Jumping Silver Carp with Jason Deboer

Hi, my name’s Jason, and I’m unapologetically in love with fish and rivers! Lucky for me, my day job is as a large river scientist at the Illinois River Biological Station (IRBS) in Havana, Illinois. I grew up an active, outdoorsy kid in Kentwood, Michigan and am a proud native son of the Mitten State. Two of my uncles took me fishing at an early age, and – pardon the pun – I was hooked. I loved being outside and on the water – ponds and creeks, lakes and rivers; it didn’t matter, I loved it all. Fortunately, after 4 college degrees, now I get paid to find and catch and count and study fish on the Illinois and Mississippi rivers. From tiny iridescent shiners and sunfish to great big paddlefish and sturgeon, our rivers have a lot of amazing native fishy friends to see and love! Sadly, we also have some fishy foes causing problems, like invasive silver carp, which like to jump out of the water and into our boats, sometimes smacking us with their tails or just crashing into us. Join me on a journey as we explore the wonderful watery world of rivers!