Hi everyone,
I have been all over the place lately. I've been collecting all along the way too. My trip reports are filling up my notebook and I'd like to share them here. I'll start with...

Date: April 28, 2007
Location: Outlet Ditch to Springville Marsh (a tributary to the Blanchard River), outside of Findlay, OH (Northwest Ohio for those not local)
Water Level: The water in the ditch was a little higher than regular levels for this time of the year in the ditch. I have seen it deeper though. The water under the bridge was barely ankle deep. I’ve been there when the water under the bridge was knee deep, but I’ve been there when water under the bridge has been almost non-existent too. Despite the extreme flooding in the main river, this ditch isn’t as prone to the flash floods.
Water Quality: The water in the ditch was muddy due to the recent rain runoff.
Water Temp.: low 50's*F
Substrate: The bottom is mostly sand in this ditch. The shoreline is lined with grass too. There is fine gravel mixed in with the sand through the pools. Some pools had small fallen trees in them, too.
Air Temp.: low 60's*F
Collected:

• Northern Longear Sunfish (Lepomis megalotis peltastes) - this was the most common sunfish species in the ditch.
• Green Sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus)
• Rock Bass (Ambloplites rupestris)
• Blackstripe Topminnow (Fundulus notatus)
• Johnny Darter (Etheostoma nigrum) - these guys were in breeding condition. The picture is of a male, we caught plenty of gravid females though.
• Orangethroat Darter (Etheostoma spectabile) - these were the most abundant darter in this stream, and habitat was particularly favorable for them. 1st picture is a gravid female, 2nd picture is a male.
• Central Mudminnow (Umbra limi)
• Grass Pickerel (Esox americana vermiculatus)
• Tadpole Madtom (Noturus gyrinus)
• Yellow Bullhead (Ameiurus natalis)
• Bluntnose Minnow (Pimpephales notatus)
• Fathead Minnow (Pimephales primelas)
• Redfin Shiner (Lythrurus umbratilis)
• Silverjaw Minnow (Ericymba buccata)
• Creek Chub (Semotilus atromaculatus) - most abundant fish in the ditch.
• Creek Chubsucker (Erimyzon oblongus) - sampled 2 hours and only found 1 of these. It was in the deepest pool of the ditch.
• White Sucker (Catostomus commersoni)
• Central Stoneroller Minnow (Campostoma anomalum)
• Common Carp (Cyrpinus carpio)
• Golden Shiner (Notemigonus crysoleucas)

Mike Swartz (paoutlaw13) accompanied me on this, one of his first trips, and should be adding photos to this trip report very soon. I should mention, I almost exclusively use an 8' minnow seine as my method of capture...this was no exception.

I'll be adding plenty more trips as soon as I can!

-Nate-

Later that same day, Mike and I stopped at the Blanchard River. It was extremely flooded, here's how that broke down...

Date: April 28, 2007
Location: Blanchard River in Findlay, OH. Below the rte. 568 Bridge
Water Level: Well above flood level. The river was approximately 7 feet above regular water levels. The water was inaccessible, only sampled from shore via a dipnet.
Water Quality: Extremely turbid and muddy due to the recent rains.
Water Temp.: low to mid 50's*F
Substrate: The area sampled was flooded grass and a few rocks underneath the bridge.
Air Temp.: In the mid 60’s*F
Collected:

• Rainbow Darter (Etheostoma caeruleum)
• Johnny Dater (Etheostoma nigrum)
• Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus)
• Norhtern Longear Sunfish (Lepomis megalotis peltastes)
• Brindled Madtom (Noturus miurus) - the Brindled Madtom was a surprise to find among the riprap that ran along the shoreline.

This stop only lasted about 15 minutes because of the water levels, and I broke my dang sandal getting to the river here...

(more to come soon)
-Nate-

This was a fun one...

