I went here after Mud Sunfish, which keep eluding me, if anyone knows any reliable spots for Mud Sunfish please let me know. I have id'd Pinewoods Darter, Banded Pygmy Sunfish and Blackbanded Sunfish, the Shiners I am not sure about. 
Mud Sunfish Frustration, Rockingham, NC
Started by
taldridge0321
, Dec 17 2016 01:49 PM
22 replies to this topic
#1
taldridge0321
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- NANFA Member
- Pigeon Watershed, North Carolina
Posted 17 December 2016 - 01:49 PM
#7
gerald
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- Global Moderator
- Wake Forest, North Carolina
Posted 17 December 2016 - 02:03 PM
Dusky shiners (N. cummingsae), Bluespotted sunfish (not pygmy), and Blackbanded sunfish. I dont know any "reliable" spot for mud sunfish, but dig into leaf piles and root mats under banks - i don't they spend much time up in the water column, at least not when people are walking around. However, in captivity they are just as outgoing and sociable as most Lepomis sunfishes. Mine is always begging for food.
Gerald Pottern
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Hangin' on the Neuse
"Taxonomy is the diaper used to organize the mess of evolution into discrete packages" - M.Sandel
#8
taldridge0321
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- NANFA Member
- Pigeon Watershed, North Carolina
Posted 17 December 2016 - 02:05 PM
Thanks for the id's, I didn't take pics of the Pygmy since I knew what it was. I have gone over North and South Carolina for the past six months and have yet to run into a Mud Sunfish. It's the only Sunfish I have left that I haven't caught so it is getting frustrating.
Dusky shiners (N. cummingsae), Bluespotted sunfish (not pygmy), and Blackbanded sunfish. I dont know any "reliable" spot for mud sunfish, but dig into leaf piles and root mats under banks - i don't they spend much time up in the water column, at least not when people are walking around. However, in captivity they are just as outgoing and sociable as most Lepomis sunfishes. Mine is always begging for food.
#9
Dustin
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- Forum Staff
Posted 17 December 2016 - 03:23 PM
I get out dozens of times and year and sample in areas that are prime for them and still only catch a handful each year. Keep trying. I always catch them when I least expect it.
Dustin Smith
At the convergence of the Broad, Saluda and Congaree
Lexington, SC
#10
taldridge0321
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- NANFA Member
- Pigeon Watershed, North Carolina
Posted 17 December 2016 - 04:26 PM
I get out dozens of times and year and sample in areas that are prime for them and still only catch a handful each year. Keep trying. I always catch them when I least expect it.
I will, haha, have to have this one.
#13
gerald
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- Global Moderator
- Wake Forest, North Carolina
Posted 18 December 2016 - 09:29 PM
I will PM you a list of sites where NC-DEQ got mud sunfish in their "Biotic Integrity" sampling program. The sites with the most specimens (9 to 15 per collection) were in Beaufort, Columbus, Bladen, and Robeson counties. The Menhinick book maps are also helpful. I usually find just one, if I find them at all. Most i've ever seen in one place was 3. I'll bet they eat swampfish and ghost shrimp, based on their preference for leaves and branch piles.
Gerald Pottern
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Hangin' on the Neuse
"Taxonomy is the diaper used to organize the mess of evolution into discrete packages" - M.Sandel
#14
centrarchid
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- NANFA Guest
Posted 19 December 2016 - 07:31 AM
Is possible the Mud Sunfish are in the crayfish burrows in the bank and otherwise coming out mostly at night.
I would really like to take a swing at breeding them. Could generate good numbers of fingerlings for study.
Find ways for people not already interested in natives to value them.
#15
taldridge0321
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- NANFA Member
- Pigeon Watershed, North Carolina
Posted 19 December 2016 - 07:59 AM
I will PM you a list of sites where NC-DEQ got mud sunfish in their "Biotic Integrity" sampling program. The sites with the most specimens (9 to 15 per collection) were in Beaufort, Columbus, Bladen, and Robeson counties. The Menhinick book maps are also helpful. I usually find just one, if I find them at all. Most i've ever seen in one place was 3. I'll bet they eat swampfish and ghost shrimp, based on their preference for leaves and branch piles.
Thanks for that Gerald.
#17
gerald
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- Global Moderator
- Wake Forest, North Carolina
Posted 19 December 2016 - 11:17 AM
That sounds plausible, with those big owl-like eyes. "Muddy" can take a cockroach from my fingers above the water surface in near-total darkness, where I cant see him at all, and can just barely see my way around the room.
Is possible the Mud Sunfish are in the crayfish burrows in the bank and otherwise coming out mostly at night.
Gerald Pottern
-----------------------
Hangin' on the Neuse
"Taxonomy is the diaper used to organize the mess of evolution into discrete packages" - M.Sandel
#18
taldridge0321
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- NANFA Member
- Pigeon Watershed, North Carolina
Posted 19 December 2016 - 12:08 PM
I think I may have caught every species from eastern nc, with exception of the infamous mud sunfish. I still don't think they are real, a fish made up just to mess with people, and we aren't in on the joke!
Haha, I am right there with you on that.
#19
mattknepley
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- NANFA Member
- Smack-dab between the Savannah and the Saluda.
Posted 20 December 2016 - 03:09 PM
I was there a couple weeks ago and I did get one mud sunfish. Only got 1 swampfish too. It's worth a try though. I'll send it to you Tim.
Dustin, is this the same spot as the one you took me, Beamann, Rolf to? I don't like the sound of only one Swampfish. It's been three years, but Steven and I got several Swampers; even with his falling in and floundering around all over the place...
Taldridge; fish-induced frustration is good for you; it builds character. I've got lots an' lots of character!
Matt Knepley
"No thanks, a third of a gopher would merely arouse my appetite..."
"No thanks, a third of a gopher would merely arouse my appetite..."
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