I did not think that was a Logperch but i was waiting for someone to ID it properly. I bet Todd or Matt would have got it. For some reason i was thinking Longnose or Slenderhead when i first saw your pic. ? I need to check Etnier's book again for the Olive picture, as i was thinking Olives were much darker while hiding in those raging, boulder crevases.
Now i feel sure i have seen these guys before. Nice shot, remember, Ed saw one while we were in the Obed last year.
We are headed back to the Citico and Conasauga tomorrow before the coming storms jab lightning in the river. More pics hopefully.
Citico Ocoee Conasauga
Started by
Guest_Casper Cox_*
, Apr 20 2010 07:17 PM
48 replies to this topic
#23
Guest_daveneely_*
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Posted 23 April 2010 - 02:43 PM
I need to check Etnier's book again for the Olive picture, as i was thinking Olives were much darker while hiding in those raging, boulder crevases. Now i feel sure i have seen these guys before.
I suspect you probably have. Adults are normally in the fast deep bedrock/boulder runs, but the juveniles sometimes show up in weird places with much slower currents-- the tailout and margins of pools in particular, occasionally even around Justicia beds!
Hope you keep your head down, some of those storms coming this way look like they're going to be interesting...
#24
Guest_Casper Cox_*
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Posted 26 April 2010 - 09:58 PM
The Return
Wolfeman, Ale and K-Man ignored the oncoming storms after a delayed start from Atlanta. We arrived about the same time at the Nancy Ward Ocoee boat ramp and while the water was clear, the sky was heavy with dark clouds. Getting our wetsuits and gear on we were all soon whooping and puffing from the chilling water. I quickly added Mirror Shiners and a Greenside Darter to last week's specie count. Michael later added a Trout and a pair of horny headed River Chubs. Mirror Shiners have a unusual body shape that reminds me of a topedo. A breeding male will run a small, well marked dorsal flag up from the center of his back making them a uniquely shaped minnow. They seem to like cooler water which is where i most often encounter them. All my first shots were blurred by the lack of light and i soon rediscovered the LED feature while in Super Macro mode. You gotta be very close, but the LED setting shines an intense light on a subject when you push half way down on the shutter, which also locks the focus. Like a deer in the headlight the Redline seemed to freeze allowing several good shots, but that may have been him finally relinquishing after 15 minutes of previous pursuit.
After about an hour rain started falling and rumbles were nearing. Soon Michael was hoodless, cold and standing on the gravel bar shivering when thunder started cracking overhead. I stayed in for a few more minutes chasing shiner shots but the water began to cloud from the upstream activity, as today was Saturday, a rafting day and i presume the dam had been opened earlier well upstream. Leaves and debris began to wash down and with the increasing darkness visibility was quickly being minimized. We discussed our options and decided to leave our snorkel gear on and head south to the Conasauga, figuring we might dodge some of the dopplar radar waves as the severe storm wall was not forcasted for 2 or 3 more hours.
We arrived at the Conasauga and in about 30 minutes were chasing down shimmering metallic blue Speckled Darters. The water was crystal clear though a side channel was slowly oozing in a milky cloud that was then being rushed downstream, tightly held against the close bank. Maybe from road runoff or a farmer's field, silt is not our friend.
I found the hogsucker sighted from the previous week with the Lamprey still attached, though it looked like the parasite had moved slightly off center of the host's concave head. I dont know what the outcome of this gruesome ordeal will be, it has to be horrible but the Hogsucker seemed to move and feed as normal. "Why you looking at me that way?" I got a few good shots of the pair before coming across this fella peeking out of the sandy gravel.
I kept my fingers well away from his sharp jaws while we admired his patterns and leathery, sandy texture. I especially like the way the eye stripe lines up with the stripe on his snout. When young they make cute animated flapjack aquarium pets, but when they get much bigger they are quick to bite with a long neck that will reach much further than you think! I had a firm grip on his very back shell edge but he reached for me a couple times making for nervous jitters.
The easist fish to photograph. One i had observed earlier was lunging at every fish that passed his way, even fish much bigger than himself, including a husky Blackbanded Darter.
I set up a little photo pool by laying with my feet jutting upstream into a riffle run, toed into the bank and cleared out a little depression just downstream of my hands. I arranged a few rocks for the photo op and made the pool high rimmed. This is a good trick and calls shiners and darters to your position, and it also works great in low visibility conditions when you cannot see more then 2 or 3 feet. The visiting fish are feeding on tiny morsels of food dislodged and exposed and with patience often come very close. Well colored male Alabama, Blue and Tricolor Shiners displayed and various darters started peering over the rim and descending into the viewing area. The handsome, eyebrowed Studfish cruised by heading upstream, mateless, but as a week before, my camera was not ready to snap the quick shot. It probably would have been blurred as i have yet to master those quick shiner shots anyway. But im getting better and refining a few tricks such as prefocusing at a desired range, but this is hard on the battery charge.
