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Greetings from the Saginaw river!

Started by Guest_Grabenmeister_* , Aug 25 2013 03:17 PM

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9 replies to this topic

#1 Guest_Grabenmeister_*

Guests

Posted 25 August 2013 - 03:17 PM

Not really, but I live quite close to it's confluence. I've been dip-netting the area since my age was in the single digits, except for a long break when I got more interested in tropical fish & reptiles at the pet shops. My interest was renewed a few years ago when my collecting partner/daughter got old enough to join me, and we've added a nice handful of new species to my already respectable childhood list.

Anyway, I'm glad to be a part of a forum dedicated to a very underappreciated part of the aquarium hobby. I look forward to sharing my experiences and hearing about yours, especially if you're in Michigan yourself!

#2 mattknepley

NANFA Member

Smack-dab between the Savannah and the Saluda.

Posted 25 August 2013 - 05:20 PM

Welcome! Great to see another daddy/daughter team here! (Although I think my oldest is getting too cool for as much daddy time as I would like and the youngest is following her lead.) My wife hails from Michigan, but now SC is home. Maybe we'll get back up that way some day. I hope, it's a pretty state full of lotsa different types of fishy waters.

Matt Knepley
"No thanks, a third of a gopher would merely arouse my appetite..."

#3 Michael Wolfe

Board of Directors

North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 25 August 2013 - 06:35 PM

Anyway, I'm glad to be a part of a forum dedicated to a very underappreciated part of the aquarium hobby. I look forward to sharing my experiences and hearing about yours, especially if you're in Michigan yourself!

welcome grabenmeister, glad to have folks here that are involving their kids and teaching the younger generation. NANFA is about so much more than aquariums, and I hope you get the chance to experience the habitat and all that there is to native fish!

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin

#4 Guest_Grabenmeister_*

Guests

Posted 25 August 2013 - 06:57 PM

Thanks, Matt! I guess you could say I'm lucky, having a an 11 year-old tomboy that loves the outdoors. She was actually ready to hit a ditch with me this weekend until I reminded her that it's still swimming weather. Of course, that was a win-win as I broke up my time in the water with dipping a few more banded killies from the edge of the beach. :biggrin:

I'd love to get down south again someday myself, since I had a great time dip-netting while I spent a few months around Kennesaw, GA when I was younger.

#5 Guest_Grabenmeister_*

Guests

Posted 25 August 2013 - 07:13 PM

welcome grabenmeister, glad to have folks here that are involving their kids and teaching the younger generation. NANFA is about so much more than aquariums, and I hope you get the chance to experience the habitat and all that there is to native fish!

Thank you as well, Michael. Trust that I've seen what you mean, I only mention that because most interest in what's swimming in our backyards is so limited to sportfishing. My first experience with aquariums was my mom buying a little 5.5g tank with eastern news bought from the local Meijer store, and not long after that, I found an old smelt dipping net in the garage and filled that with so many mudminnows & baby sunfish that I had to dig out the old kiddie pool to house all my catches from the ditch down the road. Ridiculousness ensued, and an interest in all things freshwater never left me.

As for NANFA, look forward to me joining as soon as my wallet situation's looking a little better. Years ago I won a really nice darter print from you folks (don't really remember how), and I promised myself that I would!

#6 Michael Wolfe

Board of Directors

North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 25 August 2013 - 07:24 PM

oh, dont get me wrong, I keep aquariums myself, and it is certainly a part of my enjoyment of native fishes... but I also like to snorkel... especially down here in Georgia (I went to high school in that Canton / Kennesaw area)... and I like to get out and sample sometimes, just to understand what is living in the stream... or to work with the DNR or a local college. We do a Bioblitz with a professor up at Reinhadrt College in Waleska, GA. All in the name of native fish.

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin

#7 Guest_Grabenmeister_*

Guests

Posted 25 August 2013 - 07:59 PM

Since I found myself some old rubber fins at the local goodwill earlier this year, I've been borrowing my daughter's snorkel and "swimming" hasn't been the same since. Being able to see underwater has always been a near requirement for me to have a good time in the drink, but having the whole setup is even better. The goal is always the same, try to spot more than the usual bluegills. Of course, chasing them into the weeds is still fun!

That's part of the reason I joined the forum here, I'm finally experiencing more than the fishtank that's been my companion for the last 25 years.

#8 Guest_velvetelvis_*

Guests

Posted 03 September 2013 - 09:47 PM

Welcome! I got into native fishes thanks to my dad, too. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of going collecting with my sister and parents in Florida, whether it was catching flagfish and topminnows in a weedy ditch, or seining in the Indian River, or catching a tiny juvenile queen angelfish in the Keys. But we did more than just collecting--we also went birdwatching, snake-catching (and releasing), snorkeling, walking, exploring, and learning. It gave me a love of nature and a curiosity about the natural world that is still a source of great enjoyment for me. Your daughter will treasure her memories with you. :wub:

#9 Guest_gerald_*

Guests

Posted 04 September 2013 - 02:08 PM

My daughter turns 20 in 2 weeks and she still likes going seining and exploring with daddy now and then. Her first time seining, she was in a "Snugli" on my chest. At 15 she helped me survey for Cape Fear shiners - she could see the black edge on the lower lip that I now have trouble seeing.

#10 Guest_Grabenmeister_*

Guests

Posted 12 September 2013 - 01:23 PM

Welcome! I got into native fishes thanks to my dad, too. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of going collecting with my sister and parents in Florida, whether it was catching flagfish and topminnows in a weedy ditch, or seining in the Indian River, or catching a tiny juvenile queen angelfish in the Keys. But we did more than just collecting--we also went birdwatching, snake-catching (and releasing), snorkeling, walking, exploring, and learning. It gave me a love of nature and a curiosity about the natural world that is still a source of great enjoyment for me. Your daughter will treasure her memories with you.

That's wonderful! I hope to visit Florida to drag a dipnet through it someday myself, among experiencing everything else it has to offer in the way of of wildlife experiences. Namely that clearwater snorkeling, and the excitement of possibly seeing alligators where you can't simply step back from them. We've had reptiles in the house for the entirety of her life as well, at one point a ridiculous number of them when we were involved with rescue & rehab of unwanted pets. Even seeing the iguanas in their "natural" habitat would be quite a sight, since they don't often grow to full size under the care of inexperienced humans.

My daughter turns 20 in 2 weeks and she still likes going seining and exploring with daddy now and then. Her first time seining, she was in a "Snugli" on my chest. At 15 she helped me survey for Cape Fear shiners - she could see the black edge on the lower lip that I now have trouble seeing.

Great to hear, my not-so-little one tentatively hopes to be a veterinarian someday, so I'm sure her interest in the world's fauna will stay with her as well. I only wish we had the opportunity to participate in something like that, but alas, our state DNR's more concerned with artificial wetland maintenance & putting heritage breed hog farmers out of business with ridiculous definitions of the feral swine that are far from a serious problem. I'd love to get into bait collection, but most of the dealers have been put out of business already by high taxes and restrictions regarding the fears of the VHS that's already been through all the waterways. It's no wonder there's few Michiganders on the site, as most of us serious about anything at all move away!