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My Time with the MBI

Started by Guest_NateTessler13_* , Jan 14 2008 04:55 PM

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#81 Guest_NateTessler13_*

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Posted 09 March 2008 - 12:50 PM

Date: September 29, 2007
Location: South Branch of the Kishwaukee River. South of Cherry Valley, IL. Off Fairydale Rd.
Water Level: Slightly higher than normal levels for this time of year. Max depth 2.3m. Lots of pools and a few gravel/sand runs.
Water Quality: Clearer water than we saw in the main stem of the Kishwaukee. There was good flow through the entire stretch that we sampled and siltation was very low. Overall high quality.
Water Temp.: 16*C
Substrate: Sand and gravel in the runs. Cobble and some large rocks were near the shoreline. At the upstream most area of our sample, there were concrete slabs in place amongst the large boulders to keep the shoreline from eroding (some people built their houses too close to the river it seems). A few large downed trees in the pools congregated massive schools of shiners.
Collected:
Gizzard Shad (Dorosoma cepedianum) – just a few in one of the deeper pools.
Northern Pike (Esox lucius)
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- only found one small one in the deepest pool. When we found this fish it was near the bottom of the pool as well, near some larger catfish.
Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio) – lots of large adult fish.
Hornyhead Chub (Nocomis biguttatus)
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– not a large population of them here, but we did find this large adult male.
Central Striped Shiner (Luxilus chrysocephalus chrysocephalus) – only caught a few, but we could see large schools of these swimming in the deeper pools.
Spotfin Shiner (Cyprinella spiloptera) – very abundant
Bluntnose Minnow (Pimephales notatus) – very abundant
Redfin Shiner (Lythrurus umbratilis) – only a few.
Suckermouth Minnow (Phenacobius mirabilis) – just one, there was suitable habitat for these fish (swift riffles and runs with algae growth), but I felt that the stream was a little small for these fish that I associate with larger, more turbid rivers.
Emerald Shiner (Notropis atherinoides) – just a few.
Carmine Shiner (Notropis percobromus) – a few of these as well. There was a sandy run that followed a deeper pool that had hundreds of small shiners in and around it. This run in itself had the bulk of our minnow haul.
Central Bigmouth Shiner (Notropis dorsalis dorsalis) – found about 6 or 7 of these here. They could have been more abundant, but we weren’t able to sample every small minnow found here.
Sand Shiner (Notropis stramineus stramineus) – very abundant. The sand areas were loaded with these fish of all age classes.
Central Stoneroller (Campostoma anomalum pullum) – not very abundant.
Highfin Carpsucker (Carpiodes velifer) – a few adults
Central Quillback (Carpiodes cyprinus hinei) – a few adults
Northern Quillback (Carpiodes cyprinus cyprinus) – a few adults of these fish as well. It wasn’t easy to distinguish any habitat preference between Central and Northern Quillback. The Highfin Carpsucker seemed to be found over sand substrates usually. Whereas Quillbacks were prone to sand and/or gravel substrates.
Black Redhorse (Moxostoma duquesnei) – lots of really big ones here. It wasn’t surprising to find them in this clean of a stream with substrates free of siltation.
Golden Redhorse (Moxostoma erythrurum) – lots of big ones here as well.
Silver Redhorse (Moxostoma anisurum) – only a few smaller ones here. This could be a function of this site being a smaller stream than some of our other sites.
Shorthead Redhorse (Moxostoma macrolepidotum) – these were very abundant here and were mostly adult-sized fish.
Northern Hogsucker (Hypentelium nigricans) – I’ve never seen Hogsuckers to be more abundant than they were here, and in all size classes. My back was sore from netting all the Hogsuckers that we found here. Everywhere where there was current and gravel, there were tons of Hogsuckers.
Channel Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) – lots of large ones were in every deeper area. The deepest areas harbored the largest fish.
Flathead Catfish (Pylodictus olivaris)
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– only a few, but the few that we did find were really large (got two at 29” each). The first one we found (pictured) was in a deep, swift run, that was loaded with small Rock Bass and Green Sunfish. I bet this fish was well fed on these small Centrarchids. There were probably lots of crawfish amongst these large rocks in the deep run.
Yellow Bullhead (Ameiurus natalis) – only one.
Blackstripe Topminnow (Fundulus notatus) – only a few
Brook Silverside (Labidesthes sicculus) – only one small one.
Northern Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu dolomieu) – lots of great habitat for these fish. Perhaps the best Smallmouth Bass habitat we encountered during our time in Illinois. Brian was fishing a little downstream of our site with a small jig for bait. He landed 31 Smallmouth Bass in about 45 minutes out of one pool! With the abundance of forage here for the Smallmouth Bass, this area could be one of the best Smallmouth Bass fisheries in the state.
Rock Bass (Ambloplites rupestris) – just as abundant as the Smallmouth Bass.
Green Sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus)
Bluegill Sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus macrochirus)
Johnny Darter (Etheostoma nigrum) – found a few in the sandy runs near mixed in with the massive schools of minnows in shallow water.
Banded Darter (Etheostoma zonale)
Freshwater Drum (Aplodinotus grunniens) – a few large ones.

