Tim Smith

Looks like the turn out was terrific! Sometimes it's good to be wrong.

A trout would have been surprising. A wild-hatched trout was very surprising...and unwanted. The IDNR didn't put it there.

Actually, Rich, that may or may not be happening. It seemed that they were short on volunteers to get those built. How many are planning to attend?

Yesterday it was a pleasure talking to Dan Sallee, regional biologist for Northwest Illinois working at the Cedar Creek shocking. After the shocking, Dan and I drove out to the Apple River to look at the work site for the Clear Creek project. Jude and I took a look at the creek back in April and I was glad for a chance to discuss the work with the state biologists working on the project. He'll recognize some of these areas from our visit then. The ISA contributed $2,500 to stream restorations in Apple Canyon State Park on Clear Creek. Some of the other funding sources have been slow to come together, but the contractors have been contacted and the lunker structures are being prepared for installation and work is moving ahead. The work sites for lunker installations are shown below. The bank with the stone work was stabilized in the mid 90s using the stone shown here. In the interim the stone has been undercut and is slumping into the pool. In addition to work on the sites shown here a few other sites are going to be stablized to reduce the amount of silt they are contributing to the sediment budget.

I hear that esteemed Tim Smith guy is a real SOB. Here are some of the fish we collected. The 2nd stream we sampled was an interesting clay and rip-rapped affair in a corn field. Still no smallmouth but... ...we did find a wild-hatched brown trout. It was great to meet Gordon and fraternize a bit with the IDNR stream crews.

Keep an eye on your PMs, Jim. Notice too that the 19th is also an option for this project. They'll be fin clipping at the Shelbyville dam that morning (and you'll be at the dam if you want to catch a muskie or try to find for one of those big Kaskaskia smallies).

What you find to be obvious isn't necessarily so. In fact, in this case it's simply not true. "Rough fish" have no inheret tolerance for handling. If you value experience , then consider my experience with thousands of hours electrofishing, seining, gill netting, fyke netting, lab culture, pond rearing and hook and line fishing. I can tell you that gizzard shad, suckers, most minnows, and all darters are often less tolerant of handling than smallmouth bass. For every thick-skinned common carp there's a gizzard shad or a silver redhorse that dies when you look at it sideways. Compared to surgically implanting a radio-transmitted EKG in a fish and monitoring it's responses to stress in a controlled laboratory setting, what field experience do you have that would cause you to reject this paper? Personally I haven't seen Cory's paper to know if it merits defense. I do think applying a four minute time limit derived from bonefish is too broad for smallmouth, but I'm not convinced that's what he said. If Jonn's professor intended to convey that scientific studies were all biased and therefore not useful, that professor is doing his students a great disservice. Bad studies do occur, but science is designed to root those out over time. Even in criticizing those papers, the professor in question was engaged in that process. If he were merely trying to convey the need for critical thinking and skepticism where science is involved, perhaps then he would not be leading his students astray. If we have to chose between the field experience of some one who has worked diligently for months and possibly years under the supervision of trained professionals to address a specific question, and some one who has a vauge intuition about something they've never lifted a finger to research, I think the choice about who to believe is rather obvious. And this is why catch and release is a questionable conservation strategy for some of those larger species. One study showed that a very high percentage of tarpon (a species with unavoidably long playing times) become exhausted during handling and are eaten by sharks after being caught and released. Bag limits may actually kill fewer fish and be the more reasonable way to go in some cases.

Four minutes IS a long time. I was fishing yesterday after the IDNR electrofishing trip and I started counting out handling times. Of fifty or so fish I caught, two difficult unhooking jobs took 2 minutes from strike to release. A couple of larger fish needed a little playing time and were measured and took just over a minute. Everything else was in and out in less than a minute and most of the dinks were in and gone in less than 30 seconds. I would hate to see us use that 4 mintues as a rule of thumb. Even with pictures and measuring we can do far better.

Left bank, under the bluff between the boulders in the riffle and the large boulder on the left. If I'm reading the current right, there should be a scour hole there with rock bottom and depth plus some canopy nearby. The whole pool seems to be full of boulders and cobble.

