Eventful weekend

[LeviathanGirl]

Over the weekend I attended the Raleigh Aquarium Society picnick and collection trip. This is the first I've been able to attend in the nearly 2 years I've been a part of the group and it was totally awsome. We started out with lunch and then headed down to the Harris Lake to see what we could pull out of it. Then we headed to Buckhorn Creek a ways up before it enters the lake where there are the remains of a really neet old, half washed out man made damn.

Gerald Pottern and I working with a skein net. I stepped in a muddy pothole that took me up to my chest, then quickly stepped back out again. Waters a little cold when it first hits you. LOL

Kids helping see what we caught in the net.

Digging around in the creek looking for goodies.

Cricket frog I caught to show everyone who couldnt get a good look at them. Them things are quick.

We caught a number of wild species...
bluegill sunfish
blue head chub
blue spotted sunfish
grass shrimp
largemouth bass
mosquito fish
redbreast sunfish
red ear sunfish
swallowtail shiner
white shiner

We also caught some kind of darter. I brought back some bluegill, chub, shiners, a red ear, shrimp, mosquito fish, the darters and a 4 inch praying mantis I thought was cool. I'm currently treating the fish for bugs and nasties. I also brought back some killies from my friend Chris, including a trio of Ep. dageti. When I came home I found that 4 of my cichlid pairs had spawned, A. hongsloi, p. taeniatus 'nigerian red', p. taeniatus 'moliwe' and p. sacrimontis 'moanda'. I guess while the masters away the fish will play. LOL All and all I'd say it was a very enjoyable and productive weekend. I hope everyone else had a great weekend too!

 

[DH247]

Very cool!! Trips like that sound fantastic. I have only recently begun to get interested in some of the local species. While in Georgian Bay this summer I was able to do quite a bit of snorkeling and found some pretty neat fish! Mostly darters who ate aquatic insects, but there were a few cichlids that lived in amongst the rocks that were stunning! I'm still trying to find an ID for them.... I also came across some sculpins! Definitely an oddball.... But I really want to try and get out into some of the higher altitude lakes and rivers in BC to see what I can find!