Notes: With the quality of this Smallmouth Bass fishery, it’s no wonder we had such a hard time accessing this site. There is virtually no public access on this stream and in fact we had to sample by accessing private property which we were granted access to by the owner.

Date: September 30, 2007
Location: Kishwaukee River near Belvidere, IL. At Distillery Park at the dead end of Distillery Rd., just off US Business Route 20.
Water Level: Slightly higher than normal. The area sampled had stretches of 1.8 – 2.1 m deep pools. A few shallow runs were present that emptied into these deeper pools.
Water Quality: A little more siltation than any other site on the Kishwaukee River. The bottoms of the pools were silted and the secchi disk was barely visible at the bottom of the deepest pools.
Water Temp.: 17.39*C
Substrate: At the uppermost stretch of our site (the furthest upstream) the shoreline was rip-rap made of concrete slabs. Where this stretch ended, there was a scoured out pool that was the deepest area of the site. This pool had a sand and gravel bottom with a noticeable amount of siltation. There was a long run that followed the deep pool that had a clean sand and gravel substrate. The furthest downstream point of the site was a large shallow gravel and sand riffle.
Collected:
American Brook Lamprey (Lampetra appendix) – one was caught by Brian (he has an eye for Lamprey). If I remember correctly it was found in the sand/gravel riffle area at the end of this site.
Northern Pike (Esox lucius) – a few were found in the deep pool that was scoured out. I had a blast here waiting for Brian and Bob to finish up with this site. While they were working upstream, I went downstream of the site and fished some pools I found with a 4” jerkbait. On my second cast I caught a Northern Pike that was probably around 25” long. I left that pool and went down to a pool that had a small feeder creek flowing into it. Where the creek flowed into the river, there was a riffle that emptied into a deep completely sand bottomed pool. A few casts into that pool produced another large pike. After releasing that fish, I began casting in the tailwaters of this pool and caught a few small Smallmouth Bass and had another large pike follow the jerkbait back to me and swipe at it only to barely miss the bait. There seems to be a strong population of adult Northern Pike in this stretch of the river, definitely a spot to revisit.
Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio) – only a few large ones here. They were primarily near the large concrete slabs.
Golden Shiner (Notemigonus crysoleucas) – a few, like usual, when present they aren’t present in large concentrations.
Fathead Minnow (Pimephales promelas) – one
Bluntnose Minnow (Pimephales notatus) – very abundant
Spotfin Shiner (Cyprinella spiloptera) – very abundant
Carmine Shiner (Notropis percobromus) – not in big numbers
Sand Shiner (Notropis stramineus stramineus) – very abundant
Central Bigmouth Shiner (Notropis dorsalis dorsalis) – just a few
Central Stoneroller (Campostoma anomalum pullum) – very common in the final stretch of the site.
River Carpsucker (Carpiodes carpio) – not very abundant, only a few were found here.
Northern Quillback (Carpiodes cyprinus cyprinus) – not common here either.
Central Quillback (Carpiodes cyprinus hinei) – also not very common. I think because this areas deeper spots had higher amounts of siltation than other spots on the Kishwaukee, the Carpiodes suckers were not drawn to this spot. Also, the Carpiodes sucker that is most commonly associated with clean sand is the Highfin Carpsucker, which was completely absent from this spot.
Black Redhorse (Moxostoma duquesnei) – a few large ones. Only a few in comparison to the large number of adult Golden Redhorse we found.
Golden Redhorse (Moxostoma erythrurum) – lots of large adult sized fish here. This was another example of siltation increasing and the ratio of Golden to Black increasing as well.
Silver Redhorse (Moxostoma anisurum) – a few large ones in the deepest pool.
Shorthead Redhorse (Moxostoma macrolepidotum) – lots of big ones towards the beginning of the sample.
Northern Hogsucker (Hypentelium nigricans) – very abundant
Channel Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) – 25+ adult fish.
Stonecat Madtom (Noturus flavus) – a few
Blackstripe Topminnow (Fundulus notatus)
Northern Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu dolomieu) – good populations existed throughout this site. Many were pretty large too.
Rock Bass (Ambloplites rupestris) – the Rock Bass have pretty similar habitat requirements to the stream inhabiting Smallmouth Bass, so it seems throughout our sampling that any areas that had lots of Smallmouth Bass also had lots of Rock Bass.
Black Crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus) – one.
Green Sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus) – not very abundant.
Bluegill Sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus macrochirus) – only a few of these as well.
Northern Logperch (Percina caprodes semifasciata) – just one.
Blackside Darter (Percina maculata) – a few
Johnny Darter (Etheostoma nigrum)
Rainbow Darter (Etheostoma caeruleum) – very abundant in the riffles here.
Banded Darter (Etheostoma zonale) – just as numerous as the Rainbow Darter here.
Freshwater Drum (Aplodinotus grunniens) – only one. This was a big surprising because I would have expected to see them in higher numbers here.

Notes: This area looked like it would be prime Smallmouth Bass and Northern Pike fishing. There were a lot of pools with good depth and downed trees downstream of this site that surely would hold lots of Northern Pike.

