I talked the family into a picnic drive south to Alabama, near the former North American sock capital of Ft. Payne. I have been here several times, the last a couple years ago in mid summer when the water was way low, creating filtered pools with stunning visibility. Today the water willow read a high water mark from recent summer rains. The park was full of people too adding to the turbidity but i found a few spots of refuge allbeit downstream. Most of these fish are what i see in the Conasauga, counting 19 species for the day plus those mystery shiners that i will no longer rack my brain over. I will leave those to the photo tankers and ray counters.
Stonerollers.
Shiners: Blue, Alabama, & Many Mysteries. No Tricolors seen?
Suckers: Hogsuckers, Redhorse.
Channel Catfish.
Southern Studfish.
Sunfish: Redbreast, Bluegill, Green, Crappie, Bass, SM Bass.
Darters: Logperch, Bronze, Blackbanded, Greenbreast, Speckled.
Drum.
I did not do much rock flipping and the visibility was only 3' in most places so i hope to return again with crystal clarity. The canyon is quite beautiful and upstream is De Soto Falls and above it is one of the longest mountaintop rivers in North American, running a length of the Cumberland Plateau. Just downstream of today's location is Weiss Lake / reservoir.
A collage of the days views.
Backwater Run Underwater Sculpture Backwater Pool Redbreast Nest Cerulean Blue Mystery Light
One of the first sights. I am tempted to grab the tip of their tail sometime, but yet to do so. That braveBass was watching for something to get flushed out!
So how many can you count? There were even more. Though generally the substrate is big bouldered and silty Logperch were very, very common throughout my snorkel day. I turned over a rock and here they came.
Launch and glide. Proud Bronze.
Blue Shiner, many were in color. The family got to see them at their feet shining blue in the afternoon sunlight.
Redhorse of some kind. The black edge on the back of their dorsal fin, perhaps that is an identity marker?
Busy Logperch, Mobile. They all seemed to have flashes of red in their dorsal fins. How far south can a Conasauga Logperch make it?
A good day, drove back through Collinsville and looked at the Rainbow Shiner stream. All globby with algae and freshcut grass. I have snorkeled in worse though.
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