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Western VA/NC


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#1 littlen

littlen
  • NANFA Member
  • Washington, D.C.

Posted 06 May 2015 - 06:42 AM

Just got back from a couple days in the mountains.  The trip was focused on trying out the new GoPro4--to which I realized after the trip that I left on 30fps....which essentially made all of the clips pointless since I meant to film in 60fps.  Regardless, I got a couple of decent shots which I'll try to post.

In Allegheny Co. NC, I was finally able to find E. kanawhae (Kanawha darter) in pretty high densities.  A few trips looking for them in VA have been fruitless.  One 30' stretch yielded ~20 fish.  The males were fired up and courting females.  Aside from finding the target species, the New was otherwise very unproductive.  Other species we saw were Fantail daters, BND, and White shiners.  Sculpin were in low abundance.

 

Next stop was the Clinch in VA.  Probably my favorite river.  At the mouth of one of the creeks and working upstream of it we spotted:
Tangerine darters

Greenside darters

Logperch

Snubnose darters

Gilt darters

Speckled darters

Redline darters

Bluebreast darters

Warpaint shiners

TN shiners

Streamline chubs

Stargazing minnows
Stonerollers

River chubs

Whitetail shiners

SMB

Longnose gar


There were probably many more species of cyprinids that went unnoticed as my focus was filming darters.  The Snubnose were as thick as flies on a carcass.  They paid no mind to the camera as colored up males chased females.  Males of virtually all the species listed above were colored up.  Gilts were a little less than I've seen them before, but I did see males sticking by females.  Tangerines fed happily and very close to me on an accidentally crushed mussel.  They are easily the wittiest and most evasive species when they want to be.

I realize the frustration of only getting a written description of what was seen.  I will try to get a clip or two up soon.   We'll see how nice the computer cooperates today.

 


Nick L.

#2 mattknepley

mattknepley
  • NANFA Member
  • Smack-dab between the Savannah and the Saluda.

Posted 06 May 2015 - 07:44 AM

Mountains and darters and new GoPro? I'm jealous enough without the photos. Looks like I need to make it to the Clinch someday- 13 of those fish would be lifers for me. Gilts and breeding Speckleds are towards the top of my very long "wanna see" list. As are those Kanawhas. Sorry about the film speed, hope those clips work out!
Matt Knepley
"No thanks, a third of a gopher would merely arouse my appetite..."

#3 littlen

littlen
  • NANFA Member
  • Washington, D.C.

Posted 06 May 2015 - 09:19 AM

I kid you not, sometimes you have to 'push' the Snubs and Gilts out of the way to watch other fish.  The great part about the creek is that all of those fish have their specific niche or favorite habitat type to spend most of their time.  If it wasn't for the 5-6 hour trip each way, I'd spend a lot more time there.  I'm trying to fiddle with the clips now....


Nick L.

#4 Isaac Szabo

Isaac Szabo
  • NANFA Member
  • Marble Falls, AR

Posted 06 May 2015 - 10:26 AM

Sounds like an awesome trip. Lots of neat fish. I'm looking forward to the video. 30p should still be fine. You'll just have to use it at normal speed instead of slowed down.

#5 littlen

littlen
  • NANFA Member
  • Washington, D.C.

Posted 06 May 2015 - 11:24 AM

I just uploaded them to my computer.  Clarity is great, but a little choppy.  I had some of the filter attachments (Shallow water, deep water, green water) that were not useful in 1-2' of water.  Made everything very pink.  I'll post a video here soon if I can get it on YouTube.


Nick L.

#6 littlen

littlen
  • NANFA Member
  • Washington, D.C.

Posted 06 May 2015 - 11:46 AM

 

If it doesn't load, it might not have finished uploading or have been published yet.


Nick L.

#7 littlen

littlen
  • NANFA Member
  • Washington, D.C.

Posted 06 May 2015 - 12:36 PM

Snubnose breeding:

 


Nick L.

#8 Isaac Szabo

Isaac Szabo
  • NANFA Member
  • Marble Falls, AR

Posted 06 May 2015 - 01:43 PM

Cool videos! Thanks for sharing.



#9 mattknepley

mattknepley
  • NANFA Member
  • Smack-dab between the Savannah and the Saluda.

Posted 06 May 2015 - 03:01 PM

Nice! Love that tug-o-war with the mussel.
Matt Knepley
"No thanks, a third of a gopher would merely arouse my appetite..."



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