#82 Guest_NateTessler13_*

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Posted 09 March 2008 - 03:04 PM

Date: October 2, 2007
Location: Spoon River (trib to the Illinois River) near Maquon, IL. Upstream of Knox County Rd 200 N.
Water Level: Slightly lower than normal levels. Some pools had depths of 1.0m. Otherwise the river was quite shallow. The nearest USGS gage read 74 cubic feet per second.
Water Quality: Silt heavy. The banks were very eroded and there was agriculture leading up to the edge of the river bank in some areas making for an nonexistent riparian zone. The erosion of the banks looks like an obvious cause of heavy silt loads in this area.
Water Temp.: 17*C
Substrate: Mixed coble of sandstone, flint, and glacial tills. Lots of sand as well. Most of the substrate was silt covered, however.
Collected:
Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio)
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– very common and large. They are at their highest densities in streams like this.
Grass Carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella)
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– found one of these invasive fish in the deepest pool at the end of our site. It was quite a large one too. These fish have traveled up the Illinois River and seem to be found throughout many tributaries to the river now.
Silver Carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix)
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- found these here in pretty good numbers. One pool probably had at least 20 adult sized fish in it. The picture of the fish’s stomach shows the keel that goes from the vent to the gills. They definitely displayed their habits of leaping out of the water when startled by vibrations. I was able to shoot footage of this as we left our site.
Central Striped Shiner (Luxilus chrysocephalus chrysocephalus) – just one.
Suckermouth Minnow (Phenacobius mirabilis) – a near the shallow sandy areas.
Northern Bullhead Minnow (Pimephales vigilax vigilax) – not very abundant.
Bluntnose Minnow (Pimephales notatus) – common.
Red Shiner (Cyprinella lutrensis lutrensis)
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- very abundant throughout this site. As I’ve read with the expansion of the range of the Red Shiner, we see the Red Shiner replacing the other Cyprinella species here.
Sand Shiner (Notropis stramineus stramineus) – common over all the sand bottomed areas.
Central Bigmouth Shiner (Notropis dorsalis dorsalis) – one was found in the mix with all the Sand Shiners.
Smallmouth Buffalo (Ictiobus bubalus) - very abundant here. They were the only Buffalo species we found here and they were near all the deepest areas of this site.
River Carpsucker (Carpiodes carpio) – occurred regularly in the middle of the river channel.
Central Quillback (Carpiodes cyprinus hinei) – not very common here.
Northern Quillback (Carpiodes cyprinus cyprinus) – only a few were here.
Black Redhorse (Moxostoma duquesnei) – a few.
Golden Redhorse (Moxostoma erythrurum) – lots were here in the middle of the river channel.
Shorthead Redhorse (Moxostoma macrolepidotum)
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- these were common in all the swift flowing areas adjacent to the deeper pools.
Silver Redhorse (Moxostoma anisurum)
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– not very abundant. These were found, as often, alongside the Shorthead Redhorse.
Northern Hogsucker (Hypentelium nigricans) – a few were in the swiftest area around on of the bends that had a run associated with it.
Channel Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus)
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- there were nice sized catfish all over this site. However, a good number of them contained these parasites shown in the picture.
Flathead Catfish (Pylodictus olivaris) – just one small one was found around one of the fallen trees.
Northern Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu dolomieu) – a good number of smaller ones were in the swifter moving parts to this site.
Bluegill Sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus macrochirus) – not very abundant.
Green Sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus) – also not very common. There was a noticeable lack of centrarchids here. Siltation was pretty high, this could have been a factor contributing to this. Poor farming practices seem to have taken their toll at this site.
Slenderhead Darter (Percina phoxocephala) – I was surprised to find these here. Their habitat requirements make me think of this fish as a species that isn’t too tolerant of silt. It seems like if you’re in a direct tributary to the Illinois River, you’re never too far from Slenderhead Darters.
Johnny Darter (Etheostoma nigrum)
Freshwater Drum (Aplodinotus grunniens) – only a few in the deeper pools.

Notes: This site was characterized by highly eroded banks and turbid waters due to current farming practices, and high densities of exotic and invasive species of fish. This site goes as an example of what the tributaries to the Illinois (and other rivers sooner than later) would look like if our agriculture system continues on in the ways it does now and if we don’t stop the spread of invasive and exotic species.

#83 Guest_NateTessler13_*

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Posted 09 March 2008 - 05:12 PM