Date: May 2, 2007
Location: Honey Creek (tributary to the Sandusky River or Northern Ohio) at the "Forrest" Nature Preserve in Seneca County. South of Tiffin, OH.
Water Level: Average spring water level here. Mostly shallow and easily wadeable.
Water Quality: Water was slightly muddy. There is pretty good flow here to reduce the turbidity of the water. There were plenty of aquatic insects in the riffles, which I feel tends to be associated with better water quality.
Water Temp.: Upper 50's*F
Substrate: Good sized cobble throughout. There was some sand in a small area causing for a few slack water areas. Overall large cobble made up the substrate in this area of the creek.
Air Temp.: Quite warm, probably low 70’s*F right before big storms came in.
Collected:

• Logperch (Percina caprodes)
• Rainbow Darter (Etheostoma caeruleum) - these darters were quite abundant here.
• Johnny Darter (Etheostoma nigrum)
• Fantail Darter (Etheostoma flabellare)
• Greenside Darter (Etheostoma blennoides)
• White Sucker (Catostomus commersoni)
• Northern Hogsucker (Hypentelium nigricans)
• Mimic Shiner (Notropis volucellus) - in spawning condition.
• Spotfin Shiner (Cyprinella spiloptera)
• Bluntnose Minnow (Pimephales notatus)
• Rosyface Shiner (Notropis rubellus)
• Silverjaw Minnow (Ericymba buccata) - close up of the face of a Silverjaw Minnow.
• Central Stoneroller Minnow (Campostoma anomalum)
• Striped Shiner (Luxilus chrysocephalus)
• Rock Bass (Ambloplites rupestris)
• Golden Shiner (Notemigonus crysoleucas) - great golden coloration starting on the Golden Shiner.

Most of the fish collected in this creek by Mike Swartz, Brandon Drum, and I were in spawning condition. We did catch a freakishly large Rusty Crayfish as well...

Here he is
That is huge for a Rusty. Kinda makes you nervous when kick-seining...never ever barefoot.

(more to come)

-Nate-

Later that same day...

Date: May 2, 2007
Location: a small tributary ditch to Honey Creek, in Seneca County, just south of Tiffin, OH.
Water Level: the water was pretty low in this ditch. Maximum depth came to just below the knee on my waders.
Water Quality: the water was clear and the gradient was oddly high in this small ditch.
Water Temp.: Perhaps in the low 50’s*F, I imagine it would be slightly cooler than the main river and creeks.
Substrate: Entirely sand with small cobble strewn throughout. Grass lined the banks as well.
Air Temp.: Upper 60’s*F, as a big storm was rolling into the area.
Collected:

• Orangethroat Darter (Etheostoma spectabile) - these were all over the place in this ditch.
• Blacknose Dace (Rhinichthys atratulus) - I've never before seen such brightly colored Blacknose Dace. They were very abundant as well.
• Striped Shiner (Luxilus chrysocephalus)
• Central Stoneroller Minnow (Campostoma anomalum) - this is the most tuberculate male from the afternoon. A great looking fish!
• Bluntnose Minnow (Pimephales notatus)
• Creek Chub (Semotilus atromaculatus)
• White Sucker (Catostomus commersoni)

It was a surprise to find large Orangethroat Darter and such vivid Blacknose Dace in this small ditch on the side of the road. There were lots of fish in this ditch. Went with Brandon Drum and Mike Swartz.

(more)

-Nate-

Dude, you catch more fish in ditches then I do in lakes, creeks, swamps and ponds combined. All I catch in the ditches around here is beer cans. Thanks for sharing and great photos! Those blacknose dace are the most stunning I have ever seen.

Nice work Nate!

Dude, you catch more fish in ditches then I do in lakes, creeks, swamps and ponds combined. All I catch in the ditches around here is beer cans. Thanks for sharing and great photos! Those blacknose dace are the most stunning I have ever seen.

Haha...it's all in the technique.

Dude, you catch more fish in ditches then I do in lakes, creeks, swamps and ponds combined. All I catch in the ditches around here is beer cans.

