We’re 8 episodes into the new season of Prairie Sportsman and while we’ve got some good ones yet to come, here’s how you can watch them all:

Episode 8: Deep Crappie Research: This episode on barotrauma research in Minnesota is one that has been in the works for quite a while. I first learned about it at the MN Fish Summit at Clam Headquarters last year. Jeremy Smith and Marc Bacigalupi were explaining that they had done a pilot project the previous winter and had learned a few things about what is happening to fish caught and released in deep water. I have been fishing lake trout a lot in recent years so barotrauma was something that I was trying to learn as much about as possible. This study intrigued me so I reached out to see if we could film an episode with them this past winter. They agreed and what followed was an exercise in wildlife research, data collection and the power of social media. Lots of discussion followed between various media outlets, youtubers, podcasts and more, with some agreement, some finger-pointing but a collective wish to learn as much as possible. While we’re still searching for some answers, we were able to utilize technology like forward facing sonar and underwater drones or, more accurately ROV’s to see what happens to physoclistous fish when caught in deep water.

Here is a playlist for the rest of the episodes so far this season: