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Labor day weekend

Started by Guest_Dustin_* , Sep 10 2009 09:04 PM

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#1 Guest_Dustin_*

Guests

Posted 10 September 2009 - 09:04 PM

Michael Wolfe, Fritz Rohde and I set out over Labor Day weekend around Franklin, NC to explore the Little TN River and its tribs. The first site we tried was the Cullasaja River. Here, we saw:

Mountain brook lamprey - Ichthyomyzon gagei

Central stoneroller - Campostoma anamolum
Whitetail shiner - Cyprinella galactura
Warpaint shiner - Luxilus coccogenis

River chub - Nocomis micropogon

Tennessee shiner - Notropis leuciodus
Mirror shiner - Notropis spectrunculus
Black redhorse - Moxostoma duquesni
Northern hogsucker - Hypentelium nigricans
Brown trout - Salmo trutta

Brook trout - Salvelinus fontinalis
Rock bass - Ambloplites rupestris

Smallmouth bass - Micropterus dolomieu
Greenfin darter - Etheostoma chlorobranchium

Tuckasegee darter - Etheostoma gutselli

Wounded darter - Etheostoma vulneratum

Gilt darter - Percina evides

Mottled sculpin - Cottus bairdi

We then went further upstream hoping to add some headwater species. Here, we got:

Upper Cullasaja River, near Franklin, NC.jpg

Longnose dace - Rhinichthys cataractae

River chub - N. micropogon
Warpaint shiner - L. coccogenis
Mirror shiner - N. spectrunculus

Northern hogsucker - H. nigricans
Brook trout - S. fontinalis
Rock bass - A. rupestris
Bluegill - Lepomis macrochirus

We ended the day on the Little TN proper where we found:

Little TN River near Needmore, NC Swng bridge.jpg

Central stoneroller - C. anamolum
Whitetail shiner - C. galactura
Warpaint shiner - L. coccogenis
Silver shiner - Notropis photogenis
Tennessee shiner - N. leuciodus
Mirror shiner - N. spectrunculus
Spotfin chub - Erimonax monacha
River chub - N. micropogon
Fatlips minnow - Phenacobius crassilabrum

Northern hogsucker - H. nigricans
Rock bass - A. rupestris
Smallmouth bass - M. dolomieu
Redbreast - Lepomis auritus
Wounded darter - E. vulneratum
Greenfin darter - E. chlorobranchium

Tuckasegee darter - E. gutselli
Banded darter - Etheostoma zonale

Tangerine darter - Percina aurantiaca

Gilt darter - P. evides
Stonecat - Noturus cf. flavus

Flathead catfish - Pylodictus olivaris

#2 Guest_star5328_*

Guests

Posted 10 September 2009 - 09:51 PM

Man its amazing what all you guys find, I swear I've never seen 90% of these minnows, before this site I thought every minnow was a chub, shiner, or a bass/bluegill/sunfish fry. Awesome work.

#3 Guest_Dustin_*

Guests

Posted 10 September 2009 - 10:05 PM

Michael had to head back that night so Fritz and I decided to try a few smaller streams the following morning. At the first stream we tried, we found:

Burningtown Creek, north of Franklin, NC.jpg

Mottled sculpin - C. bairdi
Mirror shiner - N. spectrunculus
Tennessee shiner - N. leuciodus
Creek chub - Semotilus atromaculatus
Sicklefin redhorse - Moxostoma sp.

Next, we tried a small creek looking for some blacknose dace. Here, in about 5 minutes, we got:

Western blacknose dace - Rhinichthys obtusus

Mottled sculpin - C. bairdi

We then went to another creek and here we got:

Central stoneroller - C. anomalum
River chub - N. micropogon
Tennessee shiner - N. leuciodus
Warpaint shiner - L. coccogenis
Yellowfin shiner - Notropis lutipinnis

???Mystery shiner???

Gilt darter - P. evides

We went further upstream and got:
Brown trout - S. trutta
Central stoneroller - C. anomalum
River chub - N. micropogon
Smoky dace - Clinostomus cf. funduloides

Mottled sculpin - C. bairdi

#4 Guest_fundulus_*

Guests

Posted 10 September 2009 - 10:25 PM

I think that's the most accurate highland shiner photo I've seen. You guys hit some fun habitat.

