Buying an aquarium

Tomorrow I'm planning to buy a 2 month old used aquarium from a guy on craigslist. It's 29 gallons with a concave front surface and includes a hood, lights, filter, etc. I think that should be big enough to put 3 or 4 small bluegill or other sunfish and a handful of minnows. I kept green sunfish from the boneyard alive for quite a while in a 15 gallon tank (until our monster crayfish ate them!), so I think I can easily handle some bluegill. It would be pretty cool to eventually have a collection of small native fish all living together: bluegill, pumpkinseed, crappie, perch, etc.

Back to the Yahara

Went back to the Yaraha (connecting Mendota and Monona) to give it another try. It was a success! Bluegill, largemouth, and rock bass were all biting, as well as a crappie that came off my hook as I was pulling him out of the water. I believe this is the first time I've ever caught rock bass, and I ended up with three! The bluegill I was catching were very colorful. You can see the poor guy in the second picture that I hooked with all 3 hooks. Caught 3 largemouths, with the largest being 11 inches. Mosquitos were terrible...

Can you see him?

Is that a log in the middle of the first pic? Nope, its a big northern! He was alive and well, but his head was buried in the weeds so it was hard to get him to notice any lures I threw in. I tossed one in where I thought his head was and jerked hard. Sure enough, I hooked him, but not in his mouth (oops). I pulled him a couple yards towards shore but the hook came out and he got away. I'm guessing he was 36".

Caught a few

The fish weren't too active tonight but I wasn't disappointed. Caught a few nice bluegill, another yellow perch (look at the bright orange fins!) and 2 largemouths. I went down to the dam and this kid caught a bullhead by dangling an empty hook in front of its mouth. He and his sister were catching bluegill for their grandma, so I gave them all the ones I caught while I was down there. I thought most of theirs were too small to be worthwile, but they said they would make their grandma happy. Ah well.

The bass were biting and I brought my camera!

I decided that whenever I go fishing from now on, I must bring my camera. Taking pictures of the fish you catch is just as much fun as catching them! I admit, I went a little overboard tonight, taking pictures of even the smallest bluegill. The first 4 pictures are the star of the evening: a 16 inch largemouth that I caught on my first cast. All the other pictures are different fish, there aren't 2 pictures of the same fish. I ended up with 8 more largemouth, a few bluegill, and I finished the night with a nice little pumpkinseed.