Hi,
I'm new to this forum and recently became interested in texas native fish, and wanted to know what kind of fish live in texas like darters.?.?. And how do I catch them? Thanks in advance.
Texas Fish
Started by
Guest_bruce23_*
, May 30 2011 09:34 PM
12 replies to this topic
#2
Michael Wolfe
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- Board of Directors
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- North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage
Posted 31 May 2011 - 09:27 AM
Hi,
I'm new to this forum and recently became interested in texas native fish, and wanted to know what kind of fish live in texas like darters.?.?. And how do I catch them? Thanks in advance.
Check out this website as a good place to start...
http://www.bio.txsta...onner/txfishes/
...these guys were at our convention in Texas and gave a very interesting presentation on the development or the book... and I got my copy signed by the authors...
And read through the forum... you will get lots of ideas on collection methods... from traps, to dip nets to seines... each method has its strengths and weaknesses
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin
#3
Guest_rjmtx_*
Guest_rjmtx_*
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- Guests
Posted 31 May 2011 - 10:01 AM
To add on to that, here is a list of all the protected fish http://www.tpwd.stat.../animals/fish/.
In Texas, fish communities shift on an east to west gradient. Keep that in mind while looking at what to collect where.
In Texas, fish communities shift on an east to west gradient. Keep that in mind while looking at what to collect where.
#5
Michael Wolfe
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- Board of Directors
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- North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage
Posted 31 May 2011 - 12:44 PM
Probably not with a cast net (have never seen one with mesh that small)... definitely "yes" with a seine... that is my preferred method of darter catching.Can I catch a darter with a cast net? I have a seine and minnow trap, would those work?
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin
#7
Michael Wolfe
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- Board of Directors
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- North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage
Posted 31 May 2011 - 02:26 PM
no way... they are fast guys... and quick thinkers too... at least when it comes to spatial thinking... remember they live in cracks between rocks in fast current... they are used to managing themselves in tight spaces... most have a body cross section much smaller than 3/8" and will feel (lateral line) or see the net and simply swim between the spaces, and right out...What if the holes were 3/8 in. in size? If not I guess I'll just have to get in the water.
I actually got tired of loosing smaller darters with a 1/4" seine and went down to a 1/8" mesh for smaller darters and shiners (Pteronotropis stonei were great at folding down their fins and just swimming though my 1/4" seine... actually saw it happen on a few occasions).
If you want to catch darters, you will want to get wet...
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin
#9
Guest_rjmtx_*
Guest_rjmtx_*
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- Guests
Posted 31 May 2011 - 02:59 PM
It depends where you're looking for them. In a riffle, a kick works great, but in slack water, just pull the seine. Here's a link to the Fishes of Texas Project http://www.fishesoftexas.org/ that is georeferencing and digitizing the fish collections at UT (amongst other things). There are plenty of recorded localities that they don't have in their collection, so keep that in mind. I've caught darters all over East TX. They're just not generally the ones you catch in Central/West TX. The Fishes of Texas book by Thomas, Bonner, and Whiteside has pretty good general ranges. I've done a lot of research on natural fish distributions in Texas, and will answer any specific questions you have. My maps aren't ready to be released yet, though.
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