A big washed out Blackbanded Darter came into view, not distinctly patterned as they often are while under submerged brush. I got a few shots of him as Ale waded upstream, but debris and cloudiness was making clear viewing difficult. I wondered why Ale was stirring up so much debris as it was ever increasing by the minute. The rains that had fallen in the mountains that morning were now making their way downstream and visibility had gone from perfectly clear to about 3 feet in a matter of 15 minutes. We decided to give up on our underwater views and instead chase fish for Michael's photo tank. I will let his photos speak to that and my attempts did not turn out well especially due to the mirroring glare from the glass. Would matte glass be the solution?
We eventually had enough and cold rain was falling on our shivering backs. We put on dry clothes and headed south to Little Rome and a fine meal. Another good day, well a good half day, catching some clear water before the storm waters arrived. People were killed to the west in Yazoo and much damage was scattered over the region including to our east. A tornado 3/4 mile wide laid on the ground for many miles, and several more were sighted during this wave. A lot of people suffered from the onslaught but we dodged most of it pretty well and it made for an adventurous day.
Wolfeman, Ale and K-Man ignored the oncoming storms after a delayed start from Atlanta. We arrived about the same time at the Nancy Ward Ocoee boat ramp and while the water was clear, the sky was heavy with dark clouds. Getting our wetsuits and gear on we were all soon whooping and puffing from the chilling water. I quickly added Mirror Shiners and a Greenside Darter to last week's specie count. Michael later added a Trout and a pair of horny headed River Chubs. Mirror Shiners have a unusual body shape that reminds me of a topedo. A breeding male will run a small, well marked dorsal flag up from the center of his back making them a uniquely shaped minnow. They seem to like cooler water which is where i most often encounter them. All my first shots were blurred by the lack of light and i soon rediscovered the LED feature while in Super Macro mode. You gotta be very close, but the LED setting shines an intense light on a subject when you push half way down on the shutter, which also locks the focus. Like a deer in the headlight the Redline seemed to freeze allowing several good shots, but that may have been him finally relinquishing after 15 minutes of previous pursuit.
After about an hour rain started falling and rumbles were nearing. Soon Michael was hoodless, cold and standing on the gravel bar shivering when thunder started cracking overhead. I stayed in for a few more minutes chasing shiner shots but the water began to cloud from the upstream activity, as today was Saturday, a rafting day and i presume the dam had been opened earlier well upstream. Leaves and debris began to wash down and with the increasing darkness visibility was quickly being minimized. We discussed our options and decided to leave our snorkel gear on and head south to the Conasauga, figuring we might dodge some of the dopplar radar waves as the severe storm wall was not forcasted for 2 or 3 more hours.
We arrived at the Conasauga and in about 30 minutes were chasing down shimmering metallic blue Speckled Darters. The water was crystal clear though a side channel was slowly oozing in a milky cloud that was then being rushed downstream, tightly held against the close bank. Maybe from road runoff or a farmer's field, silt is not our friend.
I found the hogsucker sighted from the previous week with the Lamprey still attached, though it looked like the parasite had moved slightly off center of the host's concave head. I dont know what the outcome of this gruesome ordeal will be, it has to be horrible but the Hogsucker seemed to move and feed as normal. "Why you looking at me that way?" I got a few good shots of the pair before coming across this fella peeking out of the sandy gravel.
I kept my fingers well away from his sharp jaws while we admired his patterns and leathery, sandy texture. I especially like the way the eye stripe lines up with the stripe on his snout. When young they make cute animated flapjack aquarium pets, but when they get much bigger they are quick to bite with a long neck that will reach much further than you think! I had a firm grip on his very back shell edge but he reached for me a couple times making for nervous jitters.
The easist fish to photograph. One i had observed earlier was lunging at every fish that passed his way, even fish much bigger than himself, including a husky Blackbanded Darter.
I set up a little photo pool by laying with my feet jutting upstream into a riffle run, toed into the bank and cleared out a little depression just downstream of my hands. I arranged a few rocks for the photo op and made the pool high rimmed. This is a good trick and calls shiners and darters to your position, and it also works great in low visibility conditions when you cannot see more then 2 or 3 feet. The visiting fish are feeding on tiny morsels of food dislodged and exposed and with patience often come very close. Well colored male Alabama, Blue and Tricolor Shiners displayed and various darters started peering over the rim and descending into the viewing area. The handsome, eyebrowed Studfish cruised by heading upstream, mateless, but as a week before, my camera was not ready to snap the quick shot. It probably would have been blurred as i have yet to master those quick shiner shots anyway. But im getting better and refining a few tricks such as prefocusing at a desired range, but this is hard on the battery charge.
