NANFA - From the Heart!
by Jeff Fullerton, Native Fish Enthusiast

Fishkeeping has been a life long hobby of mine. And my first attempt at keeping natives probably began with "Splasher & Tucker"-- two banded killifish that were left over baitfish from a family fishing trip when I was still a preschooler.  Before long, I was wading through creeks in pursuit of all manner of aquatic life to keep in those old metalframe tanks we used to have years ago. By my teenage years, I had graduated to a kiddie pool in the backyard in which I kept a variety of minnows, young sunfishes and catfish, along with painted turtles - etc.

Shortly thereafter I moved on again to liner ponds made from cheap polyethelene and eventually worked my way up to what is now regarded as the best stuff - EDPM synthetic rubber. I also improved my taste in fish - and began seeking many of the species I had only read about, but had always wanted. Once I attained the mobility that adult life affords, I began making those dreams a reality. I did spend a little time away from my ponds and tanks during my years of military service, but that also served a productive purpose. I got out into the greater world and broadened my horizons.

Opportunities for travel. New locations and contacts. Plus I explored the growing body of knowledge pertaining to fishkeeping in general and keeping natives in particular. I read about NANFA - a hobbyist organization dedicated to natives in the mid 1980s and bought Tom Baugh's book - A Net Full of Natives while I was stationed in California. I was also keeping Blackbanded Sunfishes at the time and my interest in getting other unusual and hard to obtain species was growing. But I procrastinated.

Got distracted by other things.

I finally joined NANFA a few years ago and my only regret about it is that I did not do it sooner. Most people, myself included often join in order to make contacts so they can trade with other hobbyists who have access to different species of fish than what they can catch locally. But they often end up making new friends and even traveling great distance to visit them. It's one thing to have someone send you some Northern Redbelly Dace from Wisconsin, but alltogether different to take a scenic roadtrip out there (quite an adventure in itself) to meet the same guy go collecting with him.

Or spend a day with the members of the Virginia regional Chapter catching Satinfin Shiners or Mountain Redbelly Dace somewhere west of Richmond!

Or get together with Mark Binkley in Columbus, Ohio, and after touring his spectacular fish room, travel out to a weekend retreat at a pristine glacial pothole lake in the wilds of Indiana - teeming with Starhead Topminnows, Blackchin Shiners, Lake Chubsuckers - not to mention conventional angling opportunities for monsterous bass, bowfin and panfish!

And let us not forget the expeditions with Mike Quispe to the remote reaches of the Florida Panhandle collecting spectacular killies and dollar sunfish in a lily choked roadside slough!

Among this season's greats was our National Convention in Chattanooga earlier this year. Greatly appreciated were the behind the scenes tour of the Tennessee Aquarium and the great food to be had at a variety of places nearby. Also, the hospitality and hard work of Casper Cox who set the whole thing up and also arranged a few field trips to some of the local rivers and streams. The rugged ride to the Conasauga was like a trip to some remote part of the globe and many of the fish to be had there were about as spectacular as what you could buy from your local petshop!

It was the first time I had ever seen Rainbow Shiners, or Studfish!  And the Longear Sunfishes were as awesome as any Cichlid you might hope to catch in the rivers of Mexico and Central America!

1998 was a good year for NANFA! We did a lot and have grown quite a bit since I first started communicating with other members on the E-mail list. And this new medium has beyond a shadow of a doubt given the organization a new lease on life as much as it has opened up more opportunities for the members to communicate. Just today I was forwarded another potential contact for my regional chapter which I would like to see grow.

So far, our chapter has done mostly trips with members of other regions.  It would be nice to get some activities going in our region as well. The streams of the mountains of western Pennsylvania have a decent amount to offer, as well as the possibilities for daytrips to the wetlands of the glaciated lake plain near Erie which harbors some unusual species.  Other possibilities include trips to fish culture facilities like Zetts Fish farm in Drifting Pa & facilities operated by the PA Fish Commission.

But I keep focusing on the fish too much, when what I am really trying to say is that NANFA is also about people. People getting together to share their knowledge about collecting and keeping of fish, as well as treatment of diseases/parasites and culture of live foods, catching bugs, etc. And also it can be a chance to get your feet wet, have some fun with other, make lots of friends and memories to last a lifetime!

That's what NANFA means to me from the Heart!