Your point is well taken that "fragile" can mean just about anything. There isn't a specific scientific meaning of that word where fish are concerned. In this case, the context was handling so that's what I meant and I assume that's what Ron means too. Suckers (especially red horses) are the first fish species to die during collections. Carp (not a sucker, but a minnow) are highly robust. Smallmouth fall somewhere in between. The use of "tolerant" and "intolerant" came into vouge with the increased use of the Index of Biotic Integrity (developed at the University of Illinois by researchers at the Illinois Natural History Survey). "Tolerant" is generally used to describe species that will remain in a system that has been compromised by pollutants. The presence of high numbers of "intolerant" species indicate a high quality stream that has not been compromised by pollutants.

Terrific answers and in general a terrific intuition about hydrology and fish habitat use. THESE answers are what the ISA stands for. If you can read the water you're always on fish. I'll give Phil a chance to comment on fish location. We caught several here, some in exactly the spots mentioned in the posts, but none were big. If anyone has a similar photo...throw it up there.

Let's remember that we're looking at a press report about the research, not the research. You have to be careful when the press starts quoting scientists because it's very easy for things to get lost in the translation. I've been through this dance a few times with the press and I can just about guess what happened. The subtext I see here is that Cory intended to say these results were applicable to other species in a general sense. I suspect he tried to point out the effects of temperature and other things on handling stress and none of that ever reached the printed page. You can understand the reason this information was reported this way. Every fish, hook, temperature, species, season, and hooking depth puts complexities in this data. Its very difficult to pack all that information into a few sentances in a news report, and in fact Cory doesn't have that data. We don't even have a tiny fraction of the whole story here. Maybe we should call Cory and ask him to comment on his findings. What we shouldn't do is dump science in favor of bar stool assumptions. Ask any fisheries biologist which is a more fragile fish...almost any sucker species (rough fish), or smallmouth bass and if they're not passed out drunk they'll say the sucker.

I would have hoped for a better photo to kick this off, but this one will do. Here's Phil F on a favorite stretch of smallmouth water. It's mid-afternoon in the early fall with scattered clouds, 1.5 feet of water clarity and water temperatures in the mid 70s. If you were here, where would you fish and where are the smallies holding? There is a small piece of riffle just out of view of the camera just to the right.

The amount of work and care put into this program every year is just an inspiration. Congratulations on a banner year.

The primary threat for hooking mortality comes from swallowing the hook and piercing the arteries associated with the gills. Superficial wounds to the face and outer gill plates have much less effect on the survival of caught fish. The loss of an eye is a serious wound, but doesn't pose a grave risk to survival. Treble hooks have been identified as risk for higher mortality. I can't recall a study (although it could exist) that specifically compares the risk of hooking mortality with crank baits with treble hooks vs other baits. Let's be careful to point out too that those 4 mintues cited in the article is the MAXIMUM the author felt they could handle. Don't pick this up as a rule of thumb for how long you can safely handle bass. If you land a bass in 30 seconds and wave it around in the air for 3.5....you probably might as well grease up the pan. Also, you can expect that 4 minute limit to vary substantially between species. The way fish species respond to stress varies incredibly. Don't expect bonefish physiology to closely mimic smallmouth bass. That maximum will be different when applied to Micropterus dolomieu. I will say I admire your integrity, Norm, but I do plan to keep measuring fish. The 5 seconds needed to hold your fish beside a calibrated pole yields some good information. If conditions are such that 5 seconds more stress is going to kill your fish, you probably shouldn't be fishing at all.

