Dear Scott,
I have a lodge reservation for Thursday night through Saturday night and am looking for a roommate. I am driving from the Champaign, IL area and looking to carpool. That's on your route if you take I-74 from Iowa. My departure time is flexible. Respond to me at pnixon@illinois.edu or on the Forum.
Phil Nixon
2012 NANFA Convention in Ohio
Started by
Guest_smbass_*
, Jan 27 2012 11:39 PM
106 replies to this topic
#62
Michael Wolfe
-
- Board of Directors
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- North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage
Posted 10 September 2012 - 11:57 AM
Lots of email traffic this weekend... everyone is getting excited and making last minute tweaks to their plans.... Convention 2012 is about to kick off!
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin
#63
Guest_amiacalva_*
Guest_amiacalva_*
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- Guests
Posted 12 September 2012 - 08:04 AM
Attached you'll find a list of some species we may see if you come along on the Sunday Scioto River drainage trip:
Attached Files
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SciotoRiverSaltandSunfishCreeksSpeciesbySite.xls 27.5KB
23 downloads
Edited by amiacalva, 12 September 2012 - 08:52 AM.
#64
Guest_amiacalva_*
Guest_amiacalva_*
-
- Guests
Posted 12 September 2012 - 08:25 AM
Here's a word doc with directions for the Scioto River drainage trip. The problem with this trip is, there's an almost three hour drive to the first site. So it fits best with those driving south from the conference.
Attached Files
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Directions for NANFA Scioto River drainage trip.doc 26.5KB
24 downloads
#65
Guest_FirstChAoS_*
Guest_FirstChAoS_*
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- Guests
Posted 12 September 2012 - 07:54 PM
Lots of email traffic this weekend... everyone is getting excited and making last minute tweaks to their plans.... Convention 2012 is about to kick off!
I scheduled time from wednesday to monday just to be sure I have time for rest and travel, so I am already here. My underwater camera is having trouble though, it somehow got damaged or something in the overpacked pag, the lense cover doesn't open all the way and the lense does not retract like normal, instead i flashes an error and closes
#66
Guest_Casper_*
Guest_Casper_*
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- Guests
Posted 14 September 2012 - 01:32 PM
Is anybody out there?
Tell me something good!
Tell me something good!
#67
Michael Wolfe
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- Board of Directors
-
- North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage
Posted 14 September 2012 - 01:48 PM
We are having fun. Saw a boat shocking and trawling demo yesterday. Interesting large fish that were brought back and are on live display in a huge portable aquarium set up. Blue suckers. River red horse. Flathead cats. Buffalo. Quill backs. Silver red horse. Also lots of interesting bass and sunfish, including o-spots. And minnows like sucker mouth minnows and spot fin shiners. And darters like log perch, banded, rainbow, and slender heads. A fun spot.
Interesting talks today too but those are still going on. Will mention some more about those later.
Interesting talks today too but those are still going on. Will mention some more about those later.
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin
#68
Guest_steve_*
Guest_steve_*
-
- Guests
Posted 16 September 2012 - 07:55 PM
A huge thanks to EVERYONE who worked so hard to make this convention such a wonderful time. This was my first convention and it exceeded my expectations. What a great opportunity to learn more, have fun, and meet some really good folks and fish. Thank y'all so much.
Edited by steve, 16 September 2012 - 07:57 PM.
#69
Guest_Skipjack_*
Guest_Skipjack_*
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- Guests
Posted 16 September 2012 - 09:26 PM
Yeah, don't know, our last large site we only sampled 40 species, little bummed out.Lol! We could have fed an army on the logperch alone., Maybe fed a squad or two on the phenacobius, and the E.tippecanoe's, they were just dessert complimented by a nice dish of E.phoxocephala.
#70
Guest_fritz_*
Guest_fritz_*
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- Guests
Posted 16 September 2012 - 10:15 PM
I might post more later but a great well-organized gathering. Great demos on Thurs, very interesting talks on Friday capped by a great talk by Todd Crail video/talk. Saturday trip led by Todd and Matt DeLavega was the way it should be done. I shared it with a great group of folks. Start early, work our butts off (well, mine got tired too early) and finish after dark. I hope that young Evan appreciates what he got to share with his older peers. I suspect the float trip was equally great.
