Re: NANFA-L-- Sipsey, Alabama, trip


Subject: Re: NANFA-L-- Sipsey, Alabama, trip
From: Michael Wolfe (mwolfe-in-mindspring.com)
Date: Thu Jul 29 2004 - 20:40:56 CDT


Bruce, I didn't actually see the turtles, but Casper did. We were chasing
after a fish and thought we saw it go up under a rock ledge. Casper looked
up under there and said there was a big bass and a couple of turtles...
Casper, what were they???

Although Dave was there and yes he did shock up a few fish, we were
actually able to see them quite well while snorkeling... but they were all
4 to 6 inch juveniles. But the coloration was still distinct enough to
identify the Black Redhorse as being different from the Blacktail
Redhorse... and we saw both... looked just like they do in the Fishes of
Alabama book that I was able to get home and finally take a look through
(fantastic book). The Redhorse were so busy feeding in the riffles, right
there with the stone rollers and the blacktails, and the burrhead shiners
(yes Prez you are reading correctly, there were right there under the
bridge-in-the day park down the road 3 miles west of our camping
location... once you know to look for those black lips, they are pretty
much an obvious call... especially when you realize that they are always
one of the lowest-in-the-water-column members of the mixed school of
shiners... they behave very different from the Cyprinella they are swimming
with). In fact the redhorse were so small and so abundant that Casper was
actually able to catch a few with his dip net... he is both patient and
fast with that net.

Michael Wolfe

> [Original Message]
> From: Bruce Stallsmith <fundulus-in-hotmail.com>
> To: <nanfa-l-in-nanfa.org>
> Date: 7/27/2004 9:55:48 PM
> Subject: Re: NANFA-L-- Sipsey, Alabama, trip
>
> Hey Michael, did you guys notice what species of turtle you saw? In
> particular, I'm curious if it was a small, flattened turtle, like the
> flattened musk turtle, Stenotherus depressus. It's a Threatened species
> whose population status in the Sipsey is under study. We've seen it
before
> on trips to that canoe launch site. I think we in NANFA may have more
recent
> sightings of that turtle in the Sipsey than some of the researchers...
>
> And I stupidly missed the various mushroom meals. I know that Casper is
the
> man for that kinda cooking, as well as finding 'shrooms in the first
place.
>
> Did Dave shock up any redhorses for you? It's usually the only way to
make
> them stay in one place for long.
>
> --Bruce Stallsmith
> my drainage is still diagnosable as Tennessee
> Huntsville, AL, US of A
> "in Wildness is the preservation of the world"
>
> >From: "Michael Wolfe" <mwolfe-in-mindspring.com>
> >Reply-To: nanfa-l-in-nanfa.org
> >To: nanfa-l-in-nanfa.org, nanfa-l-in-nanfa.org
> >Subject: Re: NANFA-L-- Sipsey, Alabama, trip
> >Date: Tue, 27 Jul 2004 21:22:00 -0400
> >
> >I'm sure that Casper will put something out on the list soon that will
do a
> >much better job of describing the snorkeling that we did-in-the Sipsey,
but
> >let me just say that it was incredible. Yes we did snorkel right there
at
> >Borden creek and yes, I did get rather surprised by the only foot long
fish
> >going by me-in-warp speed. We also snorkeled on the main Sipsey which
was
> >not as rich a habitat (at lest not over the bedrock stream bed portion
that
> >we were at... but we did see turtles and shell crackers and Coosa Bass
and
> >Log perch and.. well you get the idea that we did see a lot of great
fish.
> >On Sunday, we snorkeled another location that turned out to be the best.
> >Not only did we see an even greater density of fish and an even greater
> >variety, but by that time we had Dave Neely along and he electro shocked
up
> >a few examples of things we thought we had seen, but were not really sure
> >until he was able to capture them for us and we got an up close look.
> >
> >Other highlights of the trip included picking up my copy of the new
Fishes
> >of Alabama... thanks Casper for doing a group buy and saving some of us
the
> >extra shipping and handling.
> >
> >But the biggest highlight had to be the food. Now you may be thinking...
> >how can the food have been that great when they were out primitive
> >camping... well let me tell you... if you ever have the opportunity to
have
> >Fellow Snorkelmeister cook for you... DO NOT pass it up!!! Stott
collected
> >wild mushrooms of a couple of varieties and Casper cooked them up with
> >onions, another time as a side dish, another time with a pound of bacon
in
> >the camp omelette that will the stuff of legend for generations to come.
> >
> >Michael Wolfe
> >North Georgia
> >Drainage... oh it's nothing, I'm sure it's just allergies!
> >
>
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/ This is the discussion list of the North American Native Fishes
/ Association (NANFA). Comments made on this list do not necessarily
/ reflect the beliefs or goals of NANFA. For more information about NANFA,
/ visit http://www.nanfa.org . Please make sure all posts to nanfa-l are
/ consistent with the guidelines as per
/ http://www.nanfa.org/archive/nanfa/guidelines.html. To subscribe,
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: Wed Sep 29 2004 - 12:21:37 CDT