I did some sampling in my local Nimishillen creek recently, and found some average but nonetheless cool fishes.

Blacknose Dace (?)



Bluntnose minnow


I believe this is a large common shiner.


Also, some nice colored chubs.


I've found more species in this creek, Including darters, sculpins, suckers, and stonerollers.
Has anybody else been to this creek or any near?

Wow you are bringing back memories... This is the stream I grew up in. Not the greatest for diversity but there are some nice fish in there. I used to think Rainbow Darters were rare because I never found very many in there. More Johnny, fantail and greenside darters than anything. I used to catch some odd looking yellow perch in that system, particularly in the middle branch. Headwaters of the east branch have some southern redbelly dace. I never found them there but never looked in the right place as a kid. Now that I have all the fish data for Ohio at my fingertips it is interesting to see what all I was so close to but yet never saw. Always have had a soft spot for blacknose dace because they were one of the best aquarium fish out of that stream. Looks like you got all the ID's right, last two are creek chub. There are some hornyhead chub in that system too and both striped and common shiner but the one you caught looks like a common. Unfortunately more carp than suckers. I only ever caught white sucker and the occasional northern hogsucker. Probably are a few redhorse in there if you get closer to where it joins Sandy Creek. Where were you fishing? Hall of Fame Park?

Wow, Cool to hear from someone from the area! I fish Arboretum and Ink parks, about a mile upstream. I used to catch stickleback in a small feeder stream. Any idea what species those are?
My school requires science fair for 9th grade, and I plan on doing a study on the fishes of nimishillen creek. My ideas are sampling either the different branches or the effect of storm water.
Why do the dace and blunt nose minnows have red tails?

I have old sampling records from Arboretum at least one time. Don't think I ever was at Ink. So your pretty much in the west branch only then. I am originally from Hartville so spent most of my time in the upper Middle Branch but did occasionally get in the West Branch. Even caught the occasional stocked rainbow trout in Hall of Fame park on the West Branch. The sticklebacks are brook stickleback and they are quite common in the smaller tributaries of the drainage basin especially in areas with some vegetation. My cousin who I fished with a lot still lives near Hall of Fame park so we frequented there. I'd be happy to help you design a project involving some sampling and provide you with data on the basin. I might suggest trying to sample a stream that is not in such a impacted setting as the very developed greater Canton area and compare it to the Nimishillen Creek Basin.