Dr. Frankenstein

As I mentioned, the carp have begun to spawn. I have been thinking about setting up an aquarium for some time, and I thought it would be fun to put wild carp in it. Since all of the carp I catch, or see for that matter, are far too big for a dinky home aquarium, catching them with hook and line seemed like a poor idea. So, I hatched a new plan. I decided to try and grow wild carp from eggs.
The first step in collecting eggs was to find spawning fish. That's not too hard, it looks like this:

In particular I wanted to find fish spawning near some good submerged vegetation, something the fertilized eggs would adhere to so I could collect them easily. Something like the roots at the base of a tree:
Success! Carp eggs:
I collected a strand of fine tree roots with perhaps 100 eggs on it and set it in my tank:Now we just wait and see....

April Showers

The carp have begun to spawn. It's the one time of year when they're not interested in food. Also, the rising water level has left some of my favorite spots too murky for sight fishing. Needless to say, the carping has been slow this month.
On the other hand, the bass have moved into the shallows and established their nests. While I haven't completely untangled the secrets of catching spawning largemouths, I still have fun throwing lures at them...Tight little bass!

What's the matter? Boots too big?

No Bambi, bad deer!

Just Me and the Fish

Yesterday morning I took my first solo fishing trip with the PaddleSki, and I was determined to actually catch a fish from the boat.
After a few bungling attempts I realized that the key to fishing from the boat, especially without another person there to steer, lay in the proper use of an anchor. That realization soon landed me two carp.
The first was a small female. Generally male and female carp are indistinguishable externally, but around spawning season the female's bellies become quite swollen with eggs.
N.B. After returning home, I noticed how similar these two pictures are. Taking a self-portrait with a slippery fish while on a small boat doesn't exactly allow me endless creative control, but I'll do my best to mix things up in the future. At least I took off my hat in the second shot!