That's because what you think of as "ditches", and what Nate thinks of as "ditches", are two different things. Here in Pennsylvania, and I'm sure for you in New York, a "ditch" is a narrow, shallow drainage feature, typically along the side of a road, intended to collect runoff from the road (or a parking lot, etc.) and divert it into a stream. Such ditches are too small to harbor fish. In Ohio, a "ditch" is a stream. In accordance with the Ohio county ditch law, streams are usually straightened, and the channels are typically dug deeper than they are naturally, with the intent of draining wetlands and/or making it easier to farm/develop the adjacent land. This work is done by the county upon petition of the adjacent property owners. An annual assessment is collected from the property owners to pay for the maintenance of the ditch. These ditches can be anywhere in size from the size of a roadside ditch to a small river.

To avoid confusion, residents of Ohio (and any other state that may have similar "ditches") should refer to these as streams, since to the rest of us they are really just streams with historically altered courses. But I'm sure it would be hard for them to change their way of thinking, and use more nationally recognized terminology. So just bear with them, and when somebody from Ohio says "ditch", just know that he means a stream.

Dude, you catch more fish in ditches then I do in lakes, creeks, swamps and ponds combined. All I catch in the ditches around here is beer cans. Thanks for sharing and great photos! Those blacknose dace are the most stunning I have ever seen.

Don't know how far you are from Olean, but there's some nice collecting there in the local creek/river. Lots of variegate darters and many other species.

But I'm sure it would be hard for them to change their way of thinking, and use more nationally recognized terminology. So just bear with them, and when somebody from Ohio says "ditch", just know that he means a stream.

Thank goodness for the engineers who can help us think in black and white. It certainly makes everything easier!

Actually, it's a lot more complex than that Ed, and your limited experience during the wettest season of the year, after the wettest summer on record in this system seems to have convinced you that they're just channelized streams. However, this isn't true.

Conversely, the people responsible for engineering these waterways are fully convinced that they're just ephemeral "ditches", and so the rest of us are stuck with consequences of the gray inbetween.

Which is... The Muddy Maumee Madness.

These "streams" or "ditches" that we're talking about are completely manufactured waterways on very low gradient, impermeable soils. The fact that they're drainage ditches that are presently acting more like streams after the wettest summer on record, is beside the point. You were mainly in channelized historical streams, which may have led to your bias. I'm trying to find a graphic that shows how many miles of drainage ditches that are now somewhere between ditch and stream.

I assure you, what Nate or anyone in Ohio referring to a "ditch" are talking about are, in fact, ditches. They just don't clear out the water as fast as the ditches you guys in PA and NY have.

We started historically with something that looked like this:
http://www.esri.com/...umee-river.html

And we now have something that looks like this:
http://extension.osu.../2geoprint.html
http://www.glc.org/b...ect.html?id=180

Actually, those are the more "stream-like" ditches. If you asked a farmer what he thought about "that", he'd say "That ditch needs cleaned out."

And for the national vernacular... You can ask someone in Indiana and Illinois what "that" is, and it's a ditch. In Michigan, "that" is a drain. I'm not sure what they call it in Wisconsin, and I'm pretty sure folks in the SE where these low gradient drainage systems occurr speak of "that" as a "ditch".

It's actually tragic Sand Tiger that we find these species in such a marginal habitat for them. When you think of all the places creek chubsucker, for example, used to inhabit in the Maumee Watershed... And that we're jumping up and down excited when we find them in 1.5 miles of completely manufactured ditch. It's just sad and sick.

Todd

I was under the impression that low-permeability soils tend to create a dense network of small natural channels (many of them ephemeral or intermittent of course). Ditches in such areas may be either dug along the course of natural channels or not along them, but in either case the effect is they replace the natural channels which are then filled, plowed, etc. In NC its mainly the porous sandy coastal plain where drainage ditches were dug through areas that really had no natural channels. The Waccamaw area (Field Trip F next week) is a good example.

