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

I wanna fish Thailand!

Wow, check out this gallery of catches from this guiding Thailand site. I think that in addition to the Amazon River, I need to add Bung Sam Ran lake to my wish list of places to fish!

Pymatuning fishkill resolved

Harrisburg – The departments of Environmental Protection and Health, and the Fish and Boat Commission have lifted the “Do Not Eat” consumption advisory for all species of fish taken from Pymatuning Reservoir and Tamarack Lake in Crawford County.

Fish tissue samples tested by the Fish and Boat Commission and Cornell University determined the large fish kills in both lakes were the result of a Columnaris outbreak. Columnaris is a naturally occurring bacterium that was triggered by several stressors, including rapidly warming waters during the spawning season.

Source

High water, no problem

A lot of guys find that high water blows them right out of their game. Some won't even fish in high water. Listen, it's not like the fish can go check into the nearest Howard Johnson's for a vacation. They are there, it's your job to find them.

Check the current seams. You will find slack water and that's where the fish will stack in order to avoid swimming hard against the current all day. I remember fishing Neshannock Creek once years ago when the water was so high the dam in Volant was not noticeable. I'd driven a long way so I had to try something. You know that abutment on the side of the dam that people climb on? the water was that high, so I found a little eddy that had formed in it, tied on a heavy bead-head Pheasant tail nymph, and caught 3 fish in it!

Don't give up, just fish smarter. :)

Guide to Discus by Heiko Bleher

In reviving this place for the Spring/Summer (dare I dream even more?) I wanna remember that the name is "Adventures with Fish", not just fishing, and with that in mind here's a great start to a new series on Discus keeping by a man who knows them better than most of us ever will.

With Practical Fishkeeping, Heiko Bleher is presenting a series on Discus that judging by part one, will be a superb in-depth look at one of my favorite fish! Here's a sample:

All three species of Discus can easily be distinguished by their own chemical water parameters and that’s why I recommend never keeping them together.

The habitat of Heckel Discus (S. discus) is always water of a dark tea colour, with visibility up to 1m/3.3’ and rarely more; pH never above 5.0 but averaging 4.5; conductivity from 6-12 µS/cm — but the average is always below 10. They live only in extreme acid water and oxygen concentration is often only 2.8 mg/l.

Heckels are active in daytime in groups of 30-200 or even more, standing in deep water, along rivers, or lake edges at a drop-off, normally at a depth of 1.5-4m/5-13’ among mostly acará-açú bushes (Licania spp.), a plant widespread in the Amazon basin and living partly under water.

In between are fallen trees and logs — and there’s always fine white sand present too.

Check it out, it's a great introduction that has me already looking forward to the rest of the series!

First bass of 2010

Slowly climbing out of the deep freeze...maybe I can revive this blog! :)