Liv4Rut
Active Member
You ever shock anything like big turtles or big snakes? Im sure a turtle would just sit on the bottom, but I would think if you walk around in waders enough you will step on one or two? I know I have seen huge water snakes in the cedar around the log jams before just wondering if you have any horror stories about them.
muddy
Well-Known Member
Electrofishing horror stories... snakes and frogs get "stretched" out when the juice hits them, so they're not a big deal. Now turtles and beavers are a whole nuther matter. If there are pile of turtles in the area you can usually feel them crawling over and past your legs/feet while throwing the juice. My first year a turtle the size of a truck tire clamped down on the rattail (anode tail of the shocker) and wouldn't let go. That freaked me out because we couldn't get his mouth off the cable tail. I could only wonder what my foot might look like. Last year we were shocking and a beaver was in his hole, when the juice hit him, he came blasting out and at us popping and snapping his teeth to beat hell. THAT was scary since I've had beavers snap my 2x2 oak trapping clubs in one bite back in high school. How would that feel on a shin or thigh or... "higher"
muddy
Well-Known Member
Long story short...
The "Biocriteria" project is where we went around looking for "pristine" areas in Iowa streams where they were not altered in any way. Since this is practically impossible we did as best as we could.
REMAP is going to random sites and comparing them to the pristine sites we designated as permanant reference sites.
Here's a link to the DNR water monitoring page, there is some more specific information on what we do under the stream, reference sites, and random assessment links. Feel free to ask more questions.
http://www.igsb.uiowa.edu/wqm_backup/
The "Biocriteria" project is where we went around looking for "pristine" areas in Iowa streams where they were not altered in any way. Since this is practically impossible we did as best as we could.
REMAP is going to random sites and comparing them to the pristine sites we designated as permanant reference sites.
Here's a link to the DNR water monitoring page, there is some more specific information on what we do under the stream, reference sites, and random assessment links. Feel free to ask more questions.
http://www.igsb.uiowa.edu/wqm_backup/
muddy
Well-Known Member
Yeah, lots of time up that way, but we have to spread it out evenly over the state. We, often times, fight for the trips to NE Iowa. In the big scheme there are some low flow prairie streams that are pretty cool as well. NE Iowa is nice, but some of the cooler streams are in southern Iowa, diversity wise.
moosehunter
PMA Member
Speaking of Beavers.
In my younger days I was known as a pretty darn good beaver catcher. I had many good methods to catch beavers. Some of the methods have been around for years, maybe generations. But the best ones that worked for me usually involved alcoholic beverages of some kind.
Not for me, but for the beaver. It didn't take me long to figure out that it's alot easier to catch beaver with alcohol than no alcohol. Especially when the best places to catch beavers happen's to be a place where there's a bunch of other beaver catcher's there. A few times though I had too much alcohol myself and came home with no beaver, and that's no fun. A couple other times I had to much alcohol and the next day I found I had caught beaver but couldn't remember how I caught them. And one other time I woke up and found I had caught a beaver that was...................................well.................
.................. Anyway, you have to be careful when trying to catch beavers with alcohol...
In my younger days I was known as a pretty darn good beaver catcher. I had many good methods to catch beavers. Some of the methods have been around for years, maybe generations. But the best ones that worked for me usually involved alcoholic beverages of some kind.
muddy
Well-Known Member
Only reason it was a little chocolate colored is because we had just walked through the pool and mucked it up pretty good. Otherwise, it was clear and chock full of aquatic veg! As far as trout streams go, this one was in pretty sad shape, but at least the water was cool!
KansasHeadHunter
New Member
Hey muddy, Bring a few of those speckled carp down with ya Labor day weekend. I'd bet those flatheads would love'm!
Deaner
Member
Hey Muddster, How does a person get a job like yours? That's a serious question. It just sounds/looks like it would be a fun job to have! God I would LOVE to get paid to be in the outdoors! Did you go to some kind of schooling for your line of work? Do you actually work for the DNR then? It just looks fun!
K
KTMMIKE
Guest
I had no idea there were trout streams in Iowa. Interesting. I wished we had some in Kansas.
-mike
-mike
muddy
Well-Known Member
deernut - I work for the University of Iowa actually. We are paid through the state of Iowa, the DNR, and the federal government. So, all your taxes do fund my expeditions to God knows where in Iowa... I thank you all! Anyway, as far as schooling goes, IF you really want to get into this line of work, study hard in math, biology, and be a good people person. Now, I didn't do very well in math and I'm hardly a people person (just ask 95% of the people on this site) so I had to work pretty hard to get the job. I worked for quite a few years in the Iowa DNR fisheries section and then came to Iowa City while my wife finished her schooling. I got very lucky to get into the place I"m at now. Another tip is to get into a good 4 year college that actually has a degree in fisheries techniques. Iowa State, South Dakota State, Southern Illinois State are a few of the local schools that have excellent programs. Once there your advisor should be able to get you on the right track. THEN, when you finish your 4 year degree go immediately into a Masters program because this field is damn near impossible to get anywehre without a Masters. I worked for damn near 7 years before I finally got benefits.
Here's the kicker... I chose fisheries because I love to hunt. When I started hauling nets, dragging seines, and shocking fish I had no desire to go hook adn line fishing... ever. I was afraid that if I got into the wildlife section I'd quit hunting. I have probably caught a dozen fish on hook and line in the past 8 years, but my hunting hasn't slacked! Anyway, if you have any other questions... let me know.
Here's the kicker... I chose fisheries because I love to hunt. When I started hauling nets, dragging seines, and shocking fish I had no desire to go hook adn line fishing... ever. I was afraid that if I got into the wildlife section I'd quit hunting. I have probably caught a dozen fish on hook and line in the past 8 years, but my hunting hasn't slacked! Anyway, if you have any other questions... let me know.