These "streams" or "ditches" that we're talking about are completely manufactured waterways on very low gradient, impermeable soils. The fact that they're drainage ditches that are presently acting more like streams after the wettest summer on record, is beside the point. You were mainly in channelized historical streams, which may have led to your bias. I'm trying to find a graphic that shows how many miles of drainage ditches that are now somewhere between ditch and stream.

I was under the impression that low-permeability soils tend to create a dense network of small natural channels (many of them ephemeral or intermittent of course).

With any kind of gradient, they will. However, in the Great Black Swamp and the lower Maumee, where fall is a little more than a foot per mile from Defiance, OH to Lake Level (most of which happens in 2 series of 'rapids'), the gradient is such that plants and organic accumulation would stop any small channel formation aside from the water coming down the moraines (which formed the main drainages of the area). It's not hard to overcome the energy in a foot of fall per mile.

I'm editing this post to add this graphic, in case you've already read it and this has appeared.

This is a graphic made for our Mussel Guide that shows only County maintained ditches. These are the ones that are currently regulated, IE the biguns. See the squares?



Again, this is just for what the county will accept responsibility presently. There's a network of literally thousands of miles of tile and ditches unaccounted for in this map. At the turn of the century, Defiance County had over 2000 miles of ditches alone. These were not historic channels. In fact, in many cases, they were directly next to places where they were trying to build corduroy roads out of logs and spoil to keep the wagons above the water table.

Todd

Good conversation. One reason for the valley-like depth (eg in Wood County) is to have enough freeboard (for lack of a better term) to drain the tiles. In the late 1800s people were tiling with all kinds of material - wood, bricks, etc. I don't think the terms stream and ditch are interchangable. Some ditches are completely artificial, dug to drain surface and subsurface water (surface, interflow and by tile). They don't have an active floodplain (ie 0.5-2 year elevation they can flood), although some develop benches. They do not have the attributes or potential to operate morphologically like natural streams. Some are so deep they will keep a 100-year flood within the channel.

Historically, the areas where they were dug were either swales, areas that saturated with water and could not be farmed or small streams. If you look at aerial photographs, you can sometimes see the old scrolls of natural meanders. Another clue to look for is the presence of natural floodplain topography - may indicate natural channel.

I've never seen a ditch the size of a small river....in Northwest Ohio ditches are generally headwaters to moderately-sized streams such as the Blanchard. Which probably has seen a lot of channel modification itself.

Should add too that all counties in Ohio are different as far as channel "maintenance". Take it from someone who use to work at a Soil and Water District. Some counties "maintain" the crap out of there "ditches", which they sometimes confuse with channelized streams. Others have a grand total of 7 miles on maintenance, like the one Todd and I are so fond of.

Jeff

It's just sad and sick.

I know it Todd, unfortunately in this part of the country we see it all too often.

I've never seen a ditch the size of a small river....in Northwest Ohio ditches are generally headwaters to moderately-sized streams such as the Blanchard. Which probably has seen a lot of channel modification itself.

Well, the Blanchard is a small river, is it not? I recall learning on my first trip with Matt (correct me if I'm wrong, Matt) that the Mad River was similarly channelized over much of its course. These may not have been modified under the ditch law, however; I have no idea.

I knew Todd would chime in and expound on / clarify what I wrote. Thanks, to Todd and the others who added. And my point (which I believe you have supported) is that Ohio ditches are not just roadside drainage ditches, like I assume sandtiger was thinking of, but they are channelized stream or stream-like drainage facilities that are often suitable (however marginally) habitat for fishes. I'm sure similar drainage facilities exist in other states as well, especially in areas of very flat topography.

I think this ditch discussion is useful, and perhaps one of the moderators might want to consider moving it to a more appropriate location on the forum, instead of in this trip report.

Getting back to the trip report...

