Modern Lewis And Clark Expedition

[DeloiVarden]

Me and another buddy for the forum headed down a local river to check out a few dive spots. The river has been crazy low, but I decided to brave it in my fiberglass boat anyhow. I knew it was going to be low since I had recently kayaked the river. A few days before the trip, my fishfinder cable broke on the boat (years of salt water corrosion). I don't really use the fishfinder to find fish, but the depth readout is crucial both for helping to understand the geology of the bottom of the river and for making sure the water doesn't get to shallow increasing the risk of hitting a stump or log. So I ran all around town to the boat stores trying to find a 6 pin power cord with no success. I found one online and ordered it, but there was no way it would arrive before the trip. Then bent on rigging it, I went to electric supply stores to see if I could find the necessary 1mm tubes to run the 6 wires manually. No luck. Went to radio shack, nope there. Called hobbytown. You guessed it. So finally out of desperation I went to Harbor Freight and started walking the isles to find something I could manufacture 1mm electrical terminal tubes out of. I found some disposable horse hair acid brushes which had thinly rolled hollow metal handles which were about 3/8" in diameter. I purchased a big bag of 100 brushes (only bulk available) for $3.99 and went home. It took about 2hrs, but I managed to unrole a handle, cut small flats, and rerole 1mm diameter tubes which I then soldered to the 6 wire leads of the previously disected power/sonar cable. One by one, I plugged the six electrical wires to the six pins. I then hit the power button hoping that I had been successful in plugging the correct wires into the correct pins of the fishfinder. It powered up without any smoke or fire, but I would have to wait until the day of the dive to see if the depth reading was going to work.

The day came and my buddy and I launched early. As we pushed off, I hit the power button and... was estatic when the depth guage reading began to fairly accurately track the depth. The depth was a woping 2' for most of the trip so needless to say, we went real slow. I found a variety of decent teeth and a bunch of broken stuff, but have included a picture of my two favorite finds from the day. One is a realy pathological angustidens with a curled up side cusp, and a fat blade which twists. The other is a borderline angustidens or chubetensis. The cusp on one side is angyish while the cusp on the other side is more chubish. I love the lone slender shape.

Well the excitment wasn't over yet. The following day, I was working on the computer when my wife came into the room and started yelling "What is it!", "What is it!". This isn't her normal reaction to seeing me, so I asked what the deal was. She pointed to the floor as she backed out of the room. Well..., the adjoining hallway houses all of my drying dive gear and apparently I had brought home a hitchhiker from the river. Take a look at the pics. Keep in mind this ugle sucker measures over 2" long! For those who haven't seen one, the species has huge mandibles/pinchers. This is the larve of the dobson fly also referred to has the hellgrammite. I think the name is quite fitting given its charming looks. The fly isn't any more good looking. She then made me release it.

[Auspex]

Remember...The Tingler?

[DeloiVarden]

Remember...The Tingler?

Auspex, that's funny. I had no idea whar you were talking about until I clicked the link. Before my time I guess . Buy you have wisdom and knowledge right!

[DLB]

One ugly as..... Bug I don't envy u nice fossils

[flyersfan805]

Auspex..I love that when I hit the link, all pics are in Black and white....yep almost before my time

[svillej]

Mcgyver would be so proud! nice finds. I will be in Summerville from the 12th to the 23 of August.