The view from beneath the surface

We fishermen have all daydreamed about what the underwater world looks like — how many fish are down there, how tightly they school, what they relate to, etc.

Well, Craig Johnson, a fisheries biologist for the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism, has provided us with a good look.

This spring he used a GoPro camera to video the underwater world at Milford Lake. And he hit the mother lode.

His footage, which he titled “Underwater in Kansas: An Angler’s Dream,” showed a massive school of fish gathered in one small area. Since its release, it has become a YouTube sensation.

Granted, it took an unusual circumstances to find so many fish at one location. But even Johnson was amazed at what he found when he lowered his GoPro camera into the water under a dock.

“We could see a few fish down in the water before we dropped the camera down, but it was pretty impressive to see all of the fish the camera was able to capture,” Johnson said.

The crappies were in prespawn mode, waiting for the water temperature and day length to reach the point where they would move shallow to spawn. The water was very clear because of the lack of inflow up to that time and the filtering effects of zebra mussels. That made for great filming conditions.

Now about the location where that was filmed, Craig?

“Let’s just say an undisclosed location,” he said.

This story was originally published August 4, 2015 at 1:18 PM with the headline "The view from beneath the surface."