Kudos to Brian, Marc and Justin for a well done! And to the other trip leaders - Mark B and Todd and to the speakers and ORSANCO group.
Y'all missed a great time. Show up for KY next spring!
Kudos to Brian, Marc and Justin for a well done! And to the other trip leaders - Mark B and Todd and to the speakers and ORSANCO group.
Y'all missed a great time. Show up for KY next spring!
Edited by Skipjack, 17 September 2012 - 01:19 PM.
Corrected spelling on ORSANCO for clarification.
#71
Guest_FirstChAoS_*
Guest_FirstChAoS_*
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- Guests
Posted 16 September 2012 - 10:23 PM
I had a great time at the convention and enjoyed it immensely. Sadly I only have a fraction of the fish I had before in my bucket. I returned to my room and was greeted by a "tried to keep your bait a week longer than you should" smell. My very over crowded bucket of fish died. (I knew it would be a problem not having time for changing water before I left, didn't realize I'd lose everything from yesterday though.) this means only one variegated, one stone roller, and one blue breast left, all my johnnies, bandeds, fan tails, And, redsides are gone as I only have my fish from today. A few rainbows, one variate, one blue breast, one stone roller, a few western black nose and long nose dace, maybe a misc shiner or two.
#72
Guest_itsme_*
Guest_itsme_*
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- Guests
Posted 17 September 2012 - 11:50 AM
That's the hard thing about these conventions. Too many great activities and people to see and not enough time to take care of fish! Not complaining. Just saying. If you need some pointers, let me know. I've spent many hours changing water on fish in motel rooms! Maybe we should have a talk on that next time. Great convention over all. Had Great turnout, but missed lots of the "old timers" and faithful attenders. Let's have lots of great reports here to let them know what they missed!
Our Sunday group were troopers. Low water in the marsh limited our catch, but the first and last sites were good. Phil got lots of bugs anyway. Caught three baby stinkpot turtles in the marsh (Killbuck). Ran into a USF&W guy on the lower Killbuck who was doing mussel work. He said there's a catspaw there that is found no where else on earth. Pretty cool. As we left, saw them snorkling in the brown water under the bridge. Never would have expected to see anyone that far out in the boonies, snorkling a muddy creek looking for endangered mussels. Definitely a highlight for me. Thanks to my Sunday crew. You were a pleasure to creek with! They were Susan Chambers, Phil Nixon, Fritz Bazeley, Matthew Smith, Joe Reich and Keith Hudgins. Did I forget anyone? Any time any of you wants to hunt fish, let me know.
Our Sunday group were troopers. Low water in the marsh limited our catch, but the first and last sites were good. Phil got lots of bugs anyway. Caught three baby stinkpot turtles in the marsh (Killbuck). Ran into a USF&W guy on the lower Killbuck who was doing mussel work. He said there's a catspaw there that is found no where else on earth. Pretty cool. As we left, saw them snorkling in the brown water under the bridge. Never would have expected to see anyone that far out in the boonies, snorkling a muddy creek looking for endangered mussels. Definitely a highlight for me. Thanks to my Sunday crew. You were a pleasure to creek with! They were Susan Chambers, Phil Nixon, Fritz Bazeley, Matthew Smith, Joe Reich and Keith Hudgins. Did I forget anyone? Any time any of you wants to hunt fish, let me know.
#73
Guest_Skipjack_*
Guest_Skipjack_*
-
- Guests
Posted 17 September 2012 - 01:15 PM
That's the hard thing about these conventions. Too many great activities and people to see and not enough time to take care of fish! Not complaining. Just saying. If you need some pointers, let me know. I've spent many hours changing water on fish in motel rooms! Maybe we should have a talk on that next time.
Great Idea Mark. Would you be interested in giving a presentation like this at next years convention? I certainly do not mind people taking home fish, but think it is a waste if a large percentage turn belly up.
#74
Guest_Dustin_*
Guest_Dustin_*
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- Guests
Posted 17 September 2012 - 01:39 PM
I also had a great time. I want to than Brian and crew for such a great meeting. It seemed as if all details were covered and things moved as smoothly as they possibly could. I saw some new fish, got to catch up with some old friends and meet a few new ones. I am always amazed at how much work goes into these things and how quickly they come and go. I would have loved to spend a more time rambling around the area. Look forward to seeing everyone again in a few months in Kentucky.
