Limestone Creek Trip, And Back To Estill Fork On Saturday

I went out on a brief trip to lower Limestone Creek last Friday afternoon with Andrew and Doug Dame. Doug was briefly visiting as part of a 1750 mile collecting trip from his home in Florida. He wanted black darters and scarlet shiners, so we went to where I knew we could easily collect lots of each. Above is a photo of Andrew and Doug wading through this ford, chasing down darters. We also pulled the seine through and got a haul of unusually large, still colored-up scarlets. It was a beautiful afternoon so we were all glad to be out.

Today I received a box of white tailed shiners from Drewish in Virginia. He mailed them Priority last Wednesday, and they got here today. But all 7 made it alive, largely thanks to the Kordon Breathing Bags they were packed in. These bags are amazing, they allow oxygen to diffuse in to the bag but are still waterproof. The fish are now in my 55-gal tank. Also today, Stan Sung came by with three fellow travellers from California and Ohio, and delivered 5 orangespotted sunfish. Both of these species can be found around here, I just haven't had a chance to go out and track them down. The 5 o-spots are also in the 55. Hopefully they all enjoy their new home.

And on Saturday my lab group will meet up with Stan's group and we'll head up to Estill Fork in Jackson County. We need more telescope and scarlet shiners of all ages, so away we go. Stan saw parts of the lower Paint Rock valley last April and was wowed; I'm sure he'll be at least as impressed by Estill Fork.