23 replies to this topic

[FabianBigge]

I need tips for catching dace and topminnows. I tried last summer to catch some and never did.

[gerald]

Do you mean you know where they are, but can't catch them, or do you need tips on where to look for them?

Once you've found a place that has them, a minnow seine is  your best bet.

[FabianBigge]

I need to know where to find them. Sorry, I know i wasn't very clear. I find darters and creek chubs all the time. Never dace, shiners, or topminnows.

[NotCousteau]

I'm far from an expert, but this is my experience: I've found dace in the quiet pockets of very small streams, the kind of nondescript streams that wind through cow pastures. I've never found them in the riffles or shallows. They seem to idle in quieter pockets near shore. They're just like that in my tank -- avoid the current, hover toward the bottom in a quiet spot. I've never seen dace schooling out in the open like shiners and fathead minnows do. I've only ever caught dace when I couldn't see what was in the water.

 

Shiners, I've only ever caught in lakes near shore and near docks. They're easy once you find them.

 

Good luck.

[FabianBigge]

Thank you. Now I have to find a lake where I can fish. lol So should I use a seine or small hook? Seems like it would be hard to seine where I can't see.

[NotCousteau]

I've only ever seined for dace. Just find a good spot and go for it. It's part guessing game. Using a hook sounds tedious.

For shiners, a seine or a minnow trap work well.

[don212]

i dipnet topminnows in clear weedy areas near edge of weeds or under them

[FabianBigge]

Okay. I'll have to try all of that. Using hooks would get tedious. Lol

[Sean Phillips]

My experience catching dace has been pretty easy. Go in any spot in any of my local creeks and you're guaranteed a few dozen Blacknoses or Longnoses. But they seem to be most abundant in slack waters of small feeder streams.

[fundulus]

Topminnows, like Northern Studfish, hang out in quiet shallow water just off of faster water. If you find Gambusia in such an area there's a good chance you'll find topminnows, including other Fundulus species.

[smbass]

Distribution is a very important thing here... You can give all the advice on size of stream and type of habitat you want and it is not going to be useful if you do not know the distribution of the species you are interested in. You also need to be a lot more specific when you say "shiners", that refers to hundreds of species with many different habitat preferences from tiny streams to huge rivers. You are very lucky to live in Ohio because there are very good resources available to use. The old one is Fishes of Ohio by Milton Trautman. This book came out in 1981 and is pretty out of date, especially the distribution maps. A few years ago while I was working with ODOW I updated their online fish ID pages to include all Ohio species and that can be found here... http://wildlife.ohio...ies-guide-indexthere are also of course sections for other organisms and I had nothing to do with those. There is also a stream fishes field guide that covers about 70 of Ohio's fish including several dace species and this includes some small but more up to date distribution maps and nice pictures and species accounts (Big thanks to Uland Thomas for helping me with photos on this one) this is also on-line here... http://wildlife.ohio...des/pub5127.pdf Most recently for the past 4 years now I have been working on a project to build new up to date distribution maps and combining all sources of collection data and voucher specimens into one database through Ohio State University funded by ODOW. This has been on-line now for a couple years and is improving by the day as far as the accuracy and quality of the information stored in it. You can search by the latin name of a species, expand the map, and see all records for the species on google maps. This is probably your best source for finding any species in Ohio. I wish I had this when I was first looking for fish, makes it almost too easy! This can be found here... http://osuc.biosci.o...ate.edu/Fishes/ Try searching Chrosomus erythrogaster for southern redbelly dace. You should have no trouble finding such a common Ohio species with this resource and a legal sized 4ft x 8ft seine and your fishing license. Good Luck!

The Museum collection is not strictly Ohio so this can be useful for other states but so far we have put in very little out of state Field collections so it is mostly restricted to actual vouchers in a jar outside of Ohio. This is a big collection though so for some states it is still quite useful. We have particularly strong records for IN and MO.

[Josh Blaylock]

^ what he said

[Matt DeLaVega]

Gosh, in your area, any stream smaller than 10 feet wide should be packed with SRBD. Just two with names that I can think of are upper and lower twin creeks. Over in Shawnee. I think they are both off of roads with the same name. This should be an easy quest. Familiarize yourself with the fish first. They do not always show red, juveniles can be fairly nondescript, and adults can lack red, but usually have yellow fins.

[Duckman77]

For southern redbelly dace i use a dipnet (sometimes a seine, but usually I'm alone).  The waterway I find them in is clear, slow flow, and small (6 feet wide maximum).  I'm most successful on the SRBD when I run the dipnet under some overhang such as a mud bank or tree stump.  They don't seem to be amongst the vegetation as much.  I catch a small number of small ones there, but bigger dace in larger quantities in overhangs where you wouldn't expect to find fish.  Blacknose dace are different:  Out in the open flow with the shiners, etc.

[Matt DeLaVega]

Jeremy? Really, have not seen you in years. How are you doing? Have not seen you much since I sent you those sauger almost 10 years ago. Welcome back.

[Duckman77]

Thanks!  I'm doing well.  I've been laying low and focusing on my 3 young kids.  My oldest is getting old enough to go seining with me so I've taken him a few times.  I got out a fair amount at the end of last summer. 

[Matt DeLaVega]

Good to know Duckman. Those three will keep you busy for sure. Glad to see you. You were one who helped me get into this, at least on the online part. Let us know if we can help you out in any way. Matt

[FabianBigge]

Thank you all. Sorry I couldn't reply more quickly, Tapatalk wouldn't let me. Smbass, that was extremely helpful. I know I'm lucky to live where I live. Part of Scioto brush creek is in my backyard. I catch darters all the time, just nothing other than that.

[FabianBigge]

The specific fish I'm looking for are blackstripe topminnow, scarlet shiner, and southern redbelly dace. Though any fish around 2-3 inches would work. I'm planning a community tank.

[Matt DeLaVega]

Sunfish creek is not too far from you. Very nice scarlet shiners and I believe I have netted Fundulus there as well.