I probably caught the EXACT pipefish you were looking at ... From your
description, I'm 95% sure I was in the precise same spot you claim to have
been when you claim to have seen said fish. (FWIW, the water temperature in
the Itchnetucknee is same in January as it is in June ... but for some odd
reason, there's a whole lot less tubers on the river.It's a fabulous snorkle
in the wintertime, but a wet-suit is mandatory.)
BTW, the pipeish I caught were in still in shock ... all muttering something
about a "big-eyed floating monster." This, more than your details, confirm
your story as being most likely true!!! I suppose you saw a bunch of the
mini-flounders too, they're common. But I've seen those a bunch of places in
clear Florida freshwater, this is my first time for pipefish (other than in
the Intercoastal, but you expect to see them there.)
Dave Neely has also encountered these pipefish before, and confirms that
they're a f/w pop of Syngnathus scovelli, the gulf pipefish.
Let me see how these guys do on BBS before I start shipping them around.
d.d.
>>> Prizma_at_aol.com Monday, June 24, 2002 11:19:53 AM >>>
oh bull darter dukky....
you did not catch any kind of pipe fish in the middle of florida!
get your glasses man! what you been drinking!
now i know im not the crazy one also. :)
oddly doug, i was just snorkling in the sante fe a few weeks ago. we were
doing the springs arround the town of mayo and decided to check out the
itchetuknee. what a mad house that was. cazillions of folk stirring up the
water. have you ever been mauled and overrun by a flotila of beer guzzling
tubers and their women?
:)
well i was told of the sate fe river and being it was not to far away we
drove south. i hiked upstream a bit and jumped in. very beautiful and lush
growths of osalating plants. mezmerizing. lots of cool fish, very clear water
due to the drought i was told. when i got down to the bridge i was laying in
the shallows and swear to the truth i was peering at a pipefish. i didnt have
a net at ready but almost caught it barehanded. yes i was quite suprised. it
would make a cool addition to a florida spring flow tank. i too looked at a
map and it seemed about 70 miles inland.
casper
catch me one and send it up this way! i will mail you your hearts desire.
-
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