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Surprising Blacknose dace habitat

Started by Guest_Thriftyfisher_* , Sep 16 2011 01:03 PM

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6 replies to this topic

#1 Guest_Thriftyfisher_*

Guests

Posted 16 September 2011 - 01:03 PM

Last week I was at my parent's acreage. It's an undeveloped 10-acre plot that has a small normally seasonal stream that flows through one corner. I have found fish in the stream on rare occasions. Normally they are sticklebacks and are confined to the larger pools. However, with more and more frequency in the larger pools there have also been Blacknose dace, Rhinichthys atratulus. This is actually the first native fish that I kept, back in 2000. They were from this stream but further down where the pools are bigger and deeper.

When I was poking around last week, I noticed that there were fish in a couple parts of the stream that I had not expected them. I almost missed them and only saw them as I was catching some water striders for my niece so she could take them to show and tell. I went back today with a camera and took some pictures. I thought I would share them.

Photo 1 shows the downstream view. The stream is about 12-15" wide and about 2" deep. Where you see the two sticks in the water there is a school of 15-20 Blacknose dace. From the size of the fish, less than 1", it is my guess that they are from this year's spawn.

down stream view of creek 9-16-2010.jpg 326.37KB 3 downloads

Photo 2 shows the upstream view of this spot. There are small groups of dace in this section as well. The stream actually splits and there are two different pools of water. The stream then rises about 2-3' to the level of the bank in the photo.

upstream view of creek 9-16-2010.jpg 344.58KB 2 downloads

Photo 3 is of a pool that is beyond the view in photo 2. This swampy area has never had fish in it before. I believe the stream has changed course a little bit over the last few years and more water is flowing into it. I was surprised when I saw sticklebacks in this area. The deepest part is about 3" and it is probably 4-5' wide x 10-14' long.

small pond upper part of creek 9-16-2010 pic 2.jpg 85.66KB 1 downloads

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#2 Guest_FirstChAoS_*

Guests

Posted 18 September 2011 - 01:24 AM

Usually if I see a fish in a stream that small around here it's a brook trout.

One thing I learned is whenever I make an assumption on a fishes habitat I will one day run across a fish that breaks that assumption. Many are likely just passing through or taking temporary refuge in areas. For blacknose dace the oddest I seen was in a still, lake like, dammed stretch of a river in the middle of a cattail bed. I found that unusual.

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#3 Michael Wolfe

Board of Directors

North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 18 September 2011 - 07:45 AM

If I understand your directions, I have an area like that around my house. It starts actually as an underground spring that forms a swampy area with a bunch of trees (which seems to be partially created by a man made berm of some sort... maybe an old farm pond). Then if flows through a culvert and begins to look like a very small stream... 12-18 inches wide and 1-2 inches deep.

Since there is a springs system of some sort, this area is never dry (even in the droughts we have had some recent years)... and the water is always pretty cool (even in the Georgia summer) due to the combination of the spring and the heavy tree cover over the area.

I have found young of the normal riffle species (normal for around here: yellowfin shiner, rosyface chub, bluehead chub, creek chub) in this very minimal amount of water... right up to the culvert... literally the headwaters of this stream. Since they are always younger looking fish, I assume they are using the shallow water to escape predation... and of course the heavy tree cover offers lots of insects to fall in the water (a primary food source for young fish to grow bigger).

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin

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#4 Guest_MichiJim_*

Guests

Posted 18 September 2011 - 01:09 PM

I am always surprised at the fish I find in those little streams up here. Blacknose dace by far the most common fish. I have a similar little creek behind my house. Most years, but not this one, if you time it right between the spring runoff and low water, you can find brook stickleback, mottled sculpin, johnny darter, and any number of chubs and stonerollers. If I am really lucky, there are a couple days when its full of coho salmon fingerlings. Too far upstream from where they plant, so they must be natural reproduction.

Cool stuff. Thanks for sharing.

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#5 Guest_Thriftyfisher_*

Guests

Posted 18 September 2011 - 10:00 PM

I would love to find some other fish besides the blacknose dace and sticklebacks. Farther down the stream, there are a couple other small streams that drain into this stream. In that part, There are larger pools and the stream is not seasonal. I am sure that I would find some other species there. Unfortunately, that is all private property as well and due to all of the underbrush that covers the stream in places, it is not possible to walk down the stream to get there. Also in a stream this small footprints from boots could harm the habitat so I haven’t walked down along the stream area in probably 25-30 years.

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#6 Guest_frogwhacker_*

Guests

Posted 18 September 2011 - 10:36 PM

The small stream that flowed through my yard where I lived at 10 years ago was full of southern redbelly dace and sticklebacks. Watching them back then gave me a new found respect for and interest in more than just game fish. I recently talked with the current owners and soon a few of the descendants of those SRBD will be occupants of my next aquarium set up. I'm really excited.

Steve.

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#7 Guest_Kanus_*

Guests

Posted 26 September 2011 - 09:04 AM

Blacknose dace are true pioneers. For one of my college classes my professor took us out to an agricultural field in the Rapidan drainage to show us "stream orders" and we walked from the very site of a tiny little seep in the ground, downhill to a small wetland that formed as the water accumulated, finally to a cut in the hill where the water finally started moving to drain...in that 1.5 inch deep, 6 inch wide rivulet, while looking for macroinvertebrates, I found a healthy 2" blacknose dace and was absolutely impressed by his bravery. Pretty amazing to see life on the frontlines.