NANFA-- River reef: Tuesday

kahley (kahley7_at_ptd.net)
Tue, 03 Jul 2001 20:36:53 -0500

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Tuesday
Well ....do I know how to pick a vacation or not? NOT!
After weeks of 90 degree days, this week promises much cooler temps.
So cool in fact, that I waited till 10 AM...till the temp reached 65 to head
out. When I got to the docks, the wind was gusting to 30 mph at least!
I knew the first 1/4 mile would be rough till I got into lee from the long
straight
3 miles of open river that breeds three foot white capped waves. Getting the
dogs onto the boat was a bit of a chore due to the rocking but soon we were
away. As soon as we passed under the bridge, things started to settle down
and as we cleared the eastern point it was pretty smooth sailing

Still cool though but with bright sunshine, so all in all a good day. A
work day. I pulled a bunch of big rocks to add to the shallows to provide
cover
for the young bass. Hopefully, it will also make the area less attractive
to the folks
who have been dumping their kids off near the island and said kids crawling
over
and knocking apart my reef.

Today I saw the change.
I feel increasingly ignorant here ...among people who can rattle off the
names of six
kinds of shiners and same of darter. To me, little fish are minnows til
they grow into
something recognizable. Today, some of them have grown to the point that I
known
they are chubs. For years, I have tried to figure out which fish were true
minnies and
which just fry but I never can tell till some of them reach the five or six
inch range.
Someone referred to white tipped shiners. I think I know that one....fiery
hints of
rainbow opalescence and white tipped fins? On the reef, these are the
crevice layers.
Can't wait till the Peterson's comes..maybe then I will make some sense.

The reef has always had a good population of somesortof chub. They are
so constant in behavior and so fast in their movement, that unless one shows up
with some egregious scar or wound, I can't tell them apart and refer to
them as
"the Guys". I think there are five in residence this year...one with a
wound on it's back.
Curly and crew arrived for clean up but as I had little to offer the
regulars, there were
few crumbs for the clean up crew. About three, the clouds rolled in, and
I started to get cold.
After an hour without the sun, I headed home as the sky opened for a face
stinging half hour
trip home.

An early muster tomorrow AM. The fourth of July and if I want any peace at
all, it will come
in the AM. Water has cleared to three feet +.

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