Although I have been doing the darter dance since I was 3'6" This is my first post. The rivers up here
finally froze so I figured this would be a good time to post this months goings on.

Jan 3- Macochee creek tributary to Mad river, Logan Co. OH
air 12 F -- moderate flow---clear grassy undercut banks 2m wide .5m deep

I didn't have much time as I had the family along and fishing wasn't the object of the trip

Brown Trout -1
W. Blacknose dace -10
SRBD - 2
Creek Chub-5
C. Stoneroller-5
Rainbow Darter-2
Mottled sculpin- 25

Jan 8 The outlet tributary to the Blanchard River, Hancock Co. OH
air 55F h2o 44F gage ht. 3.5ft muddy

sampled 1hr alone undercut banks sand bottom 3m wide 1m deep

C. mudminnow-1
Grass Pickerel-1
Creek Chub- 100+
Silver jaw minnow- 15
Bluntnose minnow- 30
Spotfin shiner- 10
Emerald shiner- 5
Redfin shiner- 20
Common shiner- 10+
C. stoneroller-30+
Goldfish-2
Creek Chubsucker-20+
Tadpole madtom-2
Blackstripe topminnow- 20+
Longear sunfish- 2
Green sunfish-5
Bluegill sunfish- 10+
Rock bass- 3
Johnny darter-100 +
Orange throat darter- 50+

Jan 12 Chappel Creek, Erie Co OH
Air 39F H2o 40F Vermillion gage @4.2ft muddy

Sampled alone 45min shallow powerful riffle, boulders and cobble, 5m wide .3m deep

Emerald shiner- 20+
Spotfin Shiner- 20+
Bluntnose minnow- 10+
silverjaw minnow- 40+
C stoneroller- 50+
Rainbow darter- 50+

Jan 13 North Branch Portage River, Wood Co OH
Air 39F action stage very muddy

Sampled alone 30min near deep riffle, undercut wooded banks, 10m wide 1m deep

Bluntnose Minnow- 20
Fathead minnow-10
Spotfin shiner-20
Blackstripe topminnow-5
Smallmouth bass-6
Johnny darter-15
Greeen sided darter- 10

Jan 13 Slippery Elm ditch tributary to North Branch of Portage River, Wood Co. OH
Air 39 action stage very muddy

Sampled alone 1 hr. straight ditch w/ undercut banks featureless mud bottom 2m wide 1m deep

Creek Chub -10
Bluntnose minnow-10
Spotfin shiner-5
Goldfish- 2
C stone roller-5
Blackstripe topminnow-200+
Green sunfish-5
Bluegill sunfish- 10
Johnny Darter- 1
Greensided Darter- 1

Jan 19 south of Lake Erie, Erie Co. Oh

air 18F h2o 51F moderate flow, Clear

sampled alone 1hr wooded undercut banks, silt cobble bottom 1m wide 1m deep

Creek Chub-2
C. Stoneroller-2
W. Blacknose dace-10
White sucker-2
Orange spotted sunfish-1
Mottled sculpin-3

Tributary to above unmentioned stream
3m wide .5m deep mud bottom feature less

Rainbow trout-1
Emerald shiner-20
White sucker-1
Bluegill sunfish-20
Largemouth bass-1



Well thats what I have been up to, planning more trips soon
happy fishing all, Jeremiah

That's alot of cool stuff!
Are you using a seine, dip net, rod & reel or a combo?
Another ?, were the srbd and blacknose dace together or close to each other in the same habitat?
I ask because I have them mixed together in my stream tank and I like to imagine it is somewhat natural. Only the blacknose are local, the srbd came from somewhere else.

You've been a busy guy. Give me a ring when you're out again. I could be of some help when you're trying to pull that seine through the tundra out there.

Glad to see your posts. great mix of fish.

Hey Jeremiah,

Great post. Glad to see some relative abundances with the species! I get so sick of "dots"

Was there any size to the topminners in this Slippery Elm ditch? I've got a collaborator in Mississippi who is working on enzymatic differences within populations of species that are longitudinally widely distributed, such as blackstripe topminnows.

I hit all my usual spots that are easy to get to... We only, for some crazy reason, were able to obtain small individuals from the good ol' Outlet (but we got hundreds), my spots in Michigan were bare (northern most populations), and my mainstem sites on the Auglaize and Ottawa have been flooded. I was going to start looking in the Portage and Muddy Creek, and as a last resort drive over to hit some sites on upper Honey Creek.

My collaborator is hoping to start breeding these this year to use the fry as his test specimens. Everything is of course froze up right now, but it sounds like there's more of the unconventional weather coming ahead in the next weeks. Having a spot to hit where there were known breeder sized topminnows in a big population would be of huge benefit in both eco-points and my checkbook, as there aren't any grants funding the travel So any help you can give will be tremendously appreciated!

Yes, Nate, you'll be the first to know if I'm allowed to peel away from the computer I just have to have a specific "question" to do so.

Would love to get out in the field with you too Jeremiah. Have you hit Cold Creek or any of the karst springs in Sandusky County? We were just over in Castalia a couple weeks ago so Erika could see play with her new macro lense taking pictures of marl and tufa (its winter, what else are you gonna photograph? ). I think we're gonna have to dive that spring this summer, get a permit with the city and all that. I'm kinda worried about duck crap though.

Todd