#5 Guest_blakemarkwell_*

Guests

Posted 10 September 2009 - 10:43 PM

Dustin, Fritz, and Michael, that is some great stuff! Dustin thanks for posting the photos, I would love to see that number of fish in a weekend. You guys are true fish warriors, keep the photos and trips coming!

Blake

#6 Guest_panfisherteen_*

Guests

Posted 10 September 2009 - 10:47 PM

wow very nice photos, you guys got so many different fish, well done, very nice spot :cool2:

Now, the "brown" trout you have pictured is a brook trout, if you look at the red dots you can see a faint blue halo around some, plus on the bottom fins you can see a faint white leading edge, also a characteristic of a brook trout. Very close though with the ID, the brookie characteristics are just visible enough though to say that it isnt a brown.

#7 Guest_BTDarters_*

Guests

Posted 10 September 2009 - 11:59 PM

Nice photos and awesome trip report guys! I'm jealous!

Brian

#8 Guest_natureman187_*

Guests

Posted 11 September 2009 - 12:00 AM

That looks like an amazingly beautiful set of places as well as an awesome lineup of fishes. Thumbs up to you three.

#9 Guest_FirstChAoS_*

Guests

Posted 11 September 2009 - 12:11 AM

awesome fish, especioally the smoky dace and river chub. I wish I had a river chub, it's face has so much character to it.

#10 Guest_UncleWillie_*

Guests

Posted 11 September 2009 - 06:50 AM

Wow! Great write up and incredible pictures. Looks like you had a great time, and got a lot of great fish species - many of which I have never seen before. Thanks for sharing them with us!

#11 Guest_Dustin_*

Guests

Posted 11 September 2009 - 06:52 AM

I think that's the most accurate highland shiner photo I've seen. You guys hit some fun habitat.

I'm glad to hear you say that Bruce. We weren't totally sure that's what it was. It is the first I have seen, especially with any color. I wouldn't say some of the habitat was all that fun....but it was productive.

#12 Guest_keepnatives_*

Guests

Posted 11 September 2009 - 07:32 AM

awesome fish, especioally the smoky dace and river chub. I wish I had a river chub, it's face has so much character to it.

Actually you do I put a small one in with your fish since you liked the big ones so much. He is about 2.25 inches won't look quite like these but he's different from your other fish enough you should be able to pick him out.

#13 Guest_jblaylock_*

Guests

Posted 11 September 2009 - 11:18 AM

That smokey dace is one wild looking fish.

Is the Tuckaseegee Darter a defined species, or is it a Greenside Variant?

#14 Guest_daveneely_*

Guests

Posted 11 September 2009 - 11:22 AM

I'm glad to hear you say that Bruce. We weren't totally sure that's what it was. It is the first I have seen, especially with any color. I wouldn't say some of the habitat was all that fun....but it was productive.

Hmm, that's pretty funny. I'd question the ID as a highland shiner, but am not sure what else it might be... would be nice to have fish in hand.

I love that reach of the mainstem Little T. One of my favorite stream, anywhere. Can't wait to visit again with the new video system and swim with the sicklefins!!

#15 Guest_Dustin_*

Guests

Posted 11 September 2009 - 11:48 AM

Hmm, that's pretty funny. I'd question the ID as a highland shiner, but am not sure what else it might be... would be nice to have fish in hand.

I love that reach of the mainstem Little T. One of my favorite stream, anywhere. Can't wait to visit again with the new video system and swim with the sicklefins!!

We could send it to you. We preserved it since we couldn't figure it out either. We thought micropteryx was the most fitting, but were by no means certain.

#16 Guest_fundulus_*

Guests

Posted 11 September 2009 - 11:55 AM

We could send it to you. We preserved it since we couldn't figure it out either. We thought micropteryx was the most fitting, but were by no means certain.

I'm familiar with highlands from one population in Cypress Creek, AL, and there's a strong similarity. By all means send it to Dave if he's up for looking at it.

#17 Guest_Dustin_*

Guests

Posted 11 September 2009 - 12:03 PM

That smokey dace is one wild looking fish.

Is the Tuckaseegee Darter a defined species, or is it a Greenside Variant?

According to our updated species checklist, gutselli is a valid species, though E. b. newmanii, pholidotum, and blennioides are still considered subspecies for now.

#18 Guest_Uland_*

Guests

Posted 11 September 2009 - 12:49 PM

The head on that "thing" we're temporarily calling micropteryx reminds me of that "thing" we