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Welcome Dan!

I'm also from Northern Illinois (what a coinky dink). I'm not sure I meet your criteria (kind & intelligent) but I'll give this a try

I don't think you need to travel all the way down to the Kankakee or the Vermilion to sample darters (but if you do let me know and we'll get in the water, I know airbrn1187 would like to sample the area as well). I have no idea where you hail from but I'll take beaver creek in Boone county (trib. of Kiswuakee) as an example. Blackside, Banded, Fantail, Johnny and Rainbow darters can be found there. I'm not suggesting this is a great place to sample, this is just a random stream near Rockford that I selected.

I'm not the best to clear up the equipment questions you have, so I'll hope others can describe the differences and how they use them.

I'm also not the best to answer your questions about where within the streams to find the fishes but I can tell you that a background in angling will suit you well. Really this is fishing with nets instead of rod and reel and the quarry is a bit different. You'll experience a learning curve but apply your knowledge of water and game fish to your sampling and success will soon follow. I hope others will help with this part as well since some really experienced and bright folks hang around here.

I'll take the above darters as an example and try to get into the right mind set to find them. Blackside darters usually associate with vegetation in my opinion. Slower water on the rear of islands are great in larger streams and rivers while shoreline vegetation are good places to look in pools of smaller streams. Wood debris near vegetated shoreline and access to current is a slam dunk for Blacksides. I usually find Fantail, Banded and Rainbow darters in cobble rock riffles as well as sparingly in the somewhat swift water (swift for our area) in the main channel of streams. You'll often find many species in a nice shallow, long riffle. Johnny Darters tend to prefer pools but you'll find them near or in riffles as well as main channel sections. If I can impress one thing upon you about darters....each species is different and will occupy different parts of the very same small stream. You'll also find darters in areas I did not describe above so try and sample all types of areas within the stream. The greater your diversity in sampling structure/habitat the greater your species list will be at the end of the day.

I have to be the one to let you know that Illinois and Wisconsin have some funny regulations that relate to our hobby. Please take the time to read the Illinois regulations on fishing (minnow seining) and please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about Illinois regulations and BTDarters would be a great contact about Wisconsin regulations.

My pleasure to help in any way. I'll be sure and post my next day trip to Indiana.

I'm rarely near the Kishwuakee but if I were there, I would not hesitate to sample it and it's tributaries.

I'd imagine the average tributary of the Fox river to have plenty of neat things. And I used to Steelhead pretty often in Indiana but in recent years I've spent more time sampling with nets a little further south. I still make it out a few time a year to the Indiana creeks.

I don't know your area or the species in it but FWIW I'll share my favorite darter catching methods.
First, since I'm usually alone, I don't use a seine. I guess the kick net technique is kinda like a one man seine but I have no experience with it.
I'm a dipnet guy. More specifically, a double dipnet guy. I would never attempt to collect ANY species, fresh or salt, fast water or slow, without TWO good nets. Being frugal, I make my own nets by purchasing the cheap [~$5.00] 10 or 12 inch short handled nets sold in every pet store. I use electrical tape to attach the net to a long handle. Any sturdy long handle will do but as a fisherman like yourself, I usually have broken fishing rods laying around [I've got 4 kids ]. I like the butt section of a good sized spinning rod as a dip net handle.
For darters in streams, I wade slowly upstream watching for darters to dart in front of me. A nice sunny day and polarized sunglasses aid the visual effect. Once I spot a darter, I watch it to see where it stops. Very slowly and carefully I stalk to within net handle range. I then deploy both nets at once. One goes upstream ahead of the fish while the other approaches from the rear. The tesselated darters I'm familiar with seem reluctant to turn around and flee downstream so they tend to allow the upstream net to come pretty close before they bolt. Mean time the rear net has crept up to within inches of the fish. A quick pincher movement with both nets usually bags 'em. It takes a few tries to get the hang of it. At first it seems they bolt before you get close enough. Eventually you'll get a feel for how to approach them without spooking them.

For darters found in slower moving water a great way is blind scooping along logs or big rocks or through isolated weed beds. If the darters are abundant, you'll have no trouble scooping them blind. Eventually you'll develop an eye for the best places to scoop.
A really fun way to get 'em is snorkling. I have the best luck snorkling for swamp darters which around here tend to live in lakes more than streams. I won't ramble on any further other than to say use two nets and deploy them as discribed above while snorkling.
Hopefully I didn't waste your time telling you obvious stuff you already knew. Sometimes I get carried away. My wife says I just like to hear myself type.

mikez, thanks for your input. I have read about using the large tropical fish nets but for some reason i find myself looking for other ways to catch them. I like the butt end of the fishing pole idea though. How long do you usually make your handels? Do you go through many nets? Is it worth spending the money on more durable dip nets?

I like my cumings dipnet. It works well at catching darters here in my area, others here seem to like them as well. If your budget permits, i would recommend either a cumings or a perfect dipnet from jonah's

Cumings linkthe price is a bit higher than shown, just call and they'll help you out.

Jonah's link - this I cannot help you pick out, but i have used a few different configs.

