Tim Smith

Jamie, Jamie, Jamie. I pretty much expected that from you. Can't do it, can you?

We've had some fun wrangling over Micropterus ID over the last week or so. We've also talked about hybridization and subspecies and the point has been made that regional variation can be significant. Various opinions have been floated regarding valid or useful methods to ID spotted bass vs. largemouth vs smallmouth bass. Some of those charactersistics are found in most fish keys. These include: 1. The presence or absence of a tooth patch on the toungue, 2. Evenly spaced rows of belly spots 3. Connection of the spinous and soft dorsal fins 4. Mouth extending to a point beyond, below or in front of the eye 5. Broad black horizontal bar on body Some of those characteristics are found in some keys or some of us have found them to be useful in our own IDs. 6. Green on the belly below the black horizontal bar 7. Red eyes Now it's time to earn your credentials in Micropterus ID. The nine photos below are all either smallmouth bass, largemouth bass or spotted bass. Some of these are easier than others, but I will say ahead of time that I will be genuinely impressed by anyone who gets all of them correct. None of the official IDs on these fish list them as hybrids. If you want to try the quiz, list your answers in the same order the pictures appear. I'll wait a few days and then fill in the official ID. Have fun!! Micropterus 1 Micropterus 2 Micropterus 3 Micropterus 4 Micropterus 5 Micropterus 6 Micropterus 7 Micropterus 8 Micropterus 9

Check with John Bunner, a board member at Indiana Smallmouth Conservation (and also registered here under that name). He builds and sells custom rods and his work was highly recommended on their board.

That's very VERY few dying from shark attacks... Let's not look too daring or the insurance adjusters will change our rates.

I am looking for a PhD student to work on a project examining the ecology and adaptation of Detroit River brown bullhead (a catfish) to high levels of contaminants (relative to bullhead from "clean" sites). Preliminary data indicate these fish may have evolved a completely different contaminant response pathway to deal with the carcinogenic effects of PAHs etc. The project will include lots of field work, plus microarray, qRT-PCR and population genetics lab work. Some background would be preferable, but I can train in the technical lab stuff. I have funding for 4 years. The project starts immediately, so contact me ASAP (with CV, e-mail addresses of potential references, and a grade summary) if you are interested. Daniel Heath Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research University of Windsor 401 Sunset AveWindsor, Ont, Canada N9B 3P4 E-mail: dheath@uwindsor.ca Phone: (519) 253-3000, Ext 3762 Fax: 971-3616www.uwindsor.ca/heathresearchgroup/

And he probably will. And darn it, they did misquote me. It should read...

Should be in the ball park, Norm.

Good lord. I think I was drunk when I talked to them! What did I say!!?!? (Ok, I'm kidding about the drunk part. But what did they say I said?)

I've been told this "blows the doors" off of Google Earth. Haven't tried it yet. Proceed at your own risk. http://worldwind.arc.nasa.gov/download.html

High quality Columbia pants. Fifty dollar investment, never worn. Took the tags off too soon before realizing that elastic waists stretch OUT not IN...they're too big for me. Will trade for a new or used 3rd grip in good condition, a new or used 2 piece kayak paddle, 20 pounds of Krugeraands (never hurts to try), a fly reel in good condition, or....?

Position Description - PhD opportunity in Ecological modeling/Stream habitat fragmentation University of Massachusetts - Amherst We seek a highly-motivated student to participate in efforts to understand habitat fragmentation effects on population viability of stream fish. The student will extend existing data analyses to develop a system for prioritizing management actions at stream barriers. The aim of the project is to develop a detailed spatial demographic model that will be used to determine how stream fragmentation affects growth, movement and survival of brook trout and brown trout. The model will then be applied to a specific management area, where we will use the model to guide management actions. Extensive data have been collected to help define the model but the student will be expected to collect additional data to assess the generality of the model. Although there is a specific product required for this project, there will also be significant opportunity for original, creative work. The student will be an integral part of a team of two post-docs, three PIs and another PhD student. The position will be co-located at the University of Massachusetts and the Conte Anadromous Fish Research Center in Turners Falls, MA, and will be co-directed by Dr. Ben Letcher, Ecology Section Leader at the Research Center, Dr. Keith Nislow, Fish and Wildlife Habitat Team Leader, USDA Forest Service- Northern Research Station located at the University of Massachusetts, and Kim Lutz, Connecticut River Program Director for the Nature Conservancy. Qualifications: MS in Ecology, Ecological Modeling, or Fisheries Science. We are particularly interested in individuals who combine strong quantitative skills (including familiarity with and experience in capture-mark-recapture modeling and demographic modeling in spatially structured systems) with ability to conduct research in the field. Start date: 1 September 2008, with some flexibility. Funding is available for 4 years. Stipend: Full time, $20K/year plus benefits. Tuition waiver from UMass. Additional funds are available for travel and research expenses. Department: Either the Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Program (http://www.bio.umass.edu/oeb/ deadline December 1) or the Department of Natural Resources Conservation (http://www.umass.edu/nrc/ ). Closing date: November 16, 2007. Contact: To apply, please provide cover letter with statement of personal career interests and professional goals, plus extended resume including list of at least 3 references to bletcher@nrc.umass.edu. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Silvio O. Conte Anadromous Fish Research Center U.S. Geological SurveyBiological Resources Division P.O. Box 796 -- One Migratory WayTurners Falls, MA 01376 (413) 863-3803 Cell: (413) 522-9417 FAX (413) 863-9810

Great work, guys. Looks like you had some real fun.

The anal and dorsal fins line up and the eye is yellow so it's a goldeye! What a catch!! I've never even seen one alive before, Dick. Congratulations. I'm going to ponder Trent's fish a bit. It's a brute for sure.

