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Help( grass pickerel/ longperch darter

Started by Guest_fishguy120_* , Jul 11 2011 02:37 PM

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6 replies to this topic

#1 Guest_fishguy120_*

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Posted 11 July 2011 - 02:37 PM

Hey does anynody know any good locations for grass pickerel or longperch darters in licking county or surroding countys. info would greatly be appriciated

#2 Guest_fundulus_*

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Posted 11 July 2011 - 03:50 PM

Hello fishguy, welcome to the Forum. We're happy to share information, such as we have. Please don't post multiple species-locations queries, it's just as effective to post one that's grouped together. Thanks.

#3 Guest_fishguy120_*

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Posted 11 July 2011 - 07:00 PM

ok sorry if you have any info though let me know

#4 Guest_gzeiger_*

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Posted 12 July 2011 - 07:56 AM

I'm not familiar with your area so I can't be specific, but it's likely that pickerel won't be hard to find once you get the habitat right. I assume you're looking for a small one. They tend to spawn in slow moving water that connects to deeper water, such as a roadside drainage ditch with heavy vegetation. Ditches tend to have an abundance of food for the young, and few predators like bluegill, so the adults move up there to spawn.

In SC I started to see fry in January, with many more showing up all over the place in March/April. I'd guess they might be later in Ohio due to the colder weather, so you may still find small ones, but I'm not sure.

They are hard to catch at first though. They're very quick, and you won't see them from above at all. They tend to hide in grasses.

#5 Guest_star5328_*

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Posted 12 July 2011 - 01:21 PM

You're gonna need a seine net and a friend. Find small heavily vegetated roadside ditches from a few feet wide to several feet wide. Weed choked is most important...oh...also pretty slow moving, or at least pools that are somewhat stagnant. You and your partner walk directly into the bank a few feet apart with the seine open, place the end of your posts against the bank on the bottom of the stream. Both lift your legs over the post and stomp out the grass you are trapping with your net toward your net. After a few seconds of this lift the seine (bottom first) out of the water. Try multiple times until you find pickerel...if you don't find some within 15 minutes or so they probably aren't there.

#6 Guest_gzeiger_*

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Posted 12 July 2011 - 08:17 PM

I got pretty good at dipnetting them actually, but a seine would definitely be a far more efficient way to survey for their presence in unknown waters. They can be quite abundant shortly after hatching.