This episode explores the ability of Pacific salmon to colonize Alaska rivers flowing north into the Arctic Ocean. Are they able to spawn successfully or are they just adventurous strays probing north? Our guests are Peter Wesley and Randy Brown. Randy, a Fishery Biologist, operates out of our Northern Alaska Fish and Wildlife Office and Peter is the Wakefield Chair of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

The cookiecutter shark has a very peculiar set of skills and is known for its distinctive feeding behavior. Despite leaving its mark on a wide variety of creatures (and even some humans and inanimate objects), much about these small sharks remains a mystery! Guest Aaron Carlisle from the University of Delaware's School of Marine Science and Policy brings his perspective and highlights the challenges of studying this amazing and strange fish.

Meet the Jack Dempsey, an American cichlid known for its beauty and aggressiveness. Your co-hosts Katrina and Guy have fun exploring the likeness between this fish and the 1920s heavyweight boxer, its aquarium presence, and how its found its way into unlikely places like South Dakota and Russia.

We are joined by two (and a half) guests who really like Fantail Darters and have found a creative way to get people excited about overlooked nongame fish! Drew Holloway is a fisheries biologist for the Muncie Bureau of Water Quality in Central Indiana and North Central Division of American Fisheries Society President Elect. Luke Etchison is a conservation biologist with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, Blue Ridge Snorkel Trail co-creator, and North Carolina AFS President. Their creation is Duke Hollison, a small little man who makes tiny native fishes look big and cool on Instagram.

For our 200th episode, we chat with Gene Gilliland - lifelong bass enthusiast and conservation director of the Bass Angler Sportsman Society (BASS). Learn about the variety of ways to catch this fish, why they're so popular, and more.

Get to know the fish and places it calls home. We also discuss fishing strategies, the importance of curiosity, and pathways into fishing and caring for native fishes. Our guest is Redband Trout enthusiast and Oregon State University student Roberto Ponce Velez.

Get to know Ohio's second smallest fish, the Tippecanoe Darter - a lover of marble-sized rocks and riffles. Guests Brian Zimmerman (a rare and endangered non-game fish biologist at Ohio State University), Ethan Hendershot and Zeke Churchin (non-game fisheries research technicians) help tell the success story of this fish.

Get to know Hawaii's mullets through the eyes of University of Hawaii undergraduate students Andie Le Doux and Iokepa Frederick. We'll imagine the grand experience of the once great mullet migration that provided sustenance for the people who lived on the coast of O‘ahu while we appreciate conservation work being done in the muliwai (estuary) environments that attract them near shore.