Pelagic-Estuarine

Of course I was unaware of the nine-foot long bull shark, Carcharhinus leucas,  that was behind me in the three scant feet of water I stood in, upon the submerged sea grass flat. More testosterone by volume coursed through this creature's bloodstream than that of a raging bull African elephant in must, or even that of a college frat boy pledge on "sorority panty night". The prognosis was....negative.

Left-mouse "click" the image and you can see this bull shark's high dorsal fin and, some five feet behind it, the tip of his caudal, or tail, fin. He was not there with me to play tennis. I have a ten inch long chartreuse needlefish fly tied on a 2/0 Tiemco 800 S to a foot of single-strand steel wire for these nosy dudes. And I have yet to have enough heads-up time to loop the thing onto my leader, which takes all of thirty seconds. By then they have usually found their dinner choice--a southern stingray, Dasyatis americana, and pounced on her. I have gotten between a bull and a stingray only once so far. I do not recommend the experience as it could go badly. I cannot claim to be unlucky on that day.      

A Raindrop's Impact--Manyfold--Frozen in Time.

"Click" it to see the rain "shrapnel" bounce into the air. This is the first rain on this island in three months; and THAT rain was the first rain in FOUR months.
     No fishing or flying today and, finally, it's for a gloriously GOOD reason!

He's Baaaack!

Was away fighting the growing fascism around the globe but managed to catch this, above, a nice multi-spotted redfish, and tried to get a shot of what gives them their name, "redfish". See the hue? Double-mouse click it! When these fish are viewed from above, while in the water, they are quite crimson in coloration when "on the feed" in particular. They can alter their coloration to their environment and, I suspect, to reflect their emotional and energy state.

     Great couple of flights before fishing, when the wind's calm just after dawn.....
Back to the front! Just need more bullets.....

Redfish are GOOD Pinkos

.....That means they are not of the communist variety of "pinko", that fitting label that indicates the oftentimes hidden state of "redness" (communism relies on deceipt in its leaders, as does all evil) from the heady days of the Cold War, when the communist pinko was acknowledged as the enemy to all Liberty which he indeed is!
But back to angling, while we STILL can do it:
Okay, here's what you'll see through a non-tinted lens:

 You should be able to "double click" with your left mouse button to enlarge the photo.
This is the color a redfish acquires once he's over a sandy, white bottom as in the photo. The chromatophores, specialized variable pigmentary cells in his scales, can change color--how quickly is something to observe--to fit their surroundings to some extent, i.e., what is "red" cannot turn to "green", but it can certainly, as observed, turn to pink. They can also take on a copper or brass hue that helps hide them when they're swimming over green and green-brown submerged sea grasses. Oh, look at that electric blue neon tail! Now, the big question: does this color change happen autonomically, by change in state, or does the fish have some say in the matter? I think not, but only the fish and God know the whole truth here.
A Libertarian observation: These redfish are the only good pinkos on the planet, true Fish of Free Enterprise!
Release them to taunt the communists, who wish to imprison them and everything else on earth,  unless you are REALLY HUNGRY and have to eat them--you've put out the effort and earned them afterall!
Note: I pray I do not HAVE to kill a redfish, a friend of mine, in order to survive through this present administration that attacks a man's ability to provide unless he's a Wall Street Liberal getting reciprocal payback or a G.E. Chief Executive taking massive subsidies for worthless "green energy" that, well, doesn't quite work out just yet, hits the environment with doses of lead (batteries) and mercury (curly-cue lightbulbs),  but let's not pay any attention to THAT FACT and play pretend while they get rich off the Nation's suffering.
     On to the fishing again, while some of us pray for an expedited trip to the Lake of Fire for these fascists (that's Government CONTROL of "private" industry, for a definition--see G.M., all energy companies, the health industry, etc..) . Yup, the present administration is fascistic by definition. As are those who support him, too, by complicity.  Is that what you wish to be? That's what you ARE, if you support the present democrat party agenda of control and death of (only, it seems) innocents.
If so, please, for your own self, repent (turn away)! Our time is nigh (thank God)!
Happy Angling and Liberty through Christ Jesus! 
Off the Lectern and on to flying and fishing!