Date: October 3, 2007
Location: Sugar Creek, 5 miles northwest of Lincoln, IL. Between 700th and 800th Ave. in Logan County. (Sugar Creek is a tributary to Salt Creek, which is a major tributary to the Sangamon River. The Sangamon River is a direct tributary to the Illinois River).
Water Level: At normal levels. Pools were at 1.5m at their maximum depth. Otherwise, fairly shallow ranging from 0.3m deep riffles to 0.8m runs.
Water Quality: A recent rain made the water turbid. A local said the creek usually runs clear. There was some shoreline erosion that made for siltation in the pools. There were lots of fallen trees and logjams throughout this stretch of the creek, as we saw when we spent over an unsuccessful amount of time trying to chainsaw through a large fallen tree.
Water Temp.: 20*C
Substrate: Small cobble and sand. Lots of log jams in the deeper pools. Riffles were small gravel and sand.
Collected:
Shortnose Gar (Lepisosteus platostomus)
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– only caught a few large adults. Saw quite a few in pools that were adjacent to shallow sand flats. When the gar were spooked we could see them moving over the sand flats. One pool probably held 10 or more gar.
Gizzard Shad (Dorosoma cepedianum) – these formed dense schools in the pools.
Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio) – not very abundant here.
Hornyhead Chub (Nocomis biguttatus) – a few on the riffle at the end of our site. The riffle towards the end of the site was about 25m long and consisted of small gravel and clean sand.
Suckermouth Minnow (Phenacobius mirabilis)
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- in the final riffle of the site, these were absolutely everywhere. Most of the ones we found were some of the largest of this species I’ve ever seen.
Bluntnose Minnow (Pimephales notatus) - very abundant.
Northern Bullhead Minnow (Pimephales vigilax vigilax) – one of the first sites that we’ve seen them be very abundant.
Red Shiner (Cyprinella lutrensis lutrensis) – very abundant in the pools and runs.
Steelcolor Shiner (Cyprinella whipplei) – found 50+ in the same areas as the Red Shiner.
Emerald Shiner (Notropis atherinoides) – few.
Sand Shiner (Notropis stramineus stramineus) – very abundant around the sand areas of the final riffle.
Central Bigmouth Shiner (Notropis dorsalis dorsalis) – only a few found alongside the Sand Shiner and Suckermouth Minnow.
Central Stoneroller (Campostoma anomalum pullum) – very abundant in the final riffle area. The final 30m or so of this site was where we got the majority of our fish.
Black Buffalo (Ictiobus niger)
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– a few large ones in the pools.
Smallmouth Buffalo (Ictiobus bubalus) – a few large ones of these as well.
Highfin Carpsucker (Carpiodes velifer) – not very abundant here.
River Carpsucker (Carpiodes carpio)
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– these were really common throughout this site. The last picture exhibits the “nipple” on the bottom of the lip of the River Carpsucker.
Central Quillback (Carpiodes cyprinus hinei) – a few large adult ones.
Northern Quillback (Carpiodes cyprinus cyprinus) – also, a few large adult ones.
Golden Redhorse (Moxostoma erythrurum) – very abundant. I was expecting to see Black Redhorse here because it was a slightly smaller stream and it according to one of the guys we talked to, this stream stays clear throughout most of the year.
Silver Redhorse (Moxostoma anisurum) – a few large ones. This stream was on the small side for Silver Redhorse, especially adult ones. At its widest, the stream was probably only 25-30m wide.
Shorthead Redhorse (Moxostoma macrolepidotum) – very common throughout the site.
Northern Hogsucker (Hypentelium nigricans) – mostly juveniles in the riffle at the end of the site.
Channel Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus)
Freckled Madtom (Noturus nocturnus) – this was my first time seeing this species of Madtom. Not sure what kind of habitat the fish was found around. We found one at a later site around tree roots that were located alongside a swift riffle. I imagine this one was in a similar location.
Stonecat Madtom (Noturus flavus)
Yellow Bullhead (Ameiurus natalis) – just one.
Blackstripe Topminnow (Fundulus notatus)
Brook Silverside (Labidesthes sicculus) – only one.
White Bass (Morone chrysops)
Posted Image

– mostly smaller ones, caught this one on a jig in the pool directly downstream of the riffle at the end of our site.
Northern Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu dolomieu) – common throughout the site, not a lot of large ones though.
Bluegill Sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus macrochirus) – the most common centrarchid at this site.
Green Sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus) – surprisingly few.
Banded Darter (Etheostoma zonale) – the riffle at the end of the site was thick with these.
Freshwater Drum (Aplodinotus grunniens)

Notes: Got to see some new species here. The Shortnose Gar that has eluded us throughout our sampling was here in good numbers. Also, found a tiny Freckled Madtom here.

Date: October 4, 2007
Location: Kickapoo Creek, 4 miles east of Lincoln, IL. On 2150 Rd. 1 mile east of Interstate-55. (Kickapoo Creek is a tributary to Salt Creek, which is a major tributary to the Sangamon River. The Sangamon River is a direct tributary to the Illinois River).
Water Level: Pretty low. The depth was at 0.5m or less through the 100m below the bridge.
Water Quality: Very clear. Water quality appeared to be high. There was a strong algal bloom though that seems to be a result of the channelization and farming practices of the stream upstream of where we sampled.
Water Temp.: not measured
Substrate: Gravel and cobble. No siltation on the substrate, but there was bright green hair algae flowing throughout the stream and attaching to the rocks.
Collected:
Creek Chub (Semotilus atromaculatus) – only a few
Redfin Shiner (Lythrurus umbratilis) – just a few of these also
Bluntnose Minnow (Pimephales notatus) – very abundant.
Steelcolor Shiner (Cyprinella whipplei) – very common here. They were found right around the riffles here. This was the reason we sampled this spot, to collect a few of these.
Sand Shiner (Notropis stramineus stramineus) – very abundant right below the riffles, in the run areas.
Central Stoneroller (Campostoma anomalum pullum)
Rock Bass (Ambloplites rupestris) – a few in the slack water areas.
Banded Darter (Etheostoma zonale) – throughout the entire 100m stretch.

