Wakes and Ripples

Spending alot of my outdoor recreational time upon, near, or at times in freshwater Rivers, Streams, Runs and lakes along with brackish water tidal zone Creeks I've come across various species of Aquatic Amphibians such as Newts, Hellbenders, 'Spring Lizards', 'Mudpuppies', Sirens and Two Toe Congo Eels - The latter two being good sized Snake or Eel-like gilled Amphibians.

Some of these species live in very cold mountain water and often while watching these creatures swim about or crawl upon rocky stream bottoms, I ponder if perhaps a large unknown species of Aquatic Amphibian is the basis of the many different sightings of Lake Monsters such as Nessie or Champ.

It was during one of our fishing-camping trips up at the Gathright Dam, Jackson River area of Virginia we witnessed something quite odd and somewhat unexpected in the shallows near the bank from which we had been only a half an hour earlier catching some decent Browns and Rainbows. The Trout had stopped biting so we decided to lean our rods upon a large Stream-side Oak Trunk, spark one up and take a pause for no cause. One of our party whom I've written about before, 'Flip' by name pointed to a place in the shallows, perhaps in about 2' of clear water but fast moving water and asked - "What the fuck is that ?"

At first I thought it was a big Sucker fish moving slowly along the bottom feeding, but to my surprise it had legs and was crawling without much effort against the current. Now I've seen Hellbenders in streams West of this area and in Zoos, but the shape of this creature was quite different from the flatten body of a Hellbender it appeared to be more Newt-like, with a flat swimming tail, yet cleary having red feathery gills.

We followed it's slow moving trek upstream and it was when I attempted to catch it with my rod and a twister tail plastic grub lure the creature took fright and with a flicker of it's long tail darted into the depths.

I'd estimate the creature was some 20" to 2' long and appeared to be greenish-grey with small dark eyes.

"Damn, you've scared it off !" Flip said, and added "Why didn't you jump in and grab it ?"

I answered with a standard "Fuck you man" and "Why didn't you wade out and grab it ?"


Later right before dusk we arrived back at our camp at Morris Hill, cleaned up and got supper started.

After a hearty meal of grilled ribeyes, camp taters and beans, we pulled out the jug, quaffed a few cups, filled the Pipe, offered it forth to the Four Winds, then sparked up.

Catching up in swift manner with the altitude of our Upland Camp, it wasn't long before we were on the subject of what we saw in the Jackson River and other weird experiences we've had while camping in this particular area..

How exciting Jim. I love the way you tell a story, I can just picture it.
I am sure that there are many strange species underwater that we have not seen..........yet.

One in our Party, The Great Golden Bear, who had put down the Pipe after our encounter with what we took to be an Eastern Bigfoot only a few years before at this very campground

guzzled the remaining half of horn of ale, beltched, then attempted to sum up the issue with pratical personal opinion.

"It was a big-ass Mudpuppy" then cast upon us a mean narrow-eyed look and said -

"Every time I go camping with you fuckers, something weird and out of place happens, so lets not speak of it, least something else happens tonight" He also reminded us of how this place spooked him, and wouldn't come here if the fishing wasn't so good.

I threw down another cup of Shenandoah Wonder and quoted the words heard once in passing - "What goes on when the Sun goes down"

But for the sake of not having this giant Teuton hurling me into a Pine trunk or worse I left it that, but dared to go on in a more logical sense concerning what we had seen in the River earlier..

"Yeah, we could be within MudPuppy range, but I've never heard of them being over a foot and the color was all wrong, he was as long as a arm"


"Your arm" the Great Bear said with a grin, then went on to ask me my take.


"What if it's a leftover, what if all these people claiming to have seen lake or river monsters are seeing really big-ass Mudpuppies or perhaps something that has been around for millions of years living in cool waters and over the ages have not been affected by global warm-ups and cool downs ?" I informed my compainions of a Amphibian of the
Early Carboniferous called the Greererpeton whose fossil remains found not too far from our present location.

The Greererpeton grew to lengths of 5' and from fossil remains it was fully adapted to aquatic life.


"A big-ass Prehistoric Mudpuppy !" Flip snapped off before drawing on the Pipe.

Must admit I had to do a google search on Greererpeton. Amphibians that metamorphose catch my attention

Linda wrote:

How exciting Jim. I love the way you tell a story, I can just picture it.
I am sure that there are many strange species underwater that we have not seen..........yet.

Yeah then there's the chance some Ampibians like certain reptiles have very long lives and continue growing as long as they live, that is if they happen to have a good food source and free from any creature that would prey upon them.

That whole area is strange, Heavily Forrested Ridges, creepy hollows, sightings of large hairy man-like creatures, Old Spirits, giant Mudpuppies, and sudden waterspouts off neighboring
Lake Moomaw, but we keep going back. The fishing is good, the scenery is even better.

I suppose there's weird places like this around the globe. Guess when out in wild places enough one is bound to see something which may be hard to fathom. Then again who knows what's running around in the backyard at 3 am ?

Reunite wrote:

Must admit I had to do a google search on Greererpeton. Amphibians that metamorphose catch my attention

Like the Eft-Newt ?

