NANFA-- Tippecanoe Regional Outing April 30, May 1-2

Christopher Scharpf (ichthos_at_comcast.net)
Thu, 01 Apr 2004 16:42:56 -0400

Tippecanoe Regional Outing April 30, May 1-2

Greetings Listizens,

Our Regional Outing in Indiana on the Tippecanoe River is quickly
approaching. I wanted to pass along as much information as I have.

We will be staying at Tippecanoe State Park. Directions and details can be
found at:
http://www.in.gov/dnr/parklake/parks/tippecanoeriver.html

It would not hurt to go ahead and make a reservation using the Online
Reservation form.

I just called and confirmed that dogs are allowed on the campsites, in the
campgrounds and surrounding park and the campers are responsible for their
dogs. They must be on leashes at all time and not left unattended, so if
you're coming by yourself, do not expect someone to volunteer to watch them
or leave them in your car :) The usual stuff.

The main day, will be on Saturday, May 1st. I have a location given to me
by a USF&W fella who's also a NANFA member where they sampled 63 species on
a NANFA outing back in 1986 with Dr. Page with only seines. Not bad! :)
This site is a large riffle with a canoe access so there is plenty of
parking. This will probably be our main locale for the day on Saturday,
but I am going to scout other potentials on April 30th. We will just decide
there what to do with the rest of Saturday and Sunday for those who're
staying over etc. High water may or may not be a factor in which areas we
work. That's always the trouble with Spring. However, with the diversity
of habitats in this area, we will be able to find plenty of places to get
our seines wet. Just maybe not of the large riffles where the imperilled
diversity lives.

My wife and I will be going up on April 29th to stay in South Bend or
someplace along the way, so we can get there early and start to set up. I
will do a little bit of scouting in the late morning and afternoon. I will
be at the campsite or registration place at 6:00 pm to welcome people as
they come in. If anyone wants to join us early on to do the scouting, that
would be great. Please include with your email of interest if I should be
looking for you early on that Friday.

You can email me at farmertodd_at_buckeye-express.com or call me at
419-539-6810.

You do not need to be a NANFA member to join us. Come one, come all! :)

Now for the less fun stuff....

We are also going to have some "guests" courtesy of the Indiana DNR. I am
trying to arrange it so the officers who will be monitoring us will be part
of the group, but I have not worked out all the details, so I'm preparing us
all for the worst case scenario. We are going to have a chance to look at a
lot of imperilled species, and the IDNR wants to assure 100% compliance with
State Law. I didn't arrange this... Fortunately another NANFA member tipped
me in so it wasn't a big suprise on site.

This is a good chance for us to show the IDNR what opportunities they have
with NANFA to work along side each other. I do not want to blow this. It
is great exposure for our mission and purpose and I expect 100% compliance.
If you have trouble with the law and authority, please rethink coming. We
WILL be interacting with them, hopefully, in a positive light and not in an
"Us" and "Them" kind of way. We can not decide how that is going to act
out, so we need to assure that we're in 100% compliance in any situation.

For a look at their regulations, hop on over to:
http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/fish/fishng/general.htm

The rules so stated are:

- No State Listed animal will be removed from it's habitat. I will be
providing a list with pictures of the species so there is no confusion.

- I will clarify if we are allowed to put listed fish in holding tanks
in-stream to photograph or if they need released immediately. Expect
immediate release.

- If you have scientific permits from IDNR, from what I understand, anyone
doing the collecting must _also_ have a scientific permit issued by the
IDNR. So if you feel the need to voucher listed animals on that permit
(which I'm asking that you not :), the animals must only be sampled by
persons having permits. People only with State Fishing Liscences can not
touch any of the equipment you use to voucher.

- If you're going to be _in the water_, even if you just want to watch or
snorkel, I am asking that you have an Indiana Fishing Liscence (you are in
essence financially supporting having a stream like this to come to! :). I
don't think spouses on shore are going to be suspect to anything. They're
just sitting there watching us. But as soon as a person touches the water
with our group, they will need a liscence.

- Liscences can be purchased online at:
http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/licensing/

- I will be asking to see your liscence (or confirmation print) before we
head to a site. If you do not have one, I will ask that you not be in the
water with us, to touch any gear, touch any fish, etc etc at any location we
as a group are travelling to. There are no exceptions. I will identify
non-compliance to the DNR. You can always go off and do your own thing, but
for the consistentcy of the group, I am asking that you either comply or
stay away.

- Centrachids are going to have to be taken by rod n reel ONLY. This is one
of the rules we normally overlook, but we're not going to have that option
this time. If they're watching us from the trees and not with us, I'm going
to request that we take no Centrachids by any capture method just to avoid a
spat or suspicion.

- I will get clarification on Noturus.

- All other non-game fish are legal to take home, even to put in an
aquarium, as stated in their Regulations :)

Phew. I really hate being this sticky (despite my recent list reputation
;), but we're going to be held to it, and I would like for there to be zero
suprises. Like I said, this is something that can work out as a win-win
situation for everyone involved. We are definately going to be set to see
some really neat critters, as I said, this stream IS the Crown Jewel of the
Midwest. Let's follow the rules and enjoy it to it's fullest!

I hope to hear from you and see you out there!

Todd
It's never too late to have a happy childhood.
http://www.farmertodd.com
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