.

Beaver dam slows water from Lake Ocheda drawdown

A beaver dam on the Ocheyedan River may slow water from the drawdown of Lake Ocheda on its way to Lake Bella, but it won’t stop it, and the dam provides other advantages too. The drawdown, meant to kill rough fish and improve water quality, started Wednesday.

Now just in case you’re wondering ROUGH fish aren’t fish that have had a difficult upbringing. They are the fish that people don’t feel like catching. Lucky for lazy fishermen in the state DNR exerts a great deal of energy to kill them off. It won’t happen as fast this year because of the beaver dam, which in their generosity they are letting stay for now.

“We’ll probably be dropping the (water) level a bit slower this year because of the beaver dam,” said Dan Livdahl, administrator of the Okabena-Ocheda Watershed District, who visited the official, human-built Lake Ocheda Dam to pull its stop logs Wednesday.

The beaver dam, which was discovered last spring on OOWD land, is about four feet tall, covered with vegetation and spans the entire width of the Ocheyedan River. Because the beaver dam creates wetlands water storage, holding back floodwater and reducing the amount of sediment running into the lake, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the OOWD together opted to leave the unofficial construction as it is.

You don’t say.

The half-foot drawdown will be the second consecutive drawdown for Lake Ocheda, after a previous drawdown in 2020-2021 failed to fully achieve its goals. That winter just wasn’t cold enough to kill all the rough fish that stir up sediment and destroy vegetation in the lake, harming water quality. Because of this year’s drought, the nutrients left in the lake from the dead fish weren’t flushed from the lake either, Livdahl said.

This time, the hope is that Minnesota “experiences more typical winter weather” and the fish winterkill is more intense, a Watershed District press release noted.

How confusing is that? A department of natural resources that is worried it didn’t kill enough fish last winter and crossing it’s fingers that more will kick it this year. I guess i can understand wanting to kill off some invasives like carp but it’s hard to think of anything that would kill them without harming the other fish. also anything else in the ecosystem.

How exactly do these rough fish destroy the vegetation in the lake? I mean isn’t there any species of game fish that EATs rough fish? I was pleasantly surprised to find this article from april.

DNR pushes for new respect of Minnesota’s rough fish

“These are fish we need,” Parsons said. “There’s still a perception that if it’s not a sunfish or another game fish, it’s a carp.”

Fisheries managers of yore helped plant the culture of disrespect by poisoning so-called “rough fish” to rid them from waterways. Myths have grown up around some species that they stunt walleye production.

With the exception of common carp, a destructive, nonnative fish still targeted by the DNR for mass removal from shallow lakes, nongame species have important roles in the ecosystem, the agency is teaching. Redhorse and other suckers are a vital food source for game fish. Buffalo eat unwanted algae. Gar and dogfish (bowfin) are among the few fish that eat carp. Minnows thrive by eating suckers’ eggs. There’s also growing interest around the country in targeting certain native, nongame species for table fare and catch-and-release sport.

Yeah that’s what I’d think. Good luck getting that to catch on though. It seems like there has been a lot of stupid running rampant in your state for a long time. Suddenly understanding more about the blowing up beaver dams to help trout thing.

Our good friend photographer Patrick Page took a visit to fairfield last night and was rewarded with several beaver sightings. I particularly like this photo.

Patrick Page: Laurel creek beaver at sunset

Apparently a beaver thought he was getting a little too close for comfort because he also got this.

One of my favorite things about watching beavers. and there are a lot as you well know. is meeting people who are surprised to see them for the first time. The first thing they always say is ‘OMG they’re so big!!!’ Well last week a wildlife photographer in Antioch got to see it for himself. And he was so excited he wrote me and wanted to share.

Meet Patrick Page.

There is a sorry little discharge pond adjacent to the railroad tracks. It is round and no bigger than a backyard swimming pool. Currently it is covered in a raft of soft algae. Kirker Creek runs south to north along the west boundary of the wetlands and spills into this pond especially during rains. A concrete spillway drains the water from the creek to the pond. There is sort of a rough concrete rim around the near side of the pond studded with large rocks. I was walking around the rim looking for critters or herons that sometimes frequent the creek which is overgrown with bushes and grasses. I saw a large, brown, furry animal moving around slowly in the creek. It climbed the bank and was eating grasses there. The photos were difficult because it was mostly obscured by the vegetation. At first I thought it was Nutria and then realized it was a beaver.

Gosh I’d recognize that nose anywhere! How exciting. That’s a nice adult beaver. I can just tell this is going to be good.

I was still standing on the left rim of the pond just above the spillway with my dog when suddenly the beaver bolted past us much to the surprise to the dog and launched himself through the air and completely over the spillway and did a loud belly flop on to the top of the pond. All stretched out during that leap showed how big he was.

He then cruised around then became annoyed with the paparazzi (me and my camera) and did a couple loud tail slaps so I sat down and made myself quiet and small. I had the dog right next to me and she thought it was all very strange. The beaver settled down and did a few laps around the pond, forgetting about me and the dog for 10 minutes then hauled himself out to dry off and groom himself for a while on the bank. It was all quite thrilling because in the years I’ve been going there I never once spotted a beaver. He was rather large too. Must’ve been 65 lbs. Bigger than my dog and she’s about that. The whole episode lasted 20 minutes from the creek to the pond and it was close to dark when I had to quit shooting.

A beaver that does a belly flop is a beaver that got scared of your quiet arrival and was surprised to find out he had company! How exciting! Remember beavers don’t have great eyes, and it was probably your scent that gave you away all at once when it got to him. And the dog’s. I’m glad he was close to you.

Just so you know this is definitely not a nutria. Good lord don’t even say the word nutria out loud in Antioch.

Now I’m a woman who believes in coincidence, but isn’t it remarkable that this beaver turned up in this area where he had not been seen by this photographer ever before? These wetlands are about 6 miles From big Break and about 7 miles from the Marsh Creek site where they just got evicted. Hmm, isn’t that interesting?

I actually got a little worried about the damp mark on his left side. Do we think it might be an injury?

I asked Patrick to check over his photos for anything better or larger but in the meantime we should just be VERY HAPPY that there are beavers at Dow Wetlands again. And people who share their terrific photos with us. Thanks Patrick! Let’s hope you get photos of kits soon!