3 replies to this topic

[AquaHobbyist123]

Alright, so soon I will be trying to collect me some wild fieryblack shiners to add to my captive-bred ones for my new native Catawba River system tank. I seem to be unable to catch them (though I've seen them). I've only been able to catch greenfin shiners. Any tips would be appreciated.

[Chasmodes]

Sorry Thomas, I haven't responded because I've never caught them and aren't familiar with their waters. But, they seem tor resemble satinfins in form, so maybe they hang out in similar spots in a creek. Also, I don't know the SC laws about equipment, but, I can tell you how we found and caught satinfins. The most important thing is to find a stream that's loaded with them.

 

Best method was seining with multiple people pushing fish to the net downstream through holes from knee deep to waist deep. Our larger net could cover the entire with of the hole if we chose the right hole, If you have to use a smaller seine, you could station a person on each side to help funnel them in. It might take doing this through several holes before you find them.

 

I've caught them in my Perfect Dipnet as well, but, it doesn't have the surface area of a screen so they can easily go around it. However, in murky water, it might work very well.

 

Finally, we've caught them in fish traps using cat food and other dry food balls, but this has caught the least amount of them for us.

 

Good luck, and I hope you find and catch them! Let us know how you do!

[Chasmodes]

Oh yeah, another thing, the murky water concept...one time when we were trying for MRBD, we had a hard time catching them in our 4' seine because they'd see it and go around and under it. We caught fish, but had to work for them. Late in the day, it rained hard, and the water became muddy and rose, but not to a dangerous level. In those conditions, we caught 3x as many in the seine. The fish just couldn't see it. Go to the creek where you've seen them and try after the rain clouds the water and you might have better luck. Make sure to bring wading staffs so the fish herding folks can check for rocks and obstacles in their way. 

 

A final tip: if dipnets are legal, have your fish herders use them to help chase fish to the seine. It helps to keep them from escaping and you might catch a few that way as well.

[AquaHobbyist123]

As far as minnow traps go, I can usually catch many notropis, Creek chubs, bluehead chubs, and Rosyside Dace but never cyprinella. They don't seem to be particularly effective for cyprinella for some reason.xI speculate that Cyprinella rely more on sight than smell as far as feeding, just based off observing a greenfin I managed to catch (with a dipnet).

I'm going to get myself a better quality seine than the cheap frabill one I have. Here in NC, up to 12 ft. seine are legal. Dipnets are also legal,trouble is I never have anyone to collect with! I have friends, but they're noninterested in fishes (Typical teenagers, I must be weird).

I do have a friend who is a NC Forest Ranger who I may go collecting with, So I'll see what I can do then.

While there has been one site I've seen them in, Fieryblacks within a close enough range are hard to find. A big thorn in my side is the NCWRC Trout Waters designation, which happens to be the ideal waters for them. In many of the unclassified waters, they're outcompeted by greenfins which are more adaptable. As it's illegal to use a seine, dipnet, or trap in trout waters, it makes it so much harder. I wou.d try micro fishing, but I suck at regular angling.

Going to keep trying though. I am lucky to live in the Upper Catawba, with a spectacular range of species.
(Yesterday I was wading in a creek and found a chub mound with cherry-red greenhead shiners)

Thanks for the tips, I'm gonna have to give the muddy water trick a try.