Position: Fisheries Monitoring Crew Members (5) Duration: 1 November 2007 to mid-May 2008 Responsibilities: Under the direction of crew leaders, crew members participate in collecting data for regional monitoring of California's Coastal salmonids in coastal Mendocino County. Primary responsibilities include operation of weirs and traps, conducting spawning ground surveys, and operating smolt traps. Other responsibilities include data management, field and laboratory equipment care, maintenance, and repair, data entry, and operation of ATV's and 4wd vehicles. Ability to identify, mark, and handle salmonids, hike or kayak up to five miles in adverse weather, keep clear and accurate data records, and follow established protocols. Salary: ~13.20 $/Hour Closing Date: 5 November 2007. Apply: For Application Information, see: fisheries technician pool for Northern California at www.psmfc.org Contact: For more information contact: Sean P. Gallagher, email: Sgallagh@dfg.ca.gov California Department of Fish and Game, 306 East Redwood, Fort Bragg, CA 95437. Phone 707-964-1492

Position Title: Aquatic Biologist/Aquaculture Intern Available from April thru November 2007 and is negotiated based on school schedule. Agency/Location: Advanced Technical Aquatic Control LLC/Lebanon, Ohio Responsibilities: • Deliver fish • Water analysis (DO, pH, Ammonia etc.) • Cleaning fish holding tanks • General maintenance of equipment, facility and land • Feeding fish (keep records of fish growth for calculating feeding rates) • Completion of daily log sheets • Assist other departments as needed and any other assigned duties • Good people/communication skills • Knowledge in warm water fish production Qualifications: • Majoring in Aquaculture, Fish Management, Aquatic Biology, or similar Natural Resource Major Salary: $300 per week with room and board Contact: Richard A. Rogers, President 1-888-998-7663 or fax resumes to 1-513-932-9706 or email rick@atac.cc or mail to P.O. Box 1223, Lebanon, OH 45036 A.T.A.C. is an equal opportunity employer

Position Title: Graduate Assistantship Agency/Location: NC State University/Raleigh, NC Responsibilities: We are seeking a M.S. student interested in participating in a large, collaborative project associated with understanding food-web dynamics in reservoirs. Project ideas are flexible, but will focus generally on impacts of recent fish introductions on community structure, sport fisheries, competitive interactions, and predator-prey dynamics. Projects may combine field and laboratory observation and experimentation with ecological modeling. Qualifications: Minimum requirements are defined by the Department of Zoology (www.cals.ncsu.edu/zoology/stuinfo.html). Salary: Graduate Research Assistantships will be provided with a salary of approximately $17,000 per year. Health insurance, tuition, and fees paid Start Date: Summer/Fall 2008 Contact: Interested students should send a cover letter, c.v., names of references, and copies of transcripts and GRE scores (official copies not necessary) to: Dr. Derek Aday or Dr. Jim Rice Department of Zoology, NCSU 127 David Clark Laboratory Raleigh, NC 27695-7617 Or contact derek_aday@ncsu.edu or jim_rice@ncsu.edu.

Position Title: PhD assistantship in fish reproductive biology and population dynamics Location: University of North Carolina Wilmington Responsibilities: Estimation of batch fecundity and spawning frequency for black sea bass and red porgy in the US South Atlantic. Project will involve field sampling, histological analyses, and population modeling. The student will work as part of a team of collaborators representing UNCW, NC Sea Grant, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, and NOAA. Qualifications: Student should have already completed an MS degree in fisheries, natural resource management, or a related field and should be able to demonstrate strong academic ability. Some offshore sampling experience is recommended. Salary: Annual stipend of $21,000 with some tuition support. Closing date: Nov 30, 2007 Contact: Send statement of interests, cv, and contact information for three references to: Fred Scharf (scharff@uncw.edu), Department of Biology and Marine Biology, UNCW, 601 South College Rd., Wilmington, NC 28403

Position Title: M.S. Research Assistantship-Developing methods for sampling mudpuppies Location: Vermont Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, University of Vermont/Burlington, VT Responsibilities: Incumbent is expected to develop a thesis topic within the framework of a project focused on mudpuppies. One expected product of this research is the development of an effective survey design for the non-lethal sampling of mudpuppies. Other likely components will be to determine the distributions of mudpuppies in Lake Champlain along the Vermont shore and in Vermont tributaries, and determine age class distribution, habitat use, and possible seasonal movements. The student will be expected to work collaboratively with the advisor and state biologists. Yet, the student will be need to complete many tasks independently. Qualifications: BS degree in biological or environmental sciences, fisheries, or other related fields with a GPA of 3.0 recommended. GRE scores > 1200 are preferred. Applicants with knowledge of stream ecology, ability to problem-solve and think critically, and experience in multiple field and aquatic sampling techniques will be given priority. Stipend: ~$21,000/year, plus non-resident tuition waiver. Closing Date: until filled. Project expected to begin in Spring/Summer 2008. Contact: Via email, send a resume, research interests, transcripts, GRE scores, and names and phone numbers of two references to: Dr. Donna L. Parrish Donna.Parrish@uvm.edu.

