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From the early morning before I rode out on the Cal-Sag Channel with the crew pictured above. Oh, if only that lamp post wasn’t growing out of Andy’s head…or if I could have a little more separation between Heather and Brett’s feet. As always, comments and criticism welcome.
More to come…
Yesterday I had an opportunity to sit down with Duane Chapman, a research fish biologist with the United States Geological Survey’s Columbia Environmental Research Center. Chapman took an interest in Asian carp several years ago and has become an expert on their behavior and has been studying some of the environmental requirements for their survival, such as the velocity of the flow of a river needed for their eggs to successful.
Continue reading “My first encounter with Bighead carp”
On Sunday, Salmon-a-Rama wrapped up with angler Roger Hellen taking the grand prize of $10,000 for his 41.5 pound Brown trout caught on Thursday. It was the final day of the tournament, and I knew that it was a make-or-break day for me as I needed a few more interviews and some different images. I was tired of hauling all of the lenses that I had been taking with me every day, so in favor of the 70-200mm f/4L IS lens that is my standard telephoto, I borrowed my dad’s 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS lens–one of only two Canon lens that intentionally diffracts light to create a more compact lens. (The other is my longest lens, the 400mm f/4 DO IS.)
I’m hoping to put together an audio slideshow of Salmon-a-Rama that could stand alone from, as well as become a part of, my master’s project on Asian carp and the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.
On the last full day of the Salmon-a-Rama tournament, I found myself walking around quite a bit in search of subjects. Most of the anglers who were focusing on fish offshore were in their boats from 5am until 8pm, coming in just before the weigh station closed at nine. Storms are brewing tonight, putting pressure on the anglers for the last few hours before the close of Salmon-a-Rama at 11am Sunday.
I’ve been going through my photos and video (well, I’m trying my hardest with the video files–my laptop isn’t anywhere the speed of my desktop computer, and its attempts to play the 5D II video files are laughable at best), and I’m attempting to identify holes in the story that could be covered with certain content.
I know that I need another interview or two, although my video interview with co-director of Salmon-a-Rama Craig Bender was very informative. I would like to have the perspective of a fisherman or two. I tried tonight, but while photographing and hanging around is fine for some people, recording their voice can be asking too much. It’s too bad, as they definitely had something to contribute, but there will be opportunities tomorrow.
I do not have a picture of anyone reeling in a fish, and on the one hand I’m nervous about this gap, and on the other I think it’s fair to say that part of the experience of fishing is waiting for a bite on the line. It’s what people do while waiting that can be the most interesting: the relationships between anglers, be they friends or family. The other part is the pride in the catch. So while I don’t have that moment in between those two stages, but it is my hope the content I do have will compensate for this shortcoming.
On the morning of July 16, 2010, Roger Hellen set out in his boat, “Get Hooked,” with his friend Joe Miller. He came back with what is quite possibly a world record for Brown trout: 41 pounds, 8 ounces. The fish will likely earn Hellen the grand prize of $10,000 at Salmon-a-Rama, and also stirred up a bit of a media frenzy given the possibility of a new record for Brown trout. The current record was set only back in September 2009 by an angler in Michigan with a 41 pound, 7 ounce Brown trout. The catch also beats the Salmon-a-Rama record for largest fish entered in the contest which has stood since 1997.
So far, I’ve met some great people out at Salmon-a-Rama, and I think that the stories I’ve heard will be compelling for the argument that sport fishing is an important part of Lake Michigan–something that could be lost should Asian carp gain access to the Great Lakes. Continue reading “A world record for Brown trout?”
Last night I had a fairly productive evening at Salmon-a-Rama. I still need a couple of audio interviews, to gather some ambient sound, and to shoot some video, but I have the feeling it will all come together.
Some of the photos are more visual “notes” that I like the idea of an image, but that a given frame is not enough to push it into the final edit. I’m hoping to perfect all of these frames before the week is out, although the one above may be tough to beat given that the Yellow perch (“Lake perch”) were still jumpin’ on the table!
Please scroll down for the rest of the photos and, as always, comments and criticism welcome! Continue reading “Checking in at the Weigh Station”
The largest freshwater fishing tournament in the Great Lakes kicked off on July 10 in Racine, Wis. One of the great concerns about the possibility of Asian Silver and Bighead carp entering into Lake Michigan is the potential for the destruction of sport fishing due to the radical changes that could happen to the food chain. The carp are voracious filter-feeders, and could out-compete the fish that serve as “food” for the trout and salmon, and could be the final nail in the coffin for the lake perch.
It wasn’t foremost on the minds of the anglers participating in Salmon-a-Rama, but when I explained the idea of my project, there seemed to be universal concern about the invasive carp, most recently found only six miles from the shoreline of Lake Michigan. It’s encouraging that this project is relevent even if the environmental outlook for the Great Lakes seems to be discouraging. Continue reading “The Largest Fishing Tournament on the Great Lakes”
This May I assembled a committee of three faculty at the Missouri School of Journalism–Jackie Bell, Bill Allen, and David Rees–to oversee my final project to complete my graduate degree. The product will be a multimedia story on the effect on the economies of the Great Lakes states should Asian Silver and Bighead carp enter Lake Michigan via the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, or the negative effects upon Illinois’ economy should that state shut down that man-made canal.
For the past two weeks I’ve been trying to make some progress, but I realize now that I’m only going to make headway if I’m face-to-face with the 923 feet-deep body of water that these fish are attempting to colonize: I have to go home.
I grew up near the shore of Lake Michigan, and I can only hope that being an “insider” of a sorts will give me an advantage as I attempt to tell a complex story. It’s ambitious, but I have hopes that I can do it justice.
As this post is going up I am traveling north from Columbia, Mo. to Racine, Wis.–a healthy nine-hour drive. I hope to have a progress report soon. Wish me luck!