Not From The River...

These did not come outta the river, but I had to share 'em none the less. Two beautiful fish, from two beautiful weekends. A four and a half pound largemouth, and a six or seven pound walleye...both my biggest to date.

Fish & Water

This is where it all comes together for me, I think.

Handsome Fella...

This good lookin' guy here is a brown bullhead...
Ameiurus nebulosus.
The brown bullhead is otherwise known as the "mud pout", "horned pout" or "hornpout" or simply "mud cat", as are all the other bullhead species.
Originally, I had figured him out to be a yellow bullhead, what with his beatiful, buttery colored belly and all. Apparently, yellow bullheads have white barbels, the little whiskers under the chin. These are definately not white....

Painted Turtle Close Ups....

I'm guessing that this is a Western Painted Turtle....
Chrysemys picta bellii

Bowfin...

Otherwise known as the much maligned Dogfish....Or Beaverfish, Blackfish, Choupic, Choupique, Cottonfish, Cypress trout, Grindle, Grinnel, Grinner, Lawyer, Mudfish, Poisson-castor, Scaled ling, Shoepick, Shoepik, Shoepike, Shupik, and Speckled Cat. Amia calva, family Amiidae. So there!

Snapper Close Ups...

The Common Snapping Turtle....
Chelydra serpentina

One Crazy Night....

It all started with some rotten worms, I think. We hit the river and there was a little painted turtle just chillin' & swimming around. We lured him in a bit closer with some of the rotten worms, scooped him up, took a couple of pictures, and let him get back to the water. The spot was way lit up, more than it normally is, so we could see everything that was goin' on in the water. The night was pretty chilly, especially for August, and with the river being as warm as it is, there was a beautiful mist floating around everywhere. We spotted a pair of carp cruising around right underneath us, and they pretty much stuck around for most of the night as well.
The little turtle that we had grabbed earlier came right back, and a bigger one showed up minutes later. Both of 'em swam right on in and kept snacking on the worms. I landed a little dogfish, all messed up and missing part of one gill plate, and immediately after I got it back in the water, a bigger one rolled on up, I'm guessing to check out the stinky worms that were all floating around.
So now we have carp, turtles, dogfish and ducks hangin' around, I think I forgot to mention the ducks earlier. The beaver and the muskrats were all busy as well, cruisin' back and forth, takin' care of business. The dogfish I caught was makin' occasional appearances as well, swimmin' round in circles, floppin' around all crazy and drunk lookin'. So what shows up next but that big 'ol snapper, all slow and skeptical...
Same deal as before, some rotten worms to lure him in, and Brandon snatched him up right quick. Let me tell you, that sure was some shit, boy. Watchin' him haul it up out of the river was sick, you could see the adrenaline pumpin'. I was all shakin' and I didn't even grab 'em up out of the water. It was like a goddamn petting zoo down there. The photo op was sweet for sure, how are you not going to pose with a beast like that. Just being able to be that close to an animal that magnificent without glass or bars is unreal. But having the opportunity to hold onto him and to feel just how massive and strong they are is damn near indescribable.
I think, or rather, I know that turtle definately trumped everything else that night. At some point Brandon caught a little cat, and Heff had a couple a fish, too, one of which was a sweet ass carp. After that turtle though, I don't think anything would have measured up, right?
Goddamn, how sweet is that river...

Roger & The River

My buddy Roger was out from California for a few days, and we figured we'd get him down to the river and hopefully catch some fish. I owed him big for a tuna boat charter he had hooked up the last time I had been out there visiting him and his family. I think at the end of the day, the tuna we had boated out there were a wee bit more impressive that what we caught at the river, but it sure was fun nonetheless.

You gotta understand, Roger is like twelve feet tall and had to duck to fit under the bridge. So these two fish he landed had to weigh in at like six or seven pounds each. They were positively gigantic.

Once again, Andy and his sheephead...I don't know what he sees in 'em, but he sure does love em'....

The Behemoth....

This photo definately spoils the end of a great story, but that story is still to come...

A Most Splendid View....

I get to walk by this view every night on my way to the river....