Position Title: M.S. Graduate Student in Fisheries Resources Location: Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, University of Idaho/Moscow, Idaho Responsibilities: To analyze long term data set and model relationship of river and population processes on life history characteristics for Snake River fall Chinook salmon. Qualifications: Bachelors degree in fisheries, aquatic ecology, environmental science, or a closely related field, a minimum GPA of 3.0 and GRE scores of at least 1100 (verbal and quantitative). Salary: $16,244, tuition and medical. Closing date: Open until filled. First consideration given to letters of interest received by 30 September 2007. Contact: Send including letter of interest and CV (include GPA and GRE scores) to: Chris Peery Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources University of Idaho Moscow, ID 83844-1136 cpeery@uidaho.edu 208 885-7223 In addition to above, applicants should apply to Graduate School in Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources (http://www.students.uidaho.edu/gradadmissions).

Position Title: Ph.D. Graduate Student in Human Dimensions Agency/Location: Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Responsibilities: To conduct research associated with recreational management of fisheries in Minnesota. Student will be responsible for preparing peer-reviewed articles from existing data and working closely with MnDNR fisheries managers in developing recreation management plans Qualifications: M.S. in human dimensions of fisheries and wildlife, recreation resources management, or related fields. Minimum GPA of 3.0 and GRE scores of at least 1100 (verbal + quantitative). Salary: $18,000 plus full tuition and medical benefits Closing date: Open until filled; start date of January 2008 Contact: Send CV (please included GPA and GRE scores) and letter of interest to Dr. David C. Fulton, USGS e-mail: dcfulton@umn.edu phone: 612-625-5256 Minnesota Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology University of Minnesota 1980 Folwell Ave. St. Paul, MN 55108

Position Title: M.S. Research Assistantship Location: Fisheries and Illinois Aquaculture Center, Department of Zoology, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL (http://fisheries.siu.edu/) Responsibilities: Conduct research on potential for biological control of snails in aquaculture ponds by hybrid sunfishes and freshwater prawn. Qualifications: B.S. in Fisheries, Aquaculture or a closely related field. Applicants must meet admission requirements for the graduate school and Department of Zoology at SIUC (see http://www.science.siu.edu/zoology/programs-graduate.html). Salary: $16,000/year (two years of support) plus full tuition waiver Closing Date: Open until filled. Start date January 2008. Contact: Submit a letter of interest, resume, contact information for three references, copies of transcripts and GRE scores to: Dr. Greg Whitledge, Fisheries & Illinois Aquaculture Center, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 62901-6511; (618) 453-6089; gwhit@siu.edu

Position Title: M.S. and Ph.D. Assistantships -- Sturgeon Genetics Agency/Location: Fisheries and Illinois Aquaculture Center, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Carbondale, IL 62901 Responsibilities: The projects will involve the use of morphology and molecular markers for studies of hybridization, species discrimination, and molecular ecology in river sturgeons of the genus Scaphirhychus in relation to conservation of the endangered pallid sturgeon (S. albus). Qualifications: B.S. or M.S. in biology, fisheries, or a related discipline. Interest in the use of molecular genetics in conservation and fisheries management. GRE scores, official transcripts, and references will be required prior to hiring. Salary: $1354 per month with full tuition waiver. Closing Date: Open until filled. Preferred starting date January 1, 2008. Contact: Send cover letter describing qualifications including cumulative GPA and GRE scores to Dr. Ed Heist via email at edheist@siu.edu.