On May 5th, I had the pleasure of meeting Uland Thomas (Teleost) in Indiana for a day long trip in Indiana and Illinois. I brought my younger brother with as well. Here's how the day went;

Date: May 5, 2007
Location: Tippecanoe River, near Beardstown, IN. off Rte. 35, in Tippecanoe River State Park.
Water Level: Quite high. There was a good deal of flooding, and a few feet from the bank there were drop off dropping to at least 3-5 feet in depth.
Water Quality: Even though the water was high, it was not very muddy. It did have a slight brown stain to it though.
Water Temp.: Probably upper 50’s*F
Substrate: Areas of sand and mud. We sampled near the shoreline among vegetation and fallen timber.
Air Temp.: Mid 60’s*F
Collected:

• Warmouth (Lepomis gulosus) -right when we found this sunfish species we knew we weren’t going to be finding any of the darters we were looking for
• Emerald Shiner (Notropis atherinoides)
• Sand Shiner (Notropis stramineus)
• Spotfin Shiner (Cyrpinella spiloptera)

Unfortunately, the water was too high to get to any riffles. The area is reported to have Gilt, Bluebreast, and Tippecanoe Darters. We didn't spend much time here due to the conditons.


After this stop, we shot out to Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area.

Date: May 5, 2007
Location: Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area, in Jaspar County, near Medaryville, IN.
Water Level: We sampled a small ditch on the side of the paths in this park. The ditches we were in were no deeper than waist deep.
Water Quality: Very stained water. Almost bog-like condition water.
Water Temp.: Low 60’s*F (estimated)
Substrate: All sorts of aquatic vegetation, debris, and muck formed the bottom of the ditch.
Air Temp.: mid 60’s*F
Collected:

• Central Mudminnow (Umbra limi)
• Grass Pickerel (Esox americanus vermiculatus) - one very tiny young of the year was collected

Also captured a small snapping turtle. This area looked like it could have also had Largemouth Bass and Northern Pike. It was an interesting park though. There was a really diverse snail population here as well. Also noted were crawfish with very small claws and soft shells. We only spent a small amount of time here as well, Uland had another spot in mind.


Date: May 5, 2007
Location: -Secret Area-
Water Level: Area sampled was a shallow, slow, ditch/oxbow area overrun with aquatic vegetation.
Water Quality: The water was clear and loaded with vegetation.
Water Temp.: Low 60’s*F (estimated)
Substrate: Lots of aquatic vegetation. Some fallen trees. Bottom was sand and muck.
Air Temp.: Mid 60’s*F
Collected:

• Northern Starhead Topminnow (Fundulus dispar dispar) - there was an abundance of F. dispar here. Every seine haul seemed to yield at least a few. These fish were all over the backwater sloughs here.
• Grass Pickerel (Esox americanus vermiculatus)
• Central Mudminnow (Umbra limi)

Uland said he has found Bowfin here before, so we spent a little bit looking for them, without any success...oh well, next time.


This last spot that we stopped was my favorite spot of the day. It will be obvious why...

Date: May 5, 2007
Location: -Secret Ditch- in the Kankakee River drainage, in IL.
Water Level: According to Uland Thomas, the water in the ditch was much higher than usual. For the most part, the ditch was probably a little less than 1.0m deep. No more than 2.5 meters wide.
Water Quality: The water was very muddy, perhaps due to recent rain. Low gradient.
Water Temp.: Low 60’s*F (estimated)
Substrate: Mostly muck and sand. Long grass lined the ditch, as it does for most ditches in the Midwest.
Air Temp.: Mid 60’s*F
Collected:

