95 lines
5.5 KiB
Plaintext
95 lines
5.5 KiB
Plaintext
Fish Watching
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By ruzz
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For distribution to all my icthyolgical and lymnolgical commrads.
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Bird watching is enjoyed by many people. Wildlife watching by a few. Fish
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watching seems to have a following only in Ruzsland. For our purposes
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these are wildfish not aquarium fish.
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Understand that most fish are very leary creatures. They usually have to
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keep an eye out for predators above them. Thats where your likley to be.
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Another trick they have is the light bending habit of water. This makes
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them seem higher than they actually are. The other thing that happens is
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that the depth of the fish determines how much it can see above water. It
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sees more the deeper it is. So if your standing near the bank and watching
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a sunfish 2 inches deep and a trout 4 feet deep the trout will spot you
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before the sunfish does.
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Another thing that fish have going for them is that they can feel or here
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you walking along the bank. Water carries sound better than air. A fishes'
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lateral line picks up sound waves and other like disturbances and
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transmits it to the ear. Kind of like an amplifier along it's body.
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Now that you have basic starter knowledge on fish senses that apply to
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you, you can begin fish watching. This will help your fishing skills wich
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can help you in a survival situation (Like an elimination fishing derby!).
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You'll want polarized sunglasses and binoculars. Not necessary but their
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convienent. If you are rich/powerful/resourceful/contructive, and have a
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boat I suggest getting an AQUA VIEW. This will open up even more worlds.
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Start saving up today. (Honestly, theyre not paying me a thing!)
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To get started, you'll need a place with fish. Streams cricks rivers
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brooks creeks ponds lagoons lakes oceans seas swamps marshes etc bogs, and
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estruaries. You may want to go to rivers or streams in winter, as they
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wont freeze up as fast as ponds. Next, approach calmly and slowly and
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queitley. You should approach from somewhere with alot of cover.
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Incidentally wear natural colored clothes. If you can gather intel on the
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species of the pond that would greatly help. Most commonly you see carp,
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sunfish or a large school of small minnows hanging around. You may see a
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bass, trout, pike or other large gamefish may be cruising around. Dont let
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your shadow hit the water, this will scare fish every time. It takes time
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and practice, but soon you will be able to discern even the faintest
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movement of fish. A great help to bowanglers. Try early in the morning or
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evening. Many fish start foraging then and can be made out by the small
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light. Also like most animals they are more bold at night. You might even
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see a big bass or catfish or sturgeon you otherwise would never see. If
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you have a light or night vision try at night. Most fish are unfazed by
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flashlights.
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Its very hard to identify fish in the water. So you might want to figure
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out what they are doing. You can make an inferance of a species you have
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caught before. I just say bass whether its large or small, sunfish if its
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like that walley or pike or carp or bullhead if it meets those
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descriptions. Oh while im at it, let me distill a myth. That of trash fish
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and their existance. I say they dont exist. Some of my best battles have
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been waged with a carp. Far as im concerned a carp can fight just as good
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as a bass. Off the soap box.
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As I said, behaiviour is more fullfilling to study, for me anyway. Be
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careful when they are in packs, cause they can bust ya like nothing.
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Except maybe the catfish family, which dont relly on sight too much. What
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are they doing? Why are they doing it. Why else (come on fess up!). Are
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there any other species that are keeping an eye on them, predators or
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prey? Where were they, were are they goin? What time is it. After a while
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your notes may show patterns. With the right species, you can make a
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killing from these notes if you give them to anglers. Make copies of
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course. It is risky but you can interact with them to some extent. Perhaps
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throw a worm or pebble out in front of them. But if you really want to
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interact with them you'll porobly disturb them. Try fishing or catching
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them in a trap and raise them in an aquarium. If you want to do something
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constructive, and helpful to fish after awhile you can construct a shelter
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for them. you dont need much, perhaps even just a branch will do. This may
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also give you a nice place to start watching them. Be careful to be sure
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that whatever you put in wont cause any pollution, make sure its clean.
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Also be extremley careful if your not on your property. Most gamewardens
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and landowners will be leave you be if your just sitting there minding
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your own business and watching fish. They may even be cool with you
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fishing (have a lisence), but most are (rightfully, sometimes) jerks about
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trapping and transporting fish to an aquarium and many will go at your
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throat if you modify their waters. Oh by the way, when you are done with
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watching you fish, return them before November. Otherwise it will be too
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cold and they wont be able to survive the winter. More importantly NEVER
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EVER put them in a different body of water. This has lead to so many
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bio-nightmares its not even funny. Even letting them out in an outlet from
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a pond you got them from is a inaccesptable and inexscusable. If you cant
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walk back to at least the same bow (body of water) let alone the same
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spot, dont take them.
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Also it may be fun to keep a note book as I said earlier. The more
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detailed you have it the more patterns and fun you can have. Try
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temperature-air and water-, sunlight, waterclarity, depth, date, current
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speed, etc.
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