So i met a buddy of mine for a few beers at a local watering hole here in central VA.  As is usually the case, we were talking about fishing.  There was a guy there with his wife who was listening to our conversation and eventually chimed in.  Turns out he was an ex fisheries biologist and he sampled and studied many of the local flows around the area.  I mentioned one particular small river/creek I like to fish and said how much i enjoyed catching spotted bass out of there.  He smiled and said I am glad you enjoyed them.  I was the one who researched and studied the river and got the approval and stocked them there.  I thanked him and asked if it impacted the smallmouth population at all and he said they didn't.  His research showed that the average size was larger while still maintaining a population that is conducive to that size of river.

 

Anyways, thought that was pretty cool...

I've had some very interesting conversations with some of the biologists in this area as well.

 

It's always good to get their perspective and compare it to your own experiences when you get a chance, and they usually seem to be just as interested in talking to the fishermen as we are to them, in most of my experiences. 

 

Seems like most of those guys got into their careers because they love fishing or hunting, and then they started their career and now spend all of their time in the outdoors (or at least researching it) but don't have time to hunt or fish

Same here. Local biologist invited me to come over

next time I see them electrofishing. I spoke with him

about the Striper I caught in a local reservoir and he

was full of great information. Loved talking "shop" with

him.

Darren, last fisheries biologist I spoke with was at the last Boy Scout Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill and we discussed the snakehead invasion of the Potomac River.

 

Extremely interesting guy and he gave me a lot of information about snakeheads.

 

I also spoke to an "expert" about local crawfish and their patterns and that was a lot of fun.

 

The guy is really into crawfish and we had a great conversation.

 

I am so glad you spoke with the gentleman.

 

Next time you speak with him ask him why the Mattaponi River sucks big time for largemouth bass!!!

That is freaking awesome, what a small word huh. I would of had a hard time not bothering him!