#75
Guest_gerald_*
Guest_gerald_*
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- Guests
Posted 17 September 2012 - 03:28 PM
At the VA convention in 2011 I roomed with Mike Lucas who was exquisitely prepared with several coolers and one or two well-cycled sponge filters for each cooler. Keeping a few extra sponge filters or box filters full of gravel running in your more crowded tanks is a great tool for ammonia management when traveling with fish and for in-house emergencies. Just drain off most of the water (so it wont get anaerobic) and stick the dirty filter (don't clean it) in a fish bag to keep it wet, and protect it from excessive heat. With a battery-powered air pump or a power inverter you can even keep it running in a cooler or bucket in your car. But most importantly, recognize the limits of your space, filtration, and maintenance time.
Great Idea Mark. Would you be interested in giving a presentation like this at next years convention? I certainly do not mind people taking home fish, but think it is a waste if a large percentage turn belly up.
#76
Guest_Casper_*
Guest_Casper_*
-
- Guests
Posted 17 September 2012 - 05:30 PM
Tell me more!
I hope that someone takes on the effort to write a nice Ohio 2012 account worthy of American Currents with a centerfold spread of nice fishy pics and folks. And as a Bonus provide good motivation for the soon to be KY gathering of 2013 Springtime spawning colors and clear water views.
Tease me more now please on what some of us missed in the O H I O!
I hope that someone takes on the effort to write a nice Ohio 2012 account worthy of American Currents with a centerfold spread of nice fishy pics and folks. And as a Bonus provide good motivation for the soon to be KY gathering of 2013 Springtime spawning colors and clear water views.
Tease me more now please on what some of us missed in the O H I O!
#77
Guest_keepnatives_*
Guest_keepnatives_*
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- Guests
Posted 17 September 2012 - 08:08 PM
Great convention in Ohio, thanks to all who worked so hard to put it together. Just got home this afternoon, had stopped at my sisters on the way just plugged in my pumps by means of a long extension cord from her garage to my car. Some of those fish were from Kentucky, caught the Wed before the convention and ones caught Thurs below the dam. Lost very few fish thanks to those sponge filters. Got some tiny northern studfish around 3/4 inch, as soon as I released them into the 10 gallon tank they began to devour some flake food and freeze dried blood worms. Something to be said for starting with little ones. Our first stop on the Scioto trip sunday was unbelievable. Not only did we get 40 species but the water was literally crowded with fish. I could not look at a spot without seeing schools of fish and Scott "Fishwhisperer" and I got stuck on a tiny 10x10 riffle and preceding pool because every net was full. After several last seines, we agreed to at least make each last seine closer to the main group so at some point we'd have to leave. Mark and Matt thanks for leading and ID'ing what a great time. Even the weather was perfect every single day. The speakers all were both informative and humorous. The only suggestion I would make is maybe lengthen each day by another 4-5 hours so I can find some time to sleep.
#78
Guest_harryknaub_*
Guest_harryknaub_*
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- Guests
Posted 17 September 2012 - 08:17 PM
I'm so jealous!! I'm glad to hear that it was an excellent weekend. Hopefully see everyone in Kentucky.
Harry Knaub
Harry Knaub
#79
Guest_schambers_*
Guest_schambers_*
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- Guests
Posted 17 September 2012 - 09:05 PM
Wow! I don't even know where to begin. My first NANFA convention was fantastic! I want to thank everyone involved in organizing it, as well as all the speakers. I met a lot of great people and brought home a couple of coolers full of neat fish.
I missed the electroshock demo the first day, but ORSANCO's traveling aquarium let me see some of the fish. The speakers on Friday were all fantastic. I enjoyed the banquet and spent way too much money at the auction, there were so many neat things that I wish I could have spent more. I went on the float trip on Saturday and it was awesome! The weather was perfect. I went on the Killbuck Creek trip on Sunday and had a great time, Mark showed us some good spots. The bowfin didn't cooperate, but we saw a lot of other species and I got a whole bunch of dace. Running into the mussel guy was very cool.