Notes: Brian and I sampled this area with a seine. We decided to get out of the truck and work this area because we were in an area where there weren’t any Spotfin Shiner, so we could be fairly confident that all the fish we found that looked like Spotfins/Steelcolors were in fact Steelcolor Shiner. I collected them for my personal collection, and I have a large male that is coloring up nicely right now.

#84 Guest_NateTessler13_*

Guests

Posted 19 March 2008 - 04:34 PM

Date: October 9, 2007
Location: Kankakee River in Wilmington, IL. Just downstream of the I-55 bridge.
Water Level: A little above normal for this time of year. Normal levels are 1200 cfs. The gage showed 1550 cfs. There were riffle/rapids areas that were quite shallow. At the end of the rapids there were pools with depths of 1.5m. The river was really wide here (180+m). This area of the stream would not be easily sampled because of swift moving water and large boulders.
Water Quality: The water was quite clear and not much siltation was seen. There was algae covering most of the boulders and cobble though. This probably means there is an abundance of nutrients in the water.
Water Temp.: 21*C
Substrate: The bottom in the pools was mostly bedrock with a few very large boulders (the kind that would put a big hole in your boat with this kind of current). The rapids and riffles were made of small to medium cobble with a few large boulders strewn in.
Collected:
Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio)
Hornyhead Chub (Nocomis biguttatus) – found these in good numbers, but the river here must have been too large for populations of Stonerollers to exist.
Spotfin Shiner (Cyprinella spiloptera)
Bluntnose Minnow (Pimephales notatus)
Central Striped Shiner (Luxilus chrysocephalus chrysocephalus)
Emerald Shiner (Notropis atherinoides)
Sand Shiner (Notropis stramineus stramineus)
River Carpsucker (Carpiodes carpio)
Posted Image

- the adults of this species were rather abundant at this site. I’ve noticed these fish are more common in larger rivers with relatively clean substrate, that have a good deal of flow. When the current is stronger, the other Carpiodes species seem to disappear in favor of slower moving areas. These fish also have more of a stream-lined body shape than some of the other Carpiodes species (Quillback).
River Redhorse (Moxostoma carinatum)
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- found some really healthy adult males here. We probably had at least 10 adult males of this size. This is the only area I’ve seen them be very abundant. These pictures are of a tuberculate adult male.
Golden Redhorse (Moxostoma erythrurum)
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- fairly common throughout this stretch
Black Redhorse (Moxostoma duquesnei)
Shorthead Redhorse (Moxostoma macrolepidotum)
Silver Redhorse (Moxostoma anisurum)
Northern Hogsucker (Hypentelium nigricans)
Channel Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) – lots of really big ones. Fishing from a canoe at this site, I had a nice sized one take a jerk bait that I was slowing fishing in the main river channel.
Flathead Catfish (Pylodictus olivaris) - only one small one was collected.
Stonecat Madtom (Noturus flavus)
Brook Silverside (Labidesthes sicculus)
Northern Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu dolomieu)
Northern Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides salmoides)
Posted Image

- this was the only Largemouth Bass that we collected. When we were processing this fish, it regurgitated a large Logperch.
Rock Bass (Ambloplites rupestris)
Northern Longear Sunfish (Lepomis megalotis peltastes)
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- this is where things get interesting when it comes to the split of the Central and Northern Longear Sunfish.
Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus macrochirus)
Green Sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus)
Walleye (Sander vitreus) – only got one small one here.
Slenderhead Darter (Percina phoxocephala) – these were very numerous in the riffles here. This river has a very healthy population of these fish.
Northern Logperch (Percina caprodes semifasciata) – we got lots here, and they were the biggest I’d ever seen.
Blackside Darter (Percina maculata)
Banded Darter (Etheostoma zonale)
Johnny Darter (Etheostoma nigrum)
Freshwater Drum (Aplodinotus grunniens)

Notes: Electrofished via a 12 foot boat. The area is visible from the I-55 bridge. Not as good of diversity as an area that we sampled a few weeks ago upstream.

#85 Michael Wolfe

Board of Directors

North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 19 March 2008 - 05:02 PM

Northern Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides salmoides)

- this was the only Largemouth Bass that we collected. When we were processing this fish, it regurgitated a large Logperch.
Northern Logperch (Percina caprodes semifasciata) – we got lots here, and they were the biggest I’d ever seen.

These two things sort of explain each other don't they... and they also explain why my dad likes to drop his bait to the bottom and "bump it along"... never thought about it like that before, but now I think that some bass fishermen are not just mimicing crayfish, but are actually simulating darters...

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin

#86 Guest_NateTessler13_*

Guests

Posted 19 March 2008 - 10:44 PM

Good point. When fishermen know more about fish ecology, they're more efficient fishermen (at least they should be). That's one of the reasons that I started studying non-game fish...and I just might say I've been catching a lot more fish now than I had been before being (somewhat) enlightened. Also, I think it's more often the case that Smallmouth Bass are the ones with darters hanging out of their mouths, but this would be in part because there's simply more likely to be darters in relation to traditional Smallmouth habitat.

