We showed up at Michael's house on a bright, clear, windy Super Bowl afternoon. I follow college ball, but not the pros, and had forgotten until right before our visit that it was Super Bowl weekend. When I contacted Michael to ask if our visit would interfere with any football oriented plans he might have, his response was, "No way. It's simple math. Fish > gridiron!" So after church the girls and I loaded up and made the relatively short trip to Athens from Greenwood, SC. The girls and I had fun on the way, and Erin was especially taken with how pretty Elbert County, GA is. The only unpleasantry on the sortie was the severe sticker shock I got at the gas pump. Gas is a good 20 - 25 cents more expensive per gallon in Georgia than South Carolina!
At any rate, Kerry, age 10, Erin, age 6, and I, age withheld, made it to Michael's and were immediately met by our host, as well as by fellow NANFAN Keith Hudgins. Michael and Keith got me and the girls squared away and in no time we were at our first stop, a tiny stream called Bear Creek. Happily, we were sheltered from the wind and were quickly in the water. We worked a small pool and some tiny rapids to much success. There was no shortage of yellowfin shiners hiding under a run-off prevention tarp which had, ironically, managed to run off and become a fixture in the stream. Michael and Keith instructed me in the fine art of doing the darter shuffle. Although I was a poor student, Keith and I managed to shuffle up one pale turquoise darter, several unidentified salamanders, one nasty looking water bug, several small crayfish, and a mud puppy! The yellowfins were beginning to color up for the breeding season, and were pretty. But even though we were after fish, the mud puppy was the most interesting catch at Bear Creek. I had never seen one before, and even though it was only a couple inches long, I found it fascinating. My girls did, too. Not that they had too much time to watch it. Michael kept them busy and involved, giving them important jobs like carrying the backpack containing the photo tank and toting other gear.
Next it was off to a stream very close to Michael's house. This one was a little larger than the last, but still on the small side. Its rapid/riffle sections were larger though, and Keith and I employed our best darter dancing. We were rewarded with several turquoise darters in the seine. These individuals were much more colored up than the Bear Creek specimen. I was amazed, as were the girls. We had never seen turquoise darters before, and these guys were beautiful! Despite Michael and Keith's assertions that they would continue to add color over the next couple weeks, I couldn't imagine them being any more gorgeous. The blue that adorns the males at breeding time most closely resembles turquoise, but in all honesty it was a blue I had never, ever seen before. It's a color you just have to see for yourself to truly comprehend; no matter how well I could describe it, it wouldn't mean anything if you haven't seen it. We managed to take some decent pictures, but even they don't do this fish justice. After oohing and aahing over the darters, we moved downstream to a pool where we seined up several small sunfish and tadpoles. Erin was beside herself when she dipnetted a salamander all on her own!
By now we were running late on time and headed to our last stop, on the much bigger, faster water of the Apalachee River. Keith had been assuring me the whole trip that he would officially sanction our visit by taking a dunking in the water. I had begun to think he was exaggerating his lack of luck/agility, until he plopped down in the swift water. Fortunately, it wasn't serious and we laughed our way into seining. Michael and I would also officially sanction this stop, although I was lucky enough to keep water out of my waders and have no witnesses! While the girls watched from a bouldery perch near shore, we men worked our seining magic. We were rewarded with blackbanded darters, and a snail bullhead. Both were very interesting and beautiful, but the biggest prize was turning up the endangered, Georgia-endemic, Altamaha Shiner. Michael has a collector's permit, which enabled us to photograph this catch. It was definitely a cyprinella in build, and its fabulous silver scales were catching and incorporating the purple of the late afternoon sky into its display. Such a pretty fish! Soon it was into the water for the shiner, and we were off looking for jumprocks for Michael. None turned up, though. We made a short ford up the river, toting the girls and gear. While perhaps not our smartest move, it put us in some slack water for fishing. Despite my pathetic seining (I seine almost as well as I darter shuffle) we managed a small bluegill and some smaller sunfish.
Evening came too soon. Kerry, Erin, and I enjoyed a tour of Micheal's fish room, received some plants for my tank back home, and said our goodbyes. I had thought maybe we'd keep a few specimens, but didn't. But that's ok, I doubt I'll ever forget those beautiful fish, the Georgia water, or my two new friends. I can't wait to get out on the water again, and look forward to being able to collect with Keith and Michael in the future!
photos by either Matt or Michael
Post script: The species taken that day included yellowfin shiner, bluehead chub, creek chub, turquoise darter, blackbanded darter, snail bullhead, Altamaha shiner, bluegill, mudpuppy, and others Michael and Keith will have to remember for me...
NANFA Youtube Channel 