HTH
Tom

Personally, I went with a cheap dip net. I got one about 18 inches wide, with an extendable handle, from the Bass Pro Shop in Gurnee for about $25, I think. I have used it for a year with little signs of wear. (Admittedly, I am a light user.) If/when I step-up, Jonah's seems to have some really nice nets.

I have not sampled the Fox much, but there are lots and lots of nice looking feeders. I drive over Nippersink Creek fairly often, it looks just beautiful. Surely there are darters.

The Des Plaines river has LOTS of killies (blackstrip topminnows). It is a little hard to get down to the water here in Wisconsin, but there are a couple of access sites. Surely there are a few darters left in there somewhere (especially in the better-flowing feeders).

Can someone please explain a situation when a seine would be relevant to use compared to a dipnet?

You can literally seine up 100+ fish in one haul. This just can't be done with a dipnet. A lot of people solo-seine but can be a lot of work depending on the situations.

It is good for spanning a rocky stretch for kicking for darters and madtoms. It is also used for seining a pool for shiners and such.

Can someone please explain a situation when a seine would be relevant to use compared to a dipnet?

Seines are particularly good for fast, or deeper, or turbid water where you can't pick out an individual fish, or fish that are more wary or elusive. They're also more effective for getting things that may be hiding in vegetation, or buried in gravel so as not to be obvious to the casual observer.

I almost always grab a seine rather than a dipnet (but then, I've usually travelled a long way to get a specific species and like to stack the odds in my favor).

cheers,
Dave

The cheap nets do fall apart if you don't treat 'em right. Sad to say, I'm such a cheapscake I repair them when they start getting holes.
Seining looks like a cool way to to catch stuff. Hard to do alone, at least till someone shows me how to do it by myself. I do like the visual aspect of hunting down individual fish with the dipnet. Of course for me, getting 100 fish in one grab would be a waste. I sure couldn't keep that many and I'd be afraid some of them would get messed up before I can get 'em all out of the net.
Looks like I'm gonna have to hook up with some other collectors to help me pull a seine.

Once you've used a seine in a stream it's hard to go back to a dipnet unless you feel the need for a really brisk workout. The seine takes at least two people but the efficiencies are big.

I know a lot of people that use 4-6' seines solo and are successful. It can be a lot of work but more efficient than a dipnet. I've done the "look-for-fish-then-dipnet-it" technique and it works but a seine + another person would yield more fish per effort.

Fortunately i have another person to help with the seining.

Can someone please explain the kicking technique in greater detail? For example, does one person kick over rocks/disrupt the bottom while the other slowly walks upstream with the seine? Or, do you hold the seine still and have your company slowly work towards it? When do you know to scoop?

When seining pools, are two seines usually used?

I would appreciate if others would share their seining and dipnet strategies as my confusion on this subject seems to be slowly diminishing.

Also, i have some questions about seasonal darter location. In general when is it a good time to stop looking for them (for example, what water temps. are to cold). Where do they head once the water starts to cool?

Thank you all again.

This may help ---> click here.

Tom

Can someone please explain the kicking technique in greater detail? For example, does one person kick over rocks/disrupt the bottom while the other slowly walks upstream with the seine? Or, do you hold the seine still and have your company slowly work towards it? When do you know to scoop?

For example we use a 10' seine. With a person on each side, throw the net out downstream of the area you want to kick and allow the net to bellow. Holding the seine with one hand, kick upstream of the seine all the way down to the net. Then walk back to the poles and lift. Speed isn't all the necessary as the current keeps most of the fish in the net.

When seining pools, are two seines usually used?

It helps with two seines but with some practice and patience you can do it with one. Cloudy water seems to help as it diminishes their visibility and they group together.

Also, i have some questions about seasonal darter location. In general when is it a good time to stop looking for them (for example, what water temps. are to cold). Where do they head once the water starts to cool?

It will vary from darter to darter but there really isn't a too cold to find darters. A few months ago we found darters everywhere in a river but just this past weekend we could only find the larger males in deeper water. The fish will be there, you just have to find where.

I believe the best way to learn is to simply get in the water with someone that's done this a while. You'll probably learn 5 techniques in the first 30 minutes. We really should set up a date and get few of the Northern Illinois guys in the water soon.

I'll attest to that....I learned so much in just one day from Telost that I may never have learned if I didn't get in the water with him. And to watch the way he takes his photos is an eye opener as well!!

I'll attest to that....I learned so much in just one day from Telost that I may never have learned if I didn't get in the water with him. And to watch the way he takes his photos is an eye opener as well!!

Oh golly, don't give me credit for that. I've been lucky enough to hang around some very sharp guys from NANFA. They've all imparted technique. I seem to add another little seining trick to my bag every time I meet a new member.

I seem to add another little seining trick to my bag every time I meet a new member.

Wow...we weren't so quite um...prepared when we came across a wonderful spring fed creek (called quite originally "Spring Creek ) here in NE Oklahoma....

My wife ended up wading out in her combat boots and using her hand and a zip-lock bag to collect some darters and aquatic plants.