A big washed out Blackbanded Darter came into view, not distinctly patterned as they often are while under submerged brush. I got a few shots of him as Ale waded upstream, but debris and cloudiness was making clear viewing difficult. I wondered why Ale was stirring up so much debris as it was ever increasing by the minute. The rains that had fallen in the mountains that morning were now making their way downstream and visibility had gone from perfectly clear to about 3 feet in a matter of 15 minutes. We decided to give up on our underwater views and instead chase fish for Michael's photo tank. I will let his photos speak to that and my attempts did not turn out well especially due to the mirroring glare from the glass. Would matte glass be the solution?
We eventually had enough and cold rain was falling on our shivering backs. We put on dry clothes and headed south to Little Rome and a fine meal. Another good day, well a good half day, catching some clear water before the storm waters arrived. People were killed to the west in Yazoo and much damage was scattered over the region including to our east. A tornado 3/4 mile wide laid on the ground for many miles, and several more were sighted during this wave. A lot of people suffered from the onslaught but we dodged most of it pretty well and it made for an adventurous day.
Edited by Casper Cox, 26 April 2010 - 10:01 PM.
#25
Guest_Casper Cox_*
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Posted 26 April 2010 - 11:08 PM
I thought this side by side shot would show the value of the LED Option on the camera. Both were shot in super macro within seconds of each other but the right image is illuminated by the LED. Not all of the Olympus Stylus UW cameras have this feature. K-Man's model lacked it. Maybe he can take a waterproof micro LED flashlight along next time. Keep this in mind if your gonna purchase an UW camera.
#26
Guest_IsaacSzabo_*
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Posted 27 April 2010 - 12:46 AM
Great pictures and another great story Casper. I like the shot of the softshell peaking out of the sand, and I love the pattern on the Redline. Too bad your day was cut short by the rain. Once you get into snorkeling and UW photography rain becomes the enemy (although we wouldn’t even have streams to snorkel in without rain).
#27
Michael Wolfe
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- North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage
Posted 28 April 2010 - 06:48 AM
Well, I have been waiting for our fearless leader (actually not so fearless if you judge by the squealing when that softshell to a shot at him in retaliation for being held out of the water) to start the story telling of our adventure in thunder and fish.
I have a few pics to share as well, but also was trying out my new video camera. So first I have to start off with a new promise to Farmer Todd to not make fun of himany longer for the following items... Waving the camera around underwater while huffing and puffing and banging it on the rocks (this is a much more common occurrence than I would have thought)... Failing to center the fish on the video sreen (you really cannot see what you are shooting underwater and I have many good shots of the rocks just beyond the darter I was looking at)... Not holding still during the shot (while this is a basic dry land video skill it is not all that basic while trying to avoid being washed down stream by the might Ocoee). So I learned something of the problems with the cameraman, I also learned some good things about my camera, and I will share some of the few seconds of good video I got, once I edit down some.
But for now here are some pics from the photo tank:
Well, maybe not... I was trying to use the gallery and can't seem to likn the photos yet... give me a few minutes to figure that out.
I have a few pics to share as well, but also was trying out my new video camera. So first I have to start off with a new promise to Farmer Todd to not make fun of himany longer for the following items... Waving the camera around underwater while huffing and puffing and banging it on the rocks (this is a much more common occurrence than I would have thought)... Failing to center the fish on the video sreen (you really cannot see what you are shooting underwater and I have many good shots of the rocks just beyond the darter I was looking at)... Not holding still during the shot (while this is a basic dry land video skill it is not all that basic while trying to avoid being washed down stream by the might Ocoee). So I learned something of the problems with the cameraman, I also learned some good things about my camera, and I will share some of the few seconds of good video I got, once I edit down some.
But for now here are some pics from the photo tank:
Well, maybe not... I was trying to use the gallery and can't seem to likn the photos yet... give me a few minutes to figure that out.
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin
#29
Michael Wolfe
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- Board of Directors
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- North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage
Posted 28 April 2010 - 07:30 AM
So does this work for posting an image?
Green Breast from the Conasauga
How about this...
...finally!
Green Breast from the Conasauga
How about this...
...finally!
Edited by Michael Wolfe, 28 April 2010 - 07:52 AM.