The lodge was very nice, it was a great place for the convention. I've been thinking about it, and the only way it could have been better was if I had a time machine. That way I could have gotten more sleep, not missed Thursday's demo, gone snorkeling AND canoeing on Saturday, and I could have attended ALL the field trips on Sunday! That would have been great.
I think a talk on keeping your fish alive would be great. When I go collecting with someone new, I'm always interested to see how they transport their fish. I learn new things all the time.
I missed the electroshock demo the first day, but ORSANCO's traveling aquarium let me see some of the fish. The speakers on Friday were all fantastic. I enjoyed the banquet and spent way too much money at the auction, there were so many neat things that I wish I could have spent more. I went on the float trip on Saturday and it was awesome! The weather was perfect. I went on the Killbuck Creek trip on Sunday and had a great time, Mark showed us some good spots. The bowfin didn't cooperate, but we saw a lot of other species and I got a whole bunch of dace. Running into the mussel guy was very cool.
The lodge was very nice, it was a great place for the convention. I've been thinking about it, and the only way it could have been better was if I had a time machine. That way I could have gotten more sleep, not missed Thursday's demo, gone snorkeling AND canoeing on Saturday, and I could have attended ALL the field trips on Sunday! That would have been great.
I think a talk on keeping your fish alive would be great. When I go collecting with someone new, I'm always interested to see how they transport their fish. I learn new things all the time.
#80
Guest_FirstChAoS_*
Guest_FirstChAoS_*
-
- Guests
Posted 17 September 2012 - 09:22 PM
I had a great time and loved it immensely. Though I missed the thursday trip (got to read the website, not just the forum), The friday talks and video were awesome. I loved the talk of Minnesotas awesome oddball subspecies, the very humorous mussel talk, and video clips of bass following a sucker to eat scraps it stirs up.
Saturday we went to a few spots. (I forgot their names). The first was a very species rich river full of darters, madtoms, minnows, and some sunnies. I got some lovely and colorful varigates and bluebreasts.
The next spot was a tiny creek in the woods with redline dace, sculpins, creek chubs, and a few darter species.
finally we had a small creek that was no longer accessible and we had to find a new sampling spot. we found one.with the usual fish assemblence. They didn't see any trout-perch (one of the special species supposed to be their) but the seiners did see sand darters.
The next day we went on a few more trips. First we did the Ohio River. We found lots of minnows (were they sand shiners and striped shiners?), lots of rainbow darters (for a riffle fish they sure love slack water), a few orange throats, and shad.
Then we went up to a stream with a nice pool with lots of rainbow darters, sculpins, stone rollers, and striped shiners.
finally we went to a tiny stream loaded with a massive stream of minnows. western blacknose dace, longnose dace, and stonerollers. I learned that the habit of longnose dace of sitting on wingline fins is a useful ID trait, not just a nuisance that makes it harder to photograph them on their side. My experience finding the species and tips like big ones like sitting under rocks at the tops of falls ended up USEFUL.
Finally we went back to the Ohio River where we got the usual minnows and rainbow darters. As well as a couple Tippecanoes and we seen big schools of emerald shiners.
when I returned with a lighter catch I found my bucket from the day before died. I wish I had time for a morning water change.
Monday. Was their a monday? For ME their was but not too much of one.
First thing I after packing to fill my car was to find a stream for changing water and some sampling. I remembered seeing one the other day where one ropad (either freedom road or old 21 road, forgot which) met rocky fork road. when I went to put gas in my car.
The first spot was deep and swampy, i changed the water and netted from shore getting a few sunnies but didn't enter the water. I wanted a minnow and darter spot.
Further up the road I found another spot, a small stream crossing under the road by a farm. In the water here I found Johnny Darters that looked exactly like my tesselates at home (by then OI learned enough on the local darters to not call every brownish darter a johnny for lack of other options) and fantail darters. Oddly enough I learned to ID fantails through a misunderstanding, I thought mike called them BANDTAILS and sure enough their tail was banded.
On the way to my stop over in Harrisburg Pennsylvania I got a bag of ice to cool my bucket then used the ice for water to add to it. at Petvco. That item was hard to find. A walmart, K-Mart, and Pet Smart were gone through with no luck before finding them at a petco. I got a "sponge filter" (well, it has several types of medium, not just sponge, but it runs off an air pump)I also got two gallon jugs of water for a water change at the motel before setting in for the night.