Edited by NateTessler13, 19 March 2008 - 11:31 PM.

#87 Michael Wolfe

Board of Directors

North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 20 March 2008 - 12:15 PM

Good point. When fishermen know more about fish ecology, they're more efficient fishermen (at least they should be). That's one of the reasons that I started studying non-game fish...and I just might say I've been catching a lot more fish now than I had been before being (somewhat) enlightened. Also, I think it's more often the case that Smallmouth Bass are the ones with darters hanging out of their mouths, but this would be in part because there's simply more likely to be darters in relation to traditional Smallmouth habitat.

Sure, but (and I know I am preaching to the chior here) we have to remember that there are not that many "lakes" that are naturally occuring and that largemouth are also river fish... sure they like the slower waters... but then so do some darters... like say logperch...

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin

#88 Guest_dafrimpster_*

Guests

Posted 20 March 2008 - 02:33 PM

I am in Springfield just down the interstate from Lincoln. Are they places you sampled near Lincoln accessible to the public? In other words could I go and sample these area's? I am just getting into collecting/sampling and I thought if these were areas I could get to it would be a good place for me to get a little practice in before I make any long journeys to collect/sample.
Thanks,
Sam

Edited by dafrimpster, 20 March 2008 - 02:34 PM.

#89 Guest_farmertodd_*

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Posted 20 March 2008 - 02:41 PM

When fishermen know more about fish ecology, they're more efficient fishermen (at least they should be).

That's how I got into this whole mess too

#90 Guest_NateTessler13_*

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Posted 20 March 2008 - 09:52 PM

I am in Springfield just down the interstate from Lincoln. Are they places you sampled near Lincoln accessible to the public? In other words could I go and sample these area's? I am just getting into collecting/sampling and I thought if these were areas I could get to it would be a good place for me to get a little practice in before I make any long journeys to collect/sample.
Thanks,
Sam

PM me about this, I can find exact details for you if you want. Although, if I remember correctly, most sites in this area were on private property that we attained permission to access.

#91 Guest_NateTessler13_*

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Posted 21 March 2008 - 01:48 PM

Date: October 10, 2007
Location: Sangamon River near Mahomet, IL. Downstream of SR 47.
Water Level: The nearest USGS gage shows normal levels for this time of year at 500 cfs, today the gage was at 280 cfs. So the water level was slightly lower than usual. Pools with depths up to 2.5 m were sampled.
Water Quality: The water here was very stained. There was lots of turbidity to the water as well. Shoreline erosion was present too. Seemed to be pretty low quality, low gradient area.
Water Temp.: 17*C
Substrate: Mostly sand and fine gravel. The sand and gravel was silted over however. There were some areas with large boulders as well.
Collected:
Longnose Gar (Lepisosteus osseus)
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- got 2 large ones here. In this river system both Longnose and Shortnose appear.
Gizzard Shad (Dorosoma cepedianum)
Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio)
Smallmouth Buffalo (Ictiobus bubalus)
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- quite a few large ones were found here in the deeper pools. These were fun to catch because you knew they were coming when you would hit a pool. We would be traveling down the slow run, and as soon as we got the the pool at the end of the run, we would hit a mess of Smallmouth Buffalo.
Northern Quillback (Carpiodes cyprinus cyprinus)
Silver Redhorse (Moxostoma anisurum)
Golden Redhorse (Moxostoma erythrurum)
Shorthead Redhorse (Moxostoma macrolepidotum)
Northern Hogsucker (Hypentelium nigricans)
Central Bigmouth Shiner (Notropis dorsalis dorsalis)
Sand Shiner (Notropis stramineus stramineus)
Central Stoneroller (Campostoma anomalum pullum)
Bluntnose Minnow (Pimephales notatus)
Bullhead Minnow (Pimephales vigilax)
Spotfin Shiner (Cyprinella spiloptera)
Steelcolor Shiner (Cyprinella whipplei)
Suckermouth Minnow (Phenacobius mirabilis)
Channel Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus)
Flathead Catfish (Pylodictus olivaris)
Stonecat Madtom (Noturus flavus)
Freckled Madtom (Noturus nocturnus)
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- found one tiny one in in a riffle here. The fish was likely located in and around the tree roots that were alongside this riffle. We looked for more but weren’t able to locate any more. This is only the 2nd one I’ve ever seen.
Blackstripe Topminnow (Fundulus notatus)
White Bass (Morone chrysops)
Northern Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides salmoides)
Rock Bass (Ambloplites rupestris)
Black Crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus)
White Crappie (Pomoxis annularis)
Northern Longear Sunfish (Lepomis megalotis peltastes)
Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus macrochirus)
Redear Sunfish (Lepomis microlophus)
Green Sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus)
Hybrid Sunfish (Lepomis hybrid)
Walleye (Sander vitreus) - got 2 large Walleye here in some of the deeper pools.
Slenderhead Darter (Percina phoxocephala) - despite the low gradient, still found Slenderhead Darters in the small riffle-type areas.
Freshwater Drum (Aplodinotus grunniens)

Notes: Electroshocked via 12 foot boat. The area was low gradient and had lots of sunfish. No Smallmouth Bass were found in this area. This is one of the first areas where we didn’t find any Smallmouth Bass. This site was a series of slow moving run areas that drained into small pools, after which another small run/riffle would begin.