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin
#30
Michael Wolfe
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- North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage
Posted 28 April 2010 - 08:01 AM
OK, so now that I got that figured out...
Here are som other residents of the Conasauga...
Bronze Darter
Mobile Logperch
Coosa Darter
By the time we were taking photos it was raining so hard I couldn't keep the photo tank dry... but look at that dorsal fin!
A not really colored up Tricolor
A large and studly Alabama Shiner
...and when I say studly... look at the studs al over his head and back...
Here are som other residents of the Conasauga...
Bronze Darter
Mobile Logperch
Coosa Darter
By the time we were taking photos it was raining so hard I couldn't keep the photo tank dry... but look at that dorsal fin!
A not really colored up Tricolor
A large and studly Alabama Shiner
...and when I say studly... look at the studs al over his head and back...
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin
#33
Michael Wolfe
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- Board of Directors
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- North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage
Posted 28 April 2010 - 09:08 AM
Well its easy to be brave when they are all behind safety glass.
Good job. Im eagerly awaiting the fishy video.
Where are the shiney blue shiners?
Well, in a purely hypothetical question to those in the know in the professional area... If a person were to be seining in a stream with a federally listed species, and without trying, accidently seined that species (or even a couple of dozen in a single seine haul of several different sizes and age classes), how quickly should those fish be returned to the stream? Would it be acceptable to place a few in a bucket or stream-side photo tank?
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin
#34
Michael Wolfe
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- Board of Directors
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- North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage
Posted 28 April 2010 - 09:10 AM
Awesome, awesome, awesome. I REALLY like that last Alabama shiner picture!
Todd
I need to get a few pointers from you on some of the photo enhancements. That Alabama was much brighter than the photo shows (he was much bluer and much redder). Don't know if the grey background affected the photo, or if it was the overcase (actually raining) sky, but that is really a mediocre representation of what we saw.
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin
#35
Guest_farmertodd_*
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Posted 28 April 2010 - 09:57 AM
The answer to your first question is "immediately".
I bumped the pics... In PS 6.0 (yes, I'm still using that dinosaur) I did "auto levels" and then increased the color contrast for red, magenta and yellow in the middle and highlight range, and then pulled green and blue in the shadows. See what you think:
Todd
I bumped the pics... In PS 6.0 (yes, I'm still using that dinosaur) I did "auto levels" and then increased the color contrast for red, magenta and yellow in the middle and highlight range, and then pulled green and blue in the shadows. See what you think:
Todd
#36
Michael Wolfe
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- North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage
Posted 28 April 2010 - 10:43 AM
The answer to your first question is "immediately".
That's what I thought... so there are no pics of the shiny blue shiny... but there might be quite a few glimpses in the video (another benefit to video)... especially considering they are the most numerous fish in the river... crazy situation on that one... I mean I know how it got to be that way, but it sure is funny to be "literally" surrounded by dozens at a time and then realize that they have the federal status that they do.
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin
#37
Guest_farmertodd_*
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Posted 28 April 2010 - 12:32 PM
Yeap. There's a place in east TN where if that's the only place you've ever looked at mussels, you might think that the endangered oystershell mussel were about to take over the world. But that's just about it for the species, now that the Duck River darter snatcher populations are in process of species elevation. Or more similar to your blue shiner situation, the spiney river snails. Jeeze... Their spent shells make up the bedding in some places.
I think the underwater cameras will be the best thing going for that type of stuff. No one has ever gotten in trouble for taking a picture of a bald eagle or cockaded woodpecker, and the blue shiners are abundant enough to get the photo in situ without calling question to your activities. Good luck if you see one of those extra stripey logperch go swimming by!
Todd
I think the underwater cameras will be the best thing going for that type of stuff. No one has ever gotten in trouble for taking a picture of a bald eagle or cockaded woodpecker, and the blue shiners are abundant enough to get the photo in situ without calling question to your activities. Good luck if you see one of those extra stripey logperch go swimming by!
Todd
#40
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Posted 04 May 2010 - 12:45 PM
So first I have to start off with a new promise to Farmer Todd to not make fun of himany longer for the following items... Waving the camera around underwater while huffing and puffing...
I found a whole new video hell yesterday Michael... Inland lake in the very nearshore when you're bouyant and in 10 inches of water where if you even think of grazing the bottom, you've lost that spot for the next 2 hours.
I'll take a stream that blows away your mistakes in seconds ANY DAY.
But man, was it a neat snorkel! I wish I could have just been an observer and not been fussing with technology. Iowa and least darter have the coolest spawning ecology I've ever witnessed. It's totally different in lakes
Todd
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