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On May 31st, I drove down to Gambier, Ohio for a NANFA Ohio Regional Meeting. NANFA is the North American Native Fishes Association. We had perfect weather, although a storm with heavy rain passed through the night before. It was such a beautiful part of the country! We sampled the Muskingum, Kokosing, Wakatomika, and Walhonding rivers. All I have are some scenery pictures, I fell in a river and wrecked my camera. I met some fantastic people and saw lots of great fish. It was a great weekend!
At our first site, the Muskingum River below Ellis Dam we saw about thirty endangered Sand Darters.
The second site, Wakatomika Creek, was the only one really affected by the heavy rain. The other spots were a bit muddy, but this one was full! We crept around the edges a bit, and found a few fish, including some nice brindled madtoms!
Then we went to a different spot on the Muskingum. Note the deceptively blue sky with innocent looking clouds. We walked into the woods along the river to investigate a swampy area on the other side of the bridge in the picture. While we were there, we heard thunder. We couldn't tell where it was coming from, but were soon caught in a downpour! It was at least a quarter of a mile to the car.
After getting drenched, we took a short break and got back in the water. This spot on the Walhonding is where I drowned my camera.  The bottom was all slippery round rocks, and I fell in three times. You can't tell from the picture, but the current was really swift! It was a great spot, though. I think this was where we found the really large stonecat. I wish I had its picture! It was a cool fish. One of many cool fish we saw.
The last stop of the day was at the confluence of the Kokosing and the Mohican Rivers where they form the Walhonding. We were all worn out by this time. It was another gorgeous spot. We went back to our host's house, changed into dry clothes and went to supper.
The next day, with the help of the Ohio Scenic Rivers program, we canoed down the Kokosing River. We stopped and seined along the way. It was way too much fun! More gorgeous fish and scenery. The weather was perfect. At one point we stopped and walked up a little creek to a beautiful little waterfall hidden in the woods. Later we found the motherlode of darters. I've never seen so many in one net, and neither had some of the experienced people in our group!
To see a fish list and pictures of the canoe trip, see the NANFA thread:
forum.nanfa.org/index.php
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