#92 Guest_NateTessler13_*

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Posted 28 March 2008 - 12:15 AM

This was the last site that we were able to do. The next time we attempted to launch our boat, we had an incident in which our winch cable broke as we were winching our boat down a bank into a river. I was standing downhill of the boat and was thinking to myself, 'It would suck if this cable broke'. So I moved behind a large sturdy tree as I was instructing the guys on the best direction to bring the boat down. That's when the crew leader (Bob) let out a yell as the the winch cable broke and the boat came flying down the hill at a good speed. It actually hit the tree that I had dodged behind, then flipped over and landed in the river. That's how my time with the MBI ended. haha. But here's the last site(s) we were able to get in.

Date: October 14, 2007
Location: Sandy Creek (trib. to the Illinois River) in Bedford, IL. Off SR 100.
Water Level: The water in the creek, according to a local fisherman was lower than usual. He said when the water was a few feet higher, it was loaded with the invasive Silver Carp. The pools averaged over a meter in depth. There were some shallow areas that had some flooded timber as well. Deepest area was 1.6m.
Quality: The water was very turbid. There was erosion on the banks that made the water muddy. This creek was a direct trib. to the Illinois River, and the Illinois River is a big muddy water system. So there was lots of turbidity here at the mouth of the creek. It was low gradient as well, and there wasn’t a lot of habitat diversity.
Water Temp.: 17*C
Substrate: Mostly hardpan and silt. There was sand underneath the hardpan. Some flooded timber was in the shallow areas too.
Collected:
Gizzard Shad (Dorosoma cepedianum)
Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio)
Silver Carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix)
Posted Image

- got three of these in total. Including two young of year. We saw some more jump. It was unfortunate to see y.o.y. of these.
Grass Carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella)
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- got one large one. It was probably the biggest fish we saw in the creek. It is also a shame to see these in our rivers in Illinois.
Silver Chub (Macrhybopsis storeriana)
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- Only found this one small one. I would have liked to see more. This one was found at within 30m of the mouth of the creek. The are reportedly common along this stretch of the Illinois River and its direct tributaries.
Bullhead Minnow (Pimephales vigilax)
Bigmouth Buffalo (Ictiobus cyprinellus)
Posted Image

- this is a head shot of one of the Bigmouth’s here. They were in relatively good shape and in good numbers.
Black Buffalo (Ictiobus niger)
Smallmouth Buffalo (Ictiobus bubalus)
River Carpsucker (Carpiodes carpio)
Golden Redhorse (Moxostoma erythrurum) – oddly enough, the only Redhorse species found here.
Channel Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus)
Pirate Perch (Aphredoderus sayanus)
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- caught two of these at this site. I found it odd that we found these and Warmouth here. These fish are more indicative of swamps rather than large rivers. They were found near the shoreline where there was an old fence row in the water.
Brook Silverside (Labidesthes sicculus)
Yellow Bass (Morone mississippienis)
Posted Image

- one y.o.y. was all we found.
Northern Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides salmoides) – got quite a few large ones here.
Black Crappie (Poxomis negromaculatus)
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- quite a few large ones. Many that were caught here weighed a pound or more. The largest one was a pound and a half.
White Crappie (Poxomis annularis)
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- got a little less of these than the Black Crappie, but they were just as big. Good spot for huge crappie.
Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus macrochirus)
Green Sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus)
Orangespotted Sunfish (Lepomis humilis)
Warmouth (Lepomis gulosus)
Posted Image

- actually got three large ones here. I was surprised to see these fish here.
Hybrid Sunfish (Lepomis hybrid)
Walleye (Sander vitreus) – just one small one.
Freshwater Drum (Aplodinotus grunniens)

Notes: Sampled via an electrofishing boat. The end of this site was right at the confluence of Sandy Creek and the Illinois River. This was the closest I’d ever been to a large river like the Illinois, not far from where it joins the Mississippi.

I'll add a quick post about the Illinois that we sampled on our way back to the boat launch...

#93 Guest_NateTessler13_*

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Posted 28 March 2008 - 12:28 AM

Notes: Sampled via an electrofishing boat. The end of this site was right at the confluence of Sandy Creek and the Illinois River. This was the closest I’d ever been to a large river like the Illinois, not far from where it joins the Mississippi. We took time out to try out the Illinois River as well. Here’s what we caught there…
Gizzard Shad (Dorosoma cepedianum)
Mooneye (Hiodon tergisus)
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- I was excited to see these. We only saw one, but I figured it was a great place to stop to look for them. This is a large river system, and Mooneye seem to be restricted to large, deep rivers. The way we were able to tell that this was a Mooneye and not a Goldeye was the bottom “sawbelly” scales were smooth, compared to the rough ones of the Goldeye. (Looking at this now, I can't remember if this is correct, I wrote this quite awhile ago).
Emerald Shiner (Notropis atherinoides) – large and very abundant
Bullhead Minnow (Pimephales vigilax) – abundant in the shallow water.
Bigmouth Buffalo (Ictiobus cyprinellus)
Channel Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus)
Flathead Catfish (Pylodictus olivaris)
Brook Silverside (Labidesthes sicculus)
White Bass (Morone chrysops)
Posted Image

- got one y.o.y. here, but none were in the close by creek.
Freshwater Drum (Aplodinotus grunniens)

-The Illinois River was fun to do because I’d never done a large river like that before from an electroshocking boat, but this was only a 15 minute exercise. Would have liked to do a more intensive survey here.

