Best time to photo spawning condition

I want to plan a photo trip for next spring and want to know what might be the best time to capture photos of darters while in peak condition in KY/TN.
Any help would be appreciated.

How cold can you tolerate and is there anything in particular, a subgenus perhaps, you want to see more than another?

How cold can you tolerate and is there anything in particular, a subgenus perhaps, you want to see more than another?

I'm a lifelong Yankee, so I can take it pretty cold. I like the start of your reply since it's confirming my suspicions.
This should be one of those start near the Virginas and end up near Illinois trips so, we'll try and photo every darter we come across along with Lamprey and Sculpin. I do understand there isn't a single perfect week to capture all darters in top condition but I'd like to get the bulk of the work done on this trip if possible.

I had two outrageous color experiences. BOth in TN in late March/early April and late November. The Blueside/Speckled darter were out of this world. The stock photos you see are put to shame. The bandeds were solid green, the gilts were vibrant, the Nothonotus species were coming on nicely. I've find they stay pretty colorful throughout the year. Early to mid May and the colors were on the way to being normal. When Todd joined me in late November was also a great time and the water wasn't too cold either. I believe he did a good job of photodocumenting alot of what we encountered. That time of year is so hit or miss with water levels. That March was just part of the ongoing drought and things weren't too bad. That November was awesome until we got the typical heavy winter rain. I'm surprised we saw half of what we ended up with.

Matt's right, late March would be the best time. In north 'bama the black and rainbow darters are intensely colored in early March in direct tribs to the Tennessee, maybe a week later at elevation in the Paint Rock valley just south of the Tennessee line. The water would be 12 - 14 deg. C.

Thanks guys. I have an option to sample a window in March and then again in May. I felt that May was far too late for darters but might be good for others.

We've gone twice for Spring Break the second week of March, and Ulocentra, Doration and Oligocephalus was FIRED UP in TN and AL. Other genera and families, not so much.

Done two trips the first and second week of May, and the rest of the stuff is rockin' then, including all the Cyprinids and Nothonotus. Still some metallic blue on Doration, and sharp greens on bandeds, etc., but NOTHING like March.

So you'll get more bang for the buck in late April, early May, but if you're after the color patterns that have contributed to all these recent splits in darters, March is your time.

Todd

Keep us updated, I'd love to meet up and tag along with you.

One thing to watch out for in the spring, especially if you're going to be wading in normally shallow streams in the hills, is flash floods. I had the rare experience of witnessing a flash flood from a safe location - my front yard. Wasn't what I thought it would be.

It had been raining for a couple of days, not really hard but steady. There's a small stream that passes in front of my house, normally just a trickle. At that time, it had maybe 2-3" of flowing water in it. As I stood there looking at a tree that had fallen over, here came a little surge, not big, maybe an inch, looked like a little wave. Well, that was neat. It never died down. A few minutes later, here came another one, slightly larger. It never died down. Followed by another a couple of minutes later. And another... in half an hour, that creek went from a couple of inches to three feet of raging torrent, all as a series of surges one after another, each one slightly larger. Apparently, the hills upstream of me had become saturated, and just let go at the same time.

That's the dangerous part - the initial surges weren't big enough to warn you that something ugly was happening. I could easily see myself out with a net, prowling around, and not noticing the rising water as it wasn't rising that fast. By the time the water started tugging at me, and I'd conclude it's time to get out, here would come another larger surge, my feet would go out from under me, the waders would fill up, and as I'd struggle to stand up, here would come a bigger surge, I'd start sliding downstream, crack my head on a rock, and the next of kin would be notified.

Steady rain for a few days, watch out. Flash floods are sneaky, and they're out to get the careless.