About a week and a half ago, I sampled the Clinch with a dip net and rod
and reel at the Clinchport boat ramp. The water was a little high at that
time, but still wadeable. I caught a couple of nesting longear sunfish on
hook and line. With the dip net, I caught mostly tippecanoe darters and
mountain madtoms, several of each. Today, at the same spot I saw a couple
of lampreys (spawning?). I'm sure a seine would bring up lots more stuff,
especially shiners.
I talked to Kevin Hamed (NANFA member from Bristol, TN) today, and he has
tentatively offered to show us one of his spots (in TN) for TN dace and
saffron shiners. He did his master's (?) thesis on the dace and has some
captives at Steele Creek Park, where he is director.
I finally tried snorkeling today for the first time. That was pretty cool,
even though the visibility was not that great (~ 2' or less). I think I may
have to trim my mustache a little though, 'cause my mask was leaking a
little around my nose. ;{) I saw the lampreys, banded and redline darters,
and some kinda minners. I was really hoping to see a live mussel in its
native habitat, but that didn't work out. A good excuse to try again, I guess!
I'll try to come up with more details on this trip in the next couple of
weeks.
Getting anxious!
Ranger Bob
culler_at_tricon.net
Kingsport, TN
"The power of humans to degrade the natural world is awesome; the
capability to reconstitute it later is mythical."
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