So, that's all. My time with the MBI was well spent and I hope that all of you who come/came across this thread find this to be very informative. Now, I'm going to be turning this all in to my professor to hopefully get a satisfactory grade for my work done while at this internship. The MBI has a website for those of you who are taking interest in what they do and who they are. I would definitely recommend looking into this worthwhile organization, as chances are, they're working on a project around you.
Midwest Biodiversity Institute Website

Thanks,

Nate Tessler

#94 Guest_MScooter_*

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Posted 28 March 2008 - 01:53 PM

Wow. What an experience. Wow.

Did you learn any tips or tricks pertaining to gear during these months (i.e. cleaning, what works/doesn't, etc...)?

Wow.

#95 Guest_NateTessler13_*

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Posted 28 March 2008 - 02:13 PM

Did you learn any tips or tricks pertaining to gear during these months (i.e. cleaning, what works/doesn't, etc...)?

Well, I did get to use four different methods of electrofishing during my time with MBI and a tip I can give to people working with this kind of equipment would be to have someone on the crew that knows how to fix electronics extensively. There were plenty of times where electronics were the problem...had to switch pulse boxes a few times.

When sampling large rivers and streams, especially ones with a good amount of depth and flow, the electric field put out when using conventional boat electrofishing methods really isn't efficient. We did an area on the Rock River that was deep and channelized, and we did the Sanitary Shipping Canal (the Chicago River). We barely found any fish at all in either of these places (the shipping canal is understandable because of the terrible water conditions), but the electric field doesn't get down far enough to really hit the fish. At that last site, which wasn't an official site but more of an exercise, I could tell I was hitting fish with the electric field, but they had so many escape oppurtunities with the depth of the water that sampling proved to be difficult.

Also, you've got to know what the stream is like before getting in to know which kind of sampling gear to bring. There were times when we were sampling a bit small of a stream to be using a rollerbeast, and that forced me to be pushing this heavy "beast" over shallow riffles...when it's 90*F outside, that sucks.

There was an issue with Catfish getting their pectoral and dorsal spines caught in the dipnets that we were using. Unfortunately, most of the time, the only efficient way to remove them is to break their spines that become entangled. Be careful when doing this though, if you break them the wrong way they can be very sharp.

When approaching a large brush pile that you are sure is going to be loaded with fish, lay off the electricity until getting right on top of the structure. Oftentimes, the fish will sense the boat coming and retreat to the cover, then when all the fish are concentrated there, hit them with the juice. If you're running the electricity all the way up to the cover, the fish become more scattered and a lot get away then.

When winching a boat down an inclined bank into a river, it really pays to have a small wheel attached to the tongue of the trailer. You can guide the boat down much easier. Make sure the wheel is straight though, because when it's off to the side, it's liable to break.

Waterproof paper is awesome.

Make sure your camera is waterproof too.

Then there's a recommendation for organizations to use the style of sampling that we used. I cannot remember the exact way that our pulse box/generator was set up, but I think we used AC power instead of DC or something along those lines, which is proven to be a less lethal means of conducting electrofishing surveys. As an example, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources was using the opposite current than what we were using while sampling a stretch of the Rock River (if I recall correctly it was the Rock) and they were looking for the Brassy Minnow (not a common minnow by any means in Illinois). They noticed their population was decreasing from year to year and that could have been in part due to their sampling means in which they had 100% mortality rates.

There are all sorts of tips and whatnot that I picked up on while with this organization. I'll take them with me into my next experiences and hopefully be better off because of them. If I can think of some more tips I'll try to post them here.

#96 Guest_NateTessler13_*

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Posted 05 January 2010 - 06:30 PM

Mooneye (Hiodon tergisus)

- I was excited to see these. We only saw one, but I figured it was a great place to stop to look for them. This is a large river system, and Mooneye seem to be restricted to large, deep rivers. The way we were able to tell that this was a Mooneye and not a Goldeye was the bottom “sawbelly” scales were smooth, compared to the rough ones of the Goldeye. (Looking at this now, I can't remember if this is correct, I wrote this quite awhile ago).

Sorry to drag up a very old thread, but when I was looking through my pictures for a project I'm working on, I came across this picture. There's no way that fish is a Mooneye (Hiodon tergisus). It's got to be a Goldeye (Hiodon alosoides). The eye coloration should have been a dead giveaway, but the dorsal fin origin behind the anal fin origin confirms it. I called out Goldeye when it was caught, but let someone talk me into Mooneye. Stick with your instincts!

Anyways, this was more of something to point out to smbass (Brian Zimmerman) as he was on the crew that I was working with. Update your records, I'll pass this on to the folks at MBI.