Stella

yes, yet another time when a third arm would be handy! I have become deft at holding and directing a spotlight with my knees. Not super convenient though. Hmm... contemplating a hip holster for the hunting spotlight, it is light enough that it might just work...

So we were talking on another thread of having a kit thread... Nets... a quick count up suggests that I have 17 of them.... including my first bright yellow $2 shop jobbie. Useful having many $2 shop nets for when taking groups out. The stand has made my laundry so much less of a death trap. These are my current three most useful nets. The one on the right is a $10 Warehouse one, then a sieve-on-a-stick which is invaluable for electrofishing (one end stops me from falling over, other end easily removes fish from the stop net) and a $6 dollar shop net. A square net and a round net work well together for having the right shape net to block an escape route, then use the other net to scare the fish in. (note airline slit and covering the wire frame to protect the net edge from stones) Lights. Energiser LED 3w spotlight (circa $100) Kathmandu 1w headlight (circa $120 but only buy things from there in the sales! I got it for $35) Hunting spotlight with battery (borrowed from uni, emits about as much light as the sun, but not so keen on carrying the heavy backpack and the wire lead is a little restrictive.) $2 shop 'laundry basket' as a live box. Keeps the fish cool and in fresh water while you go off hunting for more. Folds down to something about the size of a bread plate. Really really handy. Call me strange, but a good pair of hip waders can look surprisingly sexy! Damned useful things, even if you feel a little like the Michelin man And of course a bunch of good friends to go hunting with!

aw!! I think it is a CUTE! You should submit that to the next Photo of the Month poll.

I would just like to post an update on this rather old thread. The operation happening on the 22nd February and initial surveys suggest that the eradication was successful!! They will continue to survey over the next year and hopefully finally pronounce it a success then! I wound up volunteering to help with the operation, which was fascinating and I am really thankful that I was allowed to help. I helped with electrofishing the two tributaries the weekend before the application of rotenone, pulling out around 16 banded kokopu each time and zapping numerous small trout. In all 159 bandeds were placed in a safe area prior to the application, and while there were banded deaths from rotenone, the fish were hiding in really deep undercut banks so it was very difficult to get them out (electrofishing a stream and hearing splashes coming from several feet deep into the bank is very disconcerting!). On the 22nd February we did the rotenone, it was the only cold wet day a few weeks, typical! It was very interesting watching the 'frontier' of rotenone slowly moving down the stream and I would like to comment that the effect on the trout was quite fast. They went from fine to looking slightly irritated, then rolling and obviously dying, in a very short amount of time. Again: this site has a number of VERY unusual characteristics that made it possible to do this. There is no way that this technique is going to threaten the trout fishery.

yes, I wish I was!! Am exhausted. I tried sleeping earlier but just lay awake - ARGH! There are some amazing LED spotlights these days. They last sooo long. I have a 1w headlight (kathmandu) that apparently lasts 10 hours, and a 3w spotlight (energiser) that lasts 3+ hours. I tried my supervisor's small hunting spotlight on Monday night, it is the type the plugs into a great big battery. it is like holding a small SUN infront of you! I am not keen on the wires to the battery in the backpack though, can't easily put it down or wedge between your knees when you need both hands on the nets. I am now in love with my new $10 landing net from The Warehouse - nice big mouth, and teamed with a long-handled square-ended net I could easily get into good positions to get the fish. We should start a kit thread, with photos

Such weird mottling on the first fish. They have such an indescribable pattern/colouration. Thanks for sharing

Yeah, fishhunting gets addictive! The introduction to my book ends with "Welcome to the obsession." I was talking with a complete fish-nut friend of mine recently who said those four words pretty much sum it all up for him Am getting the gear ready for some friends to go spotlighting tonight (without me) then tomorrow we are electrofishing. :happy1:

Small dogs are more inclined to attack bigger dogs in the way you describe. Then when the big dog responds it is so often the big dog that gets blamed :roll: due to being bred to think they are bigger than they are.

nice eel! Love that reverse gear. have seen a few biggies in the wild recently (sadly 'big' these days isn't a shadow on what there used to be), they really make you almost instinctively hold them in awe. Amazing animals, beautiful to spotlight.

