sounds like a great place. I would love to see trout while snorkeling. Its
a very long drive for me to get into decent trout water (southeast or
northeast Minnesota), and have yet to experience it.
Mark
-----Original Message-----
From: Roselawn Museum <roselawn_at_mindspring.com>
To: nanfa_at_aquaria.net <nanfa at aquaria.net>
Date: Monday, July 16, 2001 9:12 AM
Subject: NANFA-- Soque River snorkeling
>Saturday, my stepson, his friend, and I went over to snorkel in the Soque
>River near Clarksville, GA. My ace navigator had studied the maps all week
>to find a good spot. This one was more than good! I know I brag a lot about
>the beauty of Georgia, but this place looked like something out of a
>picture postcard. Coming down out of a hill, the stream has a series of
>flat rock shelves before leveling out into open water and widely spaced
>rapids. The water was extremely clear, and we had to walk several hundred
>yards upstream from the Highway 197 to get above the trout fishermen (and
>the gawk factor). Some folks just can't get used to seeing people in
>wetsuits in inland streams.
>
>Anyway, I hadn't intended to collect any fish (I should know better than
>that by now), but the ones we encountered were too cool to pass on. I'm
>still working on the ID (I finally got a Peterson's last Friday).
>Tentatively, it looks like we've got some dusky stripe shiners and some
>cardinal shiners. Many of the males are in full breeding color and quite
>active. Learning to collect them underwater has been a whole new
>experience. In this instance, I held a small, black trout net in my right
>hand and used my left hand to spook the fish toward it. As they reacted to
>the hand movement, I swooped in from the right with the net, usually
>bagging two or three fish. As I got better at it, I was able to target
>individual fish with reasonable success. Thus, I ended up clearing out a
>20gal for these beautiful new arrivals. Even without color, some of these
>fish are great to look at. The wide, black lateral stripes contrast with
>the pale bodies like miniature orcas. Add in the bright red fins, and they
>make quite a spectacle.
>
>Other fish I saw included a wide variety of darters that I can't begin to
>ID, nor did I collect any. Some of them were unusually large, approaching
>the size of small logperch, though no logperch were seen. Very few sunfish
>here, but I did see what looked like some greens. Of course, there was an
>abundance of mostly small trout. I bagged one long enough to take his
>picture, then released him. (The GA game wardens may not be too sharp on
>their "minners", but they can spot trout in a heartbeat!). I think the one
>I shot was a small brook. If you'd like a copy of the photo, contact me
>off-list and I'll shoot it to you. More and more, as I find myself drifting
>through moss-covered underwater canyons, I wonder why I waited so long to
>get into snorkeling. Hey Mark, if you ever get down to GA, you just gotta'
>see this place!
>
>All The Best,
>
>Steven A. Ellis
>Kennesaw, GA
>
>
>/--------------------------------------------------------------------------
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/----------------------------------------------------------------------------- /"Unless stated otherwise, comments made on this list do not necessarily / reflect the beliefs or goals of the North American Native Fishes / Association" / This is the discussion list of the North American Native Fishes Association / nanfa_at_aquaria.net. To subscribe, unsubscribe, or get help, send the word / subscribe, unsubscribe, or help in the body (not subject) of an email to / nanfa-request_at_aquaria.net. For a digest version, send the command to / nanfa-digest-request_at_aquaria.net instead. / For more information about NANFA, visit our web page, http://www.nanfa.org