Hopefully my minnows will survive until morning and Harrisburg will have a nice source of water for a lot change. (I see a mayfly on my wall in the motel room so hopefully it does).
Trip highlights. The biggest trip highlight other than fun collecting is finally feeling I fit in with the community and feeling accepted. Also finding out a few harsh views I heard about my area when sampling in mass with Justin did not match that of the whole community.
a few more fun moments I remember is the kinds of fish based sillyness that cannot happen on a forum. Fish song parodies, discussions on other card decks by state or drainage, talks of fish calenders using theme species for each month and fish periodic tables.
I wish I could make it to Kentucky but doubt I can as vacation time at work resets in August. As for the year after, I hope I can but my mom is planning on a two week cruise with the whole family that year so it depends on how much time and money I have when it comes around.
Saturday we went to a few spots. (I forgot their names). The first was a very species rich river full of darters, madtoms, minnows, and some sunnies. I got some lovely and colorful varigates and bluebreasts.
The next spot was a tiny creek in the woods with redline dace, sculpins, creek chubs, and a few darter species.
finally we had a small creek that was no longer accessible and we had to find a new sampling spot. we found one.with the usual fish assemblence. They didn't see any trout-perch (one of the special species supposed to be their) but the seiners did see sand darters.
The next day we went on a few more trips. First we did the Ohio River. We found lots of minnows (were they sand shiners and striped shiners?), lots of rainbow darters (for a riffle fish they sure love slack water), a few orange throats, and shad.
Then we went up to a stream with a nice pool with lots of rainbow darters, sculpins, stone rollers, and striped shiners.
finally we went to a tiny stream loaded with a massive stream of minnows. western blacknose dace, longnose dace, and stonerollers. I learned that the habit of longnose dace of sitting on wingline fins is a useful ID trait, not just a nuisance that makes it harder to photograph them on their side. My experience finding the species and tips like big ones like sitting under rocks at the tops of falls ended up USEFUL.
Finally we went back to the Ohio River where we got the usual minnows and rainbow darters. As well as a couple Tippecanoes and we seen big schools of emerald shiners.
when I returned with a lighter catch I found my bucket from the day before died. I wish I had time for a morning water change.
Monday. Was their a monday? For ME their was but not too much of one.
First thing I after packing to fill my car was to find a stream for changing water and some sampling. I remembered seeing one the other day where one ropad (either freedom road or old 21 road, forgot which) met rocky fork road. when I went to put gas in my car.
The first spot was deep and swampy, i changed the water and netted from shore getting a few sunnies but didn't enter the water. I wanted a minnow and darter spot.
Further up the road I found another spot, a small stream crossing under the road by a farm. In the water here I found Johnny Darters that looked exactly like my tesselates at home (by then OI learned enough on the local darters to not call every brownish darter a johnny for lack of other options) and fantail darters. Oddly enough I learned to ID fantails through a misunderstanding, I thought mike called them BANDTAILS and sure enough their tail was banded.
On the way to my stop over in Harrisburg Pennsylvania I got a bag of ice to cool my bucket then used the ice for water to add to it. at Petvco. That item was hard to find. A walmart, K-Mart, and Pet Smart were gone through with no luck before finding them at a petco. I got a "sponge filter" (well, it has several types of medium, not just sponge, but it runs off an air pump)I also got two gallon jugs of water for a water change at the motel before setting in for the night.
Hopefully my minnows will survive until morning and Harrisburg will have a nice source of water for a lot change. (I see a mayfly on my wall in the motel room so hopefully it does).
Trip highlights. The biggest trip highlight other than fun collecting is finally feeling I fit in with the community and feeling accepted. Also finding out a few harsh views I heard about my area when sampling in mass with Justin did not match that of the whole community.
a few more fun moments I remember is the kinds of fish based sillyness that cannot happen on a forum. Fish song parodies, discussions on other card decks by state or drainage, talks of fish calenders using theme species for each month and fish periodic tables.
I wish I could make it to Kentucky but doubt I can as vacation time at work resets in August. As for the year after, I hope I can but my mom is planning on a two week cruise with the whole family that year so it depends on how much time and money I have when it comes around.
Edited by FirstChAoS, 17 September 2012 - 09:30 PM.
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