Splash! you hear. Splash! again. Splash! from close to the houseboat. Splash! from amid-river. Splash! first thing in the morning. Splash! all during the night.
Oh, yes, my neighbor mentioned. In August, the carp leap -- constantly. For the most part, you don't see them, because by the time you look up, they're back in the water and all you're left with is a receding circular ripple. I sometimes see them leap because I take long kayak paddles, so I have my eyes ahead on the water for a good distance.
I wanted to see them up close and I had not.
One person advised, "Listen for slurping instead of splashing. Their mouths make a big sucking sound." I tried, but haven't yet heart slurping.
But my next door neighbor informed me that she was seeing them underwater all the time -- maybe a dozen or so -- between our houseboats. It seems that they are after the birdseed that the birds scatter from my feeder into the water, which drifts downstream to her place.
After that I started looking and yesterday, when the light was just right, I saw them. I sprinkled some bird food in the water, got the camera, and high-tailed it to the deck, where I was able to capture these photos. The one below shows its "sucking" mouth.
I work with my desk butted up against a 6 ft x 6 ft window that goes down to the floor. Today when the sun hit at just the right angle, I could see the fish, somewhat ghostly, underwater right in front of me. As soon as I went outside on that narrow ledge they disappeared.
Some people see them as big, wild koi.
Another view, though, by coincidence, appeared in todays' Oregonian. Columnist Steve Duin had a commentary called "The elephant in Malheur Lake" -- about how "trash fish" carp are so invasive they have ruined this migratory jewel "with healthy females dropping 1.5 million eggs annually." Read his piece at: http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/steve_duin/index.ssf/2012/08/steve_duin_the_elephant_in_mal.html
I heard one splash! just now.
P.S. Thanks to my artist friend Kathy Reilly for raising the quality level of these two photos so you can actually see the fish. Her paintings are currently on exhibit at Muse Gallery in Longmont and you can see her work at http://kathleenreillyart.com/NewArt.htm
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