                                  Freed through the blood of Christ Jesus, do not submit to a yoke of slavery again
                                       --Paul of Tarsus, the last Apostle and Servant of Christ

Servos: To Lubricate or to Kill by Rust

"Do not lubricate servos," a small print reads in a back water place inside my Spektrum DX6i owner's manual.
Here on the Gulf Coast where salt in the air oxidizes aluminum and maybe plastic it's so heavy, this is not really an option. So, do you lubricate your servos and, if so, what do you use?
I use a tiny drop of LPS-1 on my tiny ParkZone micro servos, applied with a Q-tip right at the shaft insertion. I also hit the little rail inside the track with it. I have not had a failure, or a fire, yet.
You? 

Neon Blue

Sciaenops Ocelatus flashes her Neon Blue:

"Click" it to enlarge it. It's rare for a photo to capture the true blue of a red's tail. I almost never get it, but I got it above. Answer: Chromatophores, specialized cells actually generate  the color. 

And, here's Archosargus probatocephalus, my nemesis for a number of years, locally. I called them "The Poor Man's Permit" in a story I wrote for Fly Fishing in Saltwaters  back in 1997.  Now I catch them with flies all the time. Watch out for their human-like teeth--CHOMP!! Double "click" this photo, and you can see that it's hard to tell this fish's smile from Jimmy Carter's toothy rictus. Thank God, this fish didn't lecture me. 

And for Heaven's sake, look out for her dorsal spines! No venom here, but they're sharp!:

No adult bull sharks showed up this morning to chase my catch. We were all thankfull, though I haven't lost a fish I've caught to "secodary predation" to one in many a year--that I know about, that is. The bulls I've observed have no qualms about making a big ruckuss, a big to-do commotion of pandemonium, when they make a kill in two feet of water: FLOOOM! BAM! SPLASH! CARNAGE! OH, LOOK AT ME! D-R-A-M-A!!!
 They sure are drama queens! I hope they don't mind my mocking their behavior. But they DO make a big show of it, really.  I've got a few photos of the aftermath--foaming water at a distance, mostly. Some damned close and really out of focus, too. I hope you understand. I'll spare you the drama.

Bull Shark First of 2011

     This little two footer showed up Sunday night and swam around the light's perimeter for an hour. A shark probably in his first year, he is the earliest of the summer bull sharks to show up in West Galveston Bay this year. I typically see his big elders on the redfish flats in starting about mid-June, which begs to question: why so early for the little guy? Well, one explanation is that, with most bony fishes anyway, the younger fish are more temperature tolerant, which explains why you will find few small frozen fish after a hard freeze, but find MANY big fish. This is an evolutionary advantage for any species survival, as it allows the young to survive sudden seasonal changes while in their nursery, typically removed from the open ocean bodies in a more isolated bay/estuarial system. No reason the cartilagenous fishes would not take advantage of this hardiness, either. How do I know she's a bull shark, Charcharhinus leucas? The sharply rising high dorsal and blunt snout are big "tells" on speciation with these buggers. Please forgive the fuzzy photos, but you should be able to see these traits  nonetheless.
     Should be a year of high predation, hopefully with me at the TOP of the food chain and not in the belly of this little guy's grandparent. Oh, yes: Bull sharks eat people. They've charged me. They have been found to be responsible for more attacks on humans than any and all other species of shark. These are the attacks that the "professionals" know about, only. There are many more. When one is alone, there is no one to record or report an "event". This is when this species is extremely aggressive towards humans--they know by the sounds and impulses in the water exactly what's going on. So, only the shark knows each of his meals. He is the REAL expert of his own behaviour. And those in the water with him often--lone anglers such as myself, know him pretty well, too. They DO love stingrays. Poor frienly water-flying guys!

Here's the slinky swimming motion of a relaxed shark illustrated: you can "click" this image for a closer look

And here's that profile with the high dorsal and schimitar tail: you can "click" this image for a closer look, too.

I must work on getting better night shots.....the silhoueted subject in the light confuses the "intellignet" digital camera.

Oh, I tried to bind this shark to my DX6i Spektrum transmitter. No dice!

Back to Research and Development!