This one, right Michael? (Sorry, I'll be good now, Joseph.)

Graduate Assistantship in Wetland Crayfish Ecology - Florida AtlanticUniversity Funding is available for a MS student to study crayfish population ecologyin the Everglades. The student will develop a thesis project investigatingthe effects of hydrologic variation on population success of two species ofcrayfish. The position is associated with an ongoing grant, will be funded with acombination of TA and RA money, and includes a tuition waiver. Startingdate: June 2008. Requires a Bachelors degree in biology, zoology, fisheries, or a related field. A demonstrated strong work ethic and the ability to work and thinkindependently or as part of a team are required. Experience working withfish or macro-invertebrates is helpful, but ability and willingness toperform physical tasks in remote settings with harsh environmentalconditions (e.g., biting insects) is absolutely necessary. Minimum academicqualifications include GRE scores > 1000 (verbal + quantitative) and anundergraduate GPA > 3.2. A valid driver's license is required. Interested students should contact Nathan Dorn (ndorn1@fau.edu;954-236-1315) before officially applying to the program. Please send aletter of intent, a resume (including GRE scores), and contact informationfor 3 professional references. Nathan Dorn, Assistant Professor Department of Biological Sciences 2912 College Avenue Florida Atlantic University Davie, FL 33314 ndorn1@fau.edu.

Killing? It looks pretty lively to me.

Too late!! The DTs have set in so badly I"m seeing small animals on Jude's chin!! AND... ...in every Physics problem you have to set the boundaries of your system. "...on it's own" denotes explicitly a singular system. You can't add energy to the system with another independent actor after you have already excluded the same. I think I want those guiness served in frosted mugs, please.

Being wrong twice doesn't make you right. I think you're just being stingy with the beer. Three Guinesses would be adequate...although Old Rasputin might be more appropos.

I'm glad to see you've honed in on the vital issue, Mike. And I agree. But where's my beer?

Nah. You're just wrong. When you add the angler's bend you violate the premise of the question as you asked it. Two beer penalty for squirming. That gives me three so far.

A rod can't unbend until it's bent just as it also can't fall until it's lifted, gather dust without dust or break in a door without being placed there and slammed. The rod requires energetic input from an outside actor to complete this action and thus this answer violates the premise of the question. The examiner is penalized one beer (preferably a dark beer in a glass bottle well chilled and unopened) and forced to fish for carp for a day.

Less beer, more dog, more aspirin, more vitamins.... Man. Getting older is complicated.

Sometime in the last decade, some genius decided they would enhance the fishery of Lake Davis, a mountain reservoir in Northern California, by illegally introducing northern pike. Northern pike are a threat to the native trout and salmon in that system and in the whole state. California Fish and Wildlife decided to remove them. I was in California when some of the first kill-offs of Lake Davis were attempted. I'm not sure how high the count is right now, but they've tried several times to remove invasive pike by killing off the whole lake with rotenone. It hasn't worked yet. The lake is a drinking supply for a local town there...you can imagine the rest. The screaming scenes at the end of the clip are the real deal. As an aside: The "expert" with the glasses in the movie clip is Peter Moyle, an internationally known ichthyologist and one of those rare academics who is a genuinely warm, approachable person. I had the pleasure to know and work with him during my brief stint at UC Davis. Edit: Sorry, too much stuff on my mind. Here's the link: http://cpb.ucdavis.edu/bioinv/projects/pike/ http://cpb.ucdavis.edu/bioinv/projects/pik...ing_preview.mov

Position Title: Research Fishery Biologist Vacancy Announcement Number: NMF-AKC-2008-0003 Agency/Location: NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center/Seattle , WA Responsibilities: Investigate questions associated with sampling and estimation bias and precision. Evaluate improved sampling methods and possible applications of video and other technologies for catch and bycatch monitoring. Provide project management oversight to research projects. Collaborate with industry to initiate and/or participate in the development of cooperative research projects. Prepare research results for publication. Serve as field party chief during research cruises. This position is within the Fisheries Monitoring and Analysis (FMA) Division of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center. Qualifications: This vacancy is for a Research Fishery Biologist at the ZP-III or ZP-IV level. Detailed information and application guidance can be found at USAJOBS website: www.usajobs.opm.gov. Salary: $55,702.00 - $121,957.00/year Closing Date: Monday, November 05, 2007 Contact: Judy Cardenas 206-526-6420, email judy.cardenas@noaa.gov NOAA is an equal employment opportunity employer.

Position Title: Fishery Biologist II Agency/Location: Alaska Department Fish & Game / Soldotna, Alaska Responsibilities: This is a challenging position working on resident and anadromous fish stocks that support some of the largest sport fisheries in the State of Alaska. Under general supervision, this position will develop and implement stock assessment research projects that assess the status of salmon and resident fish stocks. Types of projects conducted typically involve mark-recapture, genetic stock identification, age-sex-length sampling, weirs, fish wheels, and radio-telemetry. This position supervises one (1) Fishery Biologist I, and up to five (5) Fish and Wildlife Technicians. Qualifications: Bachelor's degree (Master’s preferred) - biology, branch of biology, limnology, biometrics, oceanography, forestry, natural resource management - and one year Fishery Biologist I or equivalent work experience. Salary: $3,487/mon + benefits Closing Date: 10/22/2007, 5:00 PM ADT Contact: Timothy R/ McKinley, 907-262-9368 (timothy.mckinley@alaska.gov). View full announcement (ID Number 11-5244) and apply online: http://notes4.state.ak.us/wa/PostApps.nsf/...16?OpenDocument