Midwest fish kill

About 40,000 shovelnose sturgeon were killed in Iowa last week as water temperatures reached 97 degrees. Nebraska fishery officials said they've seen thousands of dead sturgeon, catfish, carp, and other species in the Lower Platte River, including the endangered pallid sturgeon. And biologists in Illinois said the hot weather has killed tens of thousands of large- and smallmouth bass and channel catfish and is threatening the population of the greater redhorse fish, a state-endangered species.

Let's remember that these are natural occurrences, and as long as men don't meddle too much with the system now, the fish will come back as they should.

Jose Wejebe killed in plane crash

Oh no!

I just found out about this tragic event... Jose Wejebe, host of one of my favorite tv programs "Spanish Fly", was killed in a plane crash!!

Fishing as a varsity sport!

I'm all for fishing as a varsity sport, it's a lot of work and takes skill to be a consistently good fisherman, and there's a decent living to be made as a professional.

The state of Kentucky recently joined Illinois and Tennessee by adding bass fishing as a high school varsity sport. The lakes, rivers and streams of South Carolina have always been a haven for anglers and record-breaking catches, but will young anglers soon have a chance to win a high school state championship?

Currently South Carolina has 11 public high schools with bass fishing clubs and the goal is to reach at least 16. The schools can then petition to form bass fishing as a varsity sport and more students who may not already participate in an extra-curricular activity get a chance to be a part of a team and compete for a state championship. Not only that, but it will hopefully foster a lifelong love of the sport.

Form a bass fishing club at your school and you can also compete in tournaments around South Carolina. Clubs currently compete in inter-squad tournaments, against other schools as well as fish The Bass Federation of SC Junior Championship and other Student Angler Federation High School Tournaments.

Bass Pro Shops sued for discrimination

The lawsuit alleges that qualified African-Americans and Hispanics were routinely denied positions at Bass Pro stores and managers of stores in Houston, Louisiana and other locations made derogatory racial comments acknowledging the practice.
The commission also alleges that Bass Pro destroyed documents related to applications and internal discrimination complaints and retaliated against those who spoke up.

Story

Huge fish kill in Arkansas

The 20-mile stretch along the Arkansas River where an estimated 100,000 drum fish were found washed ashore and floating looks much different now.

Keith Stephens with Game and Fish explains, "We got a call last week from a tug boat operator that found the fish out on the river along the bank, in the river channel and we immediately dispatched somebody to the area to take a look."

Investigators from local and state agencies took samples from the affected area. Stephens says fish kills occur every year, but the magnitude of this one is unusual, and disease could be the cause.

A pollutant would have affected cross species. Stephens says, "Ninety-nine percent of them were Drum, which is a bottom feeder. It's not a game fish in Arkansas."

Read more here

In addition to that news out of Arkansas comes this shocking report:

Bemused U.S. officials are looking into why more than 1,000 blackbirds crashed from the sky in Arkansas on the final day of 2010.

In scenes reminiscent of the FlashForward drama series, state wildlife employees were searching the town of Beebe after scores of birds fell to the ground late on New Year's Eve, continuing into the early hours of the morning.

High winds and tornadoes swept through Arkansas on New Year's Eve, killing seven people, and state staff believe the bizarre incident could be down to the severe conditions.

That story here.

Record price paid for Meltzhoff Bluefin Tuna painting

I'm a little late on this one but when I found the press release in my email I had to share it with you. This is amazing!

Four paintings of game fish by Stanley Meltzoff set unexpected records for the artist's work at the recent Jackson Hole Art Auction, an annual event that specializes in high-end Western art.

Most noteworthy was "Bluefin at Ballyhoo," an oil-and-acrylic painted by Meltzoff in 1979 that sold for nearly $32,000 -- almost 10 times the pre-sale estimate. Another Meltzoff painting, titled "White Marlin," from 1986, sold for more than $21,000, four times the pre-sale estimate.

The results were especially noteworthy in that the Jackson Hole auction is primarily a vehicle for Western art and rarely deals in other genres.

I'd better keep on working at my fish art! The full report is here.

Highland Park Lock and Dam 2 closed for 2 weeks

The discussion about needed repairs reached a boiling point when pieces of a lock wall actually fell off, and now the work begins and Channel 4 news reports that it's expected to stop all traffic through Lock and Dam 2 Highland Park for about 15 days. Boaters beware!

Here's the most updated report.

Gulf fishermen reach out to president Obama for help

(Jun. 04, 2010 - Alexandria, VA)... Today, representatives from every sector of the sportfishing industry sent a letter to President Obama urging the administration to make federal financial assistance immediately available to recreational fishing-dependent businesses impacted by the Gulf of Mexico oil catastrophe. The industry also recommended that the administration develop a long-term compensation plan for these businesses to cover losses for the duration of the economic impact resulting from the current crisis.

The Gulf has been hard hit by hurricane Katrina and now the oil spill. It doesn't seem that the president is a fan of fishing, but hopefully this will make him aware of the need of the people.

Giant jellyfish warning

Several hundred of the huge creatures were spotted by divers searching for basking sharks near Land’s End and are thought to be Lion's mane jellyfish, (Cyanea capillata) which with a bell size of up to 2.3m and tentacles potentially 36m long are the largest species in the world.

They are capable of giving a nasty sting even when dead, so beach users have been advised to stay clear of any found washed ashore.

The story

in PA news

Increased poaching penalties...a youth dies while hunting raccoon...a Steelhead seminar tomorrow...and a meeting of Trout Unlimited....check it all out here!

International Angler has moved

Consolidated really. If you're a fan/customer of theirs (I am!) you need to know that they've closed the Aspinwall store due to an inability to reach an agreement with the lease-holder, and have moved everything to their Robinson township branch. Great news for any of you who've ever tried to find parking at the Aspinwall store on a busy day!

I always thought that store had more variety of tying materials so it's good for me that they're putting it all in one place! :)

Dunkard Creek fish kill

There are reports of a massive killing of aquatic animals in Dunkard Creek, Greene County. Fish, salamanders, mussels...all being found. This is a really bad situation.

From the Pittsburgh Channel
From Hunting PA

update 10.4: Could the problem have been the introduction of a non-native algae?