I remember catching a foot and a half Siren on a minnow while Crappie fishing. It came off my hook and fell to the bottom of the boat where it latched on to my pants leg while attempting to inflict a nasty bite. Had to scoop it out with a paddle. A strange Eel like critter with only 2 tiny front legs, I suspect they're pretty good at stealing bait off of hooks.

What if Nessie is a giant waterbreathing fully aquatic Amphibian , perhaps the Eogyrinus whose fossils have been found on the European mainland as well as England and Scotland ?

Being waterbreathers these creatures would only rarely be spotted upon the surface, plus may fit the bill for accounts of being somewhat Plesiosaur-like in appearance.

Check out Pinky

http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/cryptobranchidae/


Imagine something like that only 25' long.

I think pinky is stoned..his eyes are small and red. The Asian folktale pic looks like a dragon, it reminds me of the first film I worked on 'Komodo'.



Notice the 'all seeing eye' vertical slit and all.

You don't want to come across one these freaky lizards with a mouth full of virulent bacteria.

Oh my. I would freak out if any big creature like that got near me. Yikes.

Reunite wrote:

I think pinky is stoned..his eyes are small and red. The Asian folktale pic looks like a dragon, it reminds me of the first film I worked on 'Komodo'.



Notice the 'all seeing eye' vertical slit and all.

You don't want to come across one these freaky lizards with a mouth full of virulent bacteria.

Oh I noticed the 'all seeing eye' vertical slit and all.

The very aspect of it could frighten away almost any Giant Amphibian Hunter.

I've seen that eye before, but not on any Monitor Lizard.

Jim, where did you see an eye like that before?

Linda wrote:

Jim, where did you see an eye like that before?

on a viper.

Reunite wrote:

You don't want to come across one these freaky lizards with a mouth full of virulent bacteria.

like the goannas we get here and further out. the poison in their saliva will cause your flesh to rot if left untreated. sometimes, even after you've treated it.

Hi Jim

i remembered hearing about a nasty fish that was making the bay and tribs it's home so i went to see if i could find it's name..
well it is a snakehead and obviously not what you saw..
but interetingly there are tons of new species found every day..according to some stuff i found
here is a link with a pic of another that would rather crawl..

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080402164131.htm

New Species Of Fish Discovered That Would Rather Crawl Into Crevices Than Swim
ScienceDaily (Apr. 3, 2008) — A fish that would rather crawl into crevices than swim, and that may be able to see in the same way that humans do, could represent an entirely unknown family of fishes, says a University of Washington fish expert.

who knows what you may have found...if you go back take a camera..you might get it named after you..

wow jim you storys are great.......i love camping.....it´s my favorite..........i think i would enjoy your camp sight..........

about these big hairy huminoid type creaters.......i think it´s nornal........they were here before humans........they live all over the planet in dense forests..........i don´t think they are aggessive........i would love to meet one..........

Zuni, I have a friend who knows people who befriended a bigfoot family. They used to leave food out for them and once they brought their youngster to meet them.
The people said they were not aggressive in the least.

gosh linda this is great news.....

i always knew the were friendly......

I am going to ask my friend to give me all the details and I will post the story.

hey great i want to know everything......

Surely most everyone has had one of those 'What the F was that?' moments Some more than others.

Water is life.
Life will always be near or in the water.

A good place for such encounters. In my case it's always been near Rivers, Streams, Lakes, Ponds and Pools as creatures swim about or come down for a cool drink.

sky otter wrote:

Hi Jim

i remembered hearing about a nasty fish that was making the bay and tribs it's home so i went to see if i could find it's name..
well it is a snakehead and obviously not what you saw..
but interetingly there are tons of new species found every day..according to some stuff i found
here is a link with a pic of another that would rather crawl..

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080402164131.htm

New Species Of Fish Discovered That Would Rather Crawl Into Crevices Than Swim
ScienceDaily (Apr. 3, 2008) — A fish that would rather crawl into crevices than swim, and that may be able to see in the same way that humans do, could represent an entirely unknown family of fishes, says a University of Washington fish expert.

who knows what you may have found...if you go back take a camera..you might get it named after you..

Never seen one living, yet have took notice of info tacked on Riverside Trees with a
'Catch em, Kill em' type of message.

Now here and near abouts in Ponds,Creeks and Rivers we have the Amia Calva or Bowfin. A primitive fish which has survived and changed little from the time of Dinosaurs. To me it somewhat resembles a Snakehead, but is purely a native species. I've heard of them reaching lengths of 4' in the Chickahominy River. I snagged one once that was about 2 1/5 '. They've been known to take Ducklings.

If you don't have anything to extract your hook or lure, it's best to just cut the line and send this critter back as it has rows of razor sharp teeth.

http://seapics.com/feature-subject/fish/bowfin-pictures.html

Hi Jim

thanks for the pics of your primitive fish...i think there is more under the water we don't know about than anywhwere...

we have locks and dams on the allegheny river here..and while i don't fish myself..the male relatives do and the size of the cat fish is mind blowing..to me anyway..they are huge...

and are you saying you have had a bigfoot moment..??..if so..please share...i've never seen one but i think i may have heard one..

ain't it great in the woods..lol