North America’s ancient freshwater fishes deserve respect

On a foggy January morning I walked a riverbank in north central Florida, with telephoto lens around my neck and fishing pole in hand. I stopped to photograph a river otter as it bobbed and weaved amongst the riparian structure, hunting for fish. Herons lining the bank occasionally squawked, protesting my presence. It was the […]

Microfishing an urban Florida canal

Microfishing refers to a specialized form of angling in which very small fish species are targeted using miniature tackle (i.e. short rods, light line, and tiny hooks). The technique was developed in Japan, where anglers target the miniature Japanese Bitterling (also referred to as Tanago). This niche style of fishing has recently been growing in […]

Osprey at Kirkpatrick Dam

Dams act as barriers to the natural flow of rivers. As a result, fish often congregate below dams. This, in turn, tends to attract fish-eating animals. Dams can therefore be good focal points to observe and photograph wildlife. I was reminded of this when, this past weekend, I visited Kirkpatrick Dam on the Ocklawaha River, […]

Lure-fishing animals

In evolutionary biology, mimicry is an evolved resemblance between an organism and another object, often an organism of another species. There are lots of amazing examples of animal mimicry. This post focuses on one particular category: those that use lures to attract prey. But, you ask, how does an animal, other than a (human) fisherman, […]

Magnet fishing Annapolis City Dock

Magnet fishing consists of throwing or dropping a magnet attached to a rope into a waterbody in search of metal objects. I first became aware of this hobby in 2018. While visiting the Netherlands I saw two guys magnet fishing in the canals of Amsterdam. They had a small but powerful magnet attached to a […]