• Least Darter (Etheostoma microperca) - Least Darter were the most common darters here in this low gradient ditch.
• Johnny Darter (Etheostoma nigrum)
• Hornyhead Chub (Nocomis biguttatus) - 1st picture is a male perhaps and the 2nd a female?
• Lake Chubsucker (Erimyzon sucetta) - this is an older picture that was taken by me of a Lake Chubsucker that came from this area.
• Central Mudminnow (Umbra limi)
• Grass Pickerel (Esox americanus vermicalutus)
• Blackstripe Topminnow (Fundulus notatus) - it was interesting to see F. notatus alongside F. dispar dispar.
• Pirate Perch (Aphredoderus sayanus) - there were lots of Pirate Perch here. Prior to this I have only seen 4 Pirate Perch ever. Must have caught at least 15 here.
• Northern Starhead Topminnow (Fundulus dispar dispar)
• Ironcolor Shiner (Notropis chalybaeus)
• Spotfin Shiner (Cyprinella spiloptera)
• Bluntnose Minnow (Pimephales notatus)
• Fathead Minnow (Pimephales primelas)
• Golden Redhorse (Moxostoma erythrurum) - this Golden Redhorse was the first that Uland has encountered in this ditch. The snout is blunt to rounded but not overhanging the mouth, whereas the Black Redhorse has a rounded and swollen snout that slightly overhangs the mouth ventrally (Fishes of Wisconsin).
• Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus)
• Green Sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus)
• Hybrid Sunfish (Lepomis hybrid)
• Northern Longear Sunfish (Lepomis megalotis peltastes)
• Brook Silverside (Labidesthes sicculus) - this was the 1st Brook Silverside that Uland has seen in this ditch.
• Rock Bass (Ambloplites ruprestris)
• Tadpole Madtom (Noturus gyrinus) - these were quite abundant as well.
• Redfin Shiner (Lythrurus umbratilis)
• Emerald Shiner (Notropis atherinoides)
• Sand Shiner (Notropis stramineus)

A great assemblage of fish in this small ditch. There was also a great diversity of crayfish here too. Not sure as to what species they are…

Maybe you guys could help me out with these?

(pictures from last two post provided by Uland Thomas)

The second is the papershell or mosaic crayfish, Orconectes immunis.

The top one looks like a good ol' mudbug. No idea

Did you guys get any juvenile White River crayfish over there? The adults may have still been above the substrate too, they're fire truck red and HUGE. They should also be abundant where you find papershell crayfish, but the papershell are typically much more abundant. The juvies will look like the papershell without the red tips until you train your eyes on more distinctive taxonomic features.

Hmm...I don't think we saw any White River Crayfish. Thanks for the ID on the 2nd crayfish though. Looks like it has tubercules on it's head too.

Okay, where'd I leave off...

Date: May 7, 2007
Location: Prairie Du Sac Dam on the Wisconsin River, in Prairie Du Sac, WI.
Water Level: Dropping quickly and deeply near the dam, very shallow water (knee depth) 100 yards below the dam.
Water Quality: Very clear water near the dam and even below it. Good enough to support lots of mussels.
Water Temp.: low 60’s*F
Substrate: Near the dam; cobble and large boulders. Below the dam; completely sand.
Air Temp.: mid 70’s*F
Collected:

• Mooneye (Hiodon tergisus) -
  a fisherman below the dam was throwing these onto shore. When I walked over and asked him what he was doing he said, “Damn shad keep stealing my minnows!” I told him what he was throwing up on shore and let him know these weren’t shad. Even if they were shad, he shouldn’t be throwing them onto the shore. Hopefully I educated one fisherman, and hopefully he tells his buddies. Note: this fish might be a Goldeye, I haven’t been able to confirm it yet.
• Shovelnose Sturgeon (Scaphyrhynchus platorynchus) -
  this was another case of fishermen who needed to be educated on their local fish. The people who were catching these also considered these fish “trash fish” and were leaving them on the shoreline. I came by and was very surprised to see this. I made them release all the fish (after I photographed the fish) and hopefully they walked away better knowing what to do with Shovelnose Sturgeon. These fish seemed to be just stacked up under the dam, probably on a spawning run. The fish with the blue on the bottom is a female I think, perhaps gravid. I am not sure of this though.

Notes: There were plenty of mussels downstream of the dam. I was able to follow mussel “tracks” in the sand to find all sorts of mussels. I'll post the pictures of the mussels later... more to come.