Also at this time Justin Baker and I demonstrated the use of a mini Missouri benthic trawl with our boat from Ohio State University. We took a few people out at a time and let them try their hand at pulling in the net to see what we had captured.

While all this was going on others were out in the river with various seines and dipnets and all together we had a rather impressive species list of over 40 species for the site:

Longnose Gar Gizzard Shad Mooneye Central Stoneroller Minnow Gravel Chub Suckermouth Minnow Sand Shiner Mimic Shiner Ghost Shiner Emerald Shiner Spotfin Shiner Bluntnose Minnow Bullhead Minnow Grass Carp Quillback Carpsucker

Quillback Carpsucker River Carpsucker Highfin Carpsucker Golden Redhorse Silver Redhorse Smallmouth Redhorse River Redhorse Northern Hogsucker Smallmouth Buffalo Black Buffalo Blue Sucker Channel Catfish Flathead Catfish Mountain Madtom

Stonecat Madtom Rock Bass Smallmouth Bass Spotted Bass Largemouth Bass Green Sunfish Bluegill Sunfish Orangespotted Sunfish Eastern Sand Darter Banded Darter Greenside Darter Rainbow Darter Logperch Darter Slenderhead Darter Freshwater Drum

Back at the lodge some of the large fish caught by the electrofishing boats were put in a large traveling aquarium set up for display by ORSANCO. This was enjoyed by all and gave us a chance to watch some big fish that most of us would never keep at home.

Then that evening Justin Baker, Marc Kibbey and I gave a presentation welcoming everyone to the convention. We also went over our work through Ohio State University to update distribution maps of all species of fish found in Ohio. We finished out the presentation with what to expect the rest of the weekend and what species should be seen on the rest of the field trips.


Several of us then gathered in the hospitality room and told fish stories until we finally got too tired and went to sleep.
Friday morning we began the presentations with an introduction from our President. We then had a wonderful day of presentations with a wide variety of topics. Presentations rapped up around 4:30pm and we had a break before we moved out to the balcony of the lodge for a banquet. As we finished up our meals Dr. Todd Crail gave a wonderful presentation full of great video of interesting and mind boggling behaviors of some of our favorite and very colorful native fishes.



After Todd's presentation we had the annual auction that in my opinion went very smoothly. Thanks to all who brought so many great donations that I just had no idea were coming! I will have to admit I felt a little unprepared ahead of time and was concerned about the number of auction items but the attendees came through in a big way bringing plenty of items to auction off!

After the auction there once again was more storing telling and late night talking with excitement and anticipation of the field trips on the final two days.On Saturday morning we all traveled to the confluence of the Walhonding River and Killbuck Creek. We used the big tank from ORSANCO as a gathering point before leaving.


Everyone got to spend some time sampling at this site before most of the group headed down river (including myself) in canoes provided by the Ohio Scenic River program (thanks Natalie and Bob!). A smaller group headed off to do some collecting in the Kokosing River and Wakatomika Creek. Since I was on the canoe trip I'll stick to that. We caught 45 species of fish with nothing but minnow seines in a 6 mile stretch of the Walhonding River, very impressive! Here are some photos of the trip and the list:

Bowfin Grass Pickerel Northern Pike Bigeye Chub Spotfin Shiner Silver Shiner Rosyface Shiner Sand Shiner Creek Chub Bluntnose Minnow Streamline Chub Gravel Chub Western Blacknose Dace Common Carp Mimic Shiner

Central Stoneroller White Sucker Golden Redhorse Silver Redhorse Northern Hog Sucker Stonecat Madtom Brindled Madtom Mountain Madtom Flathead Catfish Yellow Bulhead Mosquitofish Brook Silverside Rock Bass Orangespotted Sunfish Bluegill Sunfish

Green Sunfish Smallmouth Bass Spotted Bass White Crappie Black Crappie Blackside Darter Logperch Darter Variegate Darter Johnny Darter Banded Darter Bluebreast Darter Greenside Darter Fantail Darter Rainbow Darter Eastern Sand Darter

Saturday evening after returning to the Lodge we watch a documentary on Ohio's Scenic River program and since we were all exhausted from the days events there was less staying up and talking that night.Finally Sunday morning we all met once again for one last field trip, or should I say 4... The group split up with one trip led by Justin Baker going to the eastern edge of the state to the Ohio River and some direct tributaries. One group led by Mark Binkley went to the Killbuck Creek drainage, one group led by Marc Kibbey headed for the Scioto drainage, and lastly I took a group to the Licking River and Wakatomika Creek drainages. My group went to 4 sites and had another impressive list of fish that were captured:

Gizzard Shad Central Stoneroller Southern Redbelly Dace Redside Dace Spotfin Shiner Silverjaw Minnow Bigeye Chub Striped Shiner Common Shiner Emerald Shiner Ghost Shiner Silver Shiner Rosyface Shiner Sand Shiner Mimic Shiner Bluntnose Minnow

Bullhead Minnow Western Blacknose Dace Creek Chub Quillback Carpsucker Golden Redhorse Silver Redhorse Channel Catfish Stonecat Madtom Brindled Madtom Mosquitofish Brook Silverside Trout-perch Rock Bass Green Sunfish Bluegill Sunfish Orangespotted Sunfish

Smallmouth Bass Spotted Bass Largemouth Bass Eastern Sand Darter Greenside Darter Rainbow Darter Bluebreast Darter Fantail Darter Johnny Darter Variegate Darter Banded Darter Logperch Darter Slenderhead Darter Blackside Darter Dusky Darter Mottled Sculpin

After this trip several people came back to my home for a tour of my aquariums. They seemed quite impressed and we once again talked fish until well after dark and then the convention finally came to an end! Thanks once again to all who attended and helped make this such a successful event! It was an honor to have hosted this years convention but it was a lot of work and went by so fast for me I hardly got to enjoy it. I hope to see you all in May at Cumberland Falls KY! I know I am looking forward to just participating and enjoying the event rather than running the show.