Another native fish nut!!! :happy1: :happy2: :happy1: Welcome (am halfway through your video, internet taking its time tonight. lovely fat bold inanga!)

actually, one of the most valuable things you could do is get the site into the The New Zealand Freshwater Fish Database: http://www.niwa.co.nz/our-services/data ... h-database This is a valuable resource for scientists and councils, and I am told councils use it a lot to gauge whether changes to a stream would impact threatened species. Ok so I haven't actually got stuck in and figured out how to do it myself :oops: :oops: :oops: you do need to register and I think download a piece of software to put the information in, but once it is done it is then recorded in the database forever, and is thus accessible to more than just the contact you find to tell.

Have PM'ed you some good people that may be able to help, but more in a way of direct you to someone more local. if anyone DOES know someone more local, PM the details also! And please show us the photos :bounce: Actually it is COMPULSORY to share all your native fish photos here

:lol: "small dog syndrome" is because a lot of dogs were bred to be small but with the boldness and aggression more suited to a larger dog. For example fox terriers were literally bred to go down fox holes and terrorise foxes out of their dens. also please look into the issues surrounding 'pedigree' dogs. Often the inbreeding has been so severe that the animals have very high chances of certain inherited diseases and defects. I saw this documentary http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedigree_Dogs_Exposed and felt so nauseas and angry afterwards. True working dog breeds are healthy (the need to be functional) but the show/pet types can be genetically doomed to cost you megabucks. (There will of course be those here that disagree, am just pointing a potential issue out without wanting to sidetrack the discussion)

I do not mean to pry, but you don't by any chance happen to have six fingers on your right hand?

I wonder if anyone doesn't.... Inconceivable! :lol:

If you are trying to avoid quarantining your fish at home, sorry all fish should be quarantined before going into your home aquarium, whether they came from the pet shop, the wild or from your best friend with pristine aquaria and no diseases in years. The choice, and ultimate risk and responsibility, is yours. And no, pet shops don't quarantine their fish.

I don't have a problem feeding something live to something else, it is natural. As long as it dies fairly soon after being placed with the predator and is done purely for food, not the 'fun' of the owner (like the guy on the NZ fishkeepers doco who was giving feeder goldfish to his vegetarian pacu...)

hmmm... hard to tell, I think still a shortjaw though. They just look a bit more 'docile' in the eye and the mouth is less GET IN MA BELLY! (it is late, I am tired) just got back from spotlighting myself, went up Kahuterawa (near palmy) with a friend collecting fish for the aquarium going in at the museum here soon. 2 big shortjaws (released) 6 redfin bullies 2 Cran's bullies 3 baby giant kokopu 1 baby shortjaw (it is a 10L bucket inside a 20L one, so the fish aren't quite as enormous as they look! The shortjaws were around 20cm though) Interestingly the baby kokopu are all the same length, but the shortjaw is distinctly slimmer and with a narrower head than the giants. I think I have seen this other times I have been catching small ones, just not consciously realised. (the four small galaxiids are at the top in diamond formation, the shortjaw is the one on the left)

I would avoid calling them ghost shrimp. That common name is not applied to these guys. There is only one shrimp in NZ so just 'freshwater shrimp' works. Or Paratya. Technically illegal to sell. Legal to collect so long as you stick to the strict daily bag limit for crustacea: 50. That goes for Daphnia too :roll: :lol:

Looks like a highly successful trip! Apparently a red filter on your torch means you can sneak up on fish easier. I haven't tried it yet, but you could easily make one with some red cellophane or thin perspex or similar.

Small kokopu can be quite hard to tell apart, up to about 10cm. There are a few tricks that make it easier. They ALL can have vertical stripes! Giants: the stripes have a crisp edge all the way around Bandeds: the stripes are most defined at the lateral line and fade out towards the top and bottom Shortjaws: the stripes are quite blurry, not well-defined at any point. Amazing about the shrimp, I was impressed to see a solitary one at palmy, 60km from the sea!

You don't need an overabundance of streams Take a torch, head to the lower end of a river/stream, the orange eyes darting around everywhere are shrimp. You might even get to see some interesting things in this big time-consuming countryside. 8)

I haven't heard of siliconing the airline on - was that necessary because the wire is a heavy gauge or just something you like to do? I very nearly bought another one just now. Will test mine out tomorrow night then probably go and get more. I already have a fairly full umbrella-stand of nets! :roll:

ooooh very nice! (those Warehouse nets are great! I got one recently, not tried it out yet but it seems really sturdy.)

impressive! The mantis looks so relaxed too.