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Winnebago County, IL collection sites


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#1 Guest_Heckle_*

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Posted 25 February 2008 - 10:37 PM

Greetings all,
I just recently moved to Rockford, IL from AL and was wondering if any of the forum members were familiar with this area. I used to keep natives when I lived in NY and am trying to get back into the hobby again. I typically dipnet, and am primarily looking for rainbow darters, central stonerollers, and any species of madtoms (I always start at the bottom when starting new tanks). Right now I only have 10 gal aquariums to work with, so will these species be ok in that size tank for a few months? Probably not looking at getting more than 1 or 2 specimans per species. Also curious if these species are tempermentally compatible, as I'm not very familiar with the Midwestern natives.
So, if anyone can direct me to possible collection sites that have a good chance of getting these species once everything thaws, I'd greatly appreciate it.


Thanks,
Heckle

#2 Guest_keepnatives_*

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Posted 25 February 2008 - 11:09 PM

Greetings all,
I just recently moved to Rockford, IL from AL and was wondering if any of the forum members were familiar with this area. I used to keep natives when I lived in NY and am trying to get back into the hobby again. I typically dipnet, and am primarily looking for rainbow darters, central stonerollers, and any species of madtoms (I always start at the bottom when starting new tanks). Right now I only have 10 gal aquariums to work with, so will these species be ok in that size tank for a few months? Probably not looking at getting more than 1 or 2 specimans per species. Also curious if these species are tempermentally compatible, as I'm not very familiar with the Midwestern natives.
So, if anyone can direct me to possible collection sites that have a good chance of getting these species once everything thaws, I'd greatly appreciate it.
Thanks,
Heckle

A ten gallon would be fine for a few rainbow darters forever, a few young stonerollers would do okay as well but could outgrow a ten gallon down the road but not in a few months, madtoms depends on what species you get but I'd recommend only small ones as if they get much bigger than the darters you could have problems or at least darters that don't get a good sleep.

#3 Guest_bullhead_*

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Posted 26 February 2008 - 03:31 PM

I have never fished there, but I think the Rock river and its tributaries should be great darter and madtom waters. I think you have legal issues with keeping netted darters in IL, however. And over the border in WI, you cannot legally take ANY live fish away from the waters where you catch them.

#4 Guest_teleost_*

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Posted 26 February 2008 - 08:31 PM

Welcome Heckle,

We do have some restrictive rules about taking some fish with nets. You can however possess just about anything that isn't endangered (and I don't advise keeping Illinois threatened species regardless of where you obtain them without a receipt). In Illinois you can only take "minnows" with nets. You can however take any fish with hook and line (as long as you follow size limits and observe threatened and endangered status).

Nothing stopping you from either heading out to Indiana and collecting a few rainbow darters, tadpole madtoms and the stonerollers are "minnows" so you can take them from Illinois. You can also pop in your local stream and look around (you have many cool minnows right in your backyard). Beaver creek has some neat stuff (including southern redbelly dace, blacknose dace, stoneroller, redfin shiner, spotfin shiner, rosyface shiner, blackside darter, johnny darter, rainbow darter, banded darter and fantail darter). This is just a taste of what that creek and surrounding areas have. Even though you can't take many of them from this state it can make for a very rewarding field trip (the above "minnows" are nothing to sneeze at in the looks department BTW).

#5 Guest_Heckle_*

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Posted 27 February 2008 - 12:24 AM

Welcome Heckle,

We do have some restrictive rules about taking some fish with nets. You can however possess just about anything that isn't endangered (and I don't advise keeping Illinois threatened species regardless of where you obtain them without a receipt). In Illinois you can only take "minnows" with nets. You can however take any fish with hook and line (as long as you follow size limits and observe threatened and endangered status).

Nothing stopping you from either heading out to Indiana and collecting a few rainbow darters, tadpole madtoms and the stonerollers are "minnows" so you can take them from Illinois. You can also pop in your local stream and look around (you have many cool minnows right in your backyard). Beaver creek has some neat stuff (including southern redbelly dace, blacknose dace, stoneroller, redfin shiner, spotfin shiner, rosyface shiner, blackside darter, johnny darter, rainbow darter, banded darter and fantail darter). This is just a taste of what that creek and surrounding areas have. Even though you can't take many of them from this state it can make for a very rewarding field trip (the above "minnows" are nothing to sneeze at in the looks department BTW).

Thank you very much for the information. I have requested the fishing regs from the DNR, just haven't recieved them yet. It's unfortunate that IL is so restrictive regarding collections, wonder if I can convince a ranger I caught a darter with a hook and line. :biggrin: (j/k)
The redbelly dace is definately on our list, so I will have to give this creek a visit once it thaws. The madtoms are really important to my wife, though. She's a fishaholic as well and during our stint with tropicals she did a lot of work with species that were difficult/impossible to spawn in captivity. She's seen alot of the articles regarding the current issues with madtoms and the attempts to study their spawning habits in captivity and has kind of taken up the challenge. She's also a catfish lover, and since we do not at present have the facilities for bullhead and other large catfish, she's focusing on the madtoms. Have to check out nearby Indiana sites.
Thanks again for the info. Just another quick question. Does the DNR have detailed watershed maps? I see alot of references on the NANFA site regarding "section so-and-so" of a creek or "grid whatnot". Are these from standardized maps? Like from the USGS or other agency? I'd like to find them if I can, as I'm trying to work up a database for storing collection info and would like to use a universal reference system if possible.

Thanks again,
Heckle

#6 Guest_teleost_*

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Posted 27 February 2008 - 09:57 PM

Let me know next time you'll be near the IL/IN state line since I'm in Indiana pretty often. I know of some spots that have strong populations of tadpole madtoms.

There might be great maps specific for your use but I use DeLorme Gazetteer maps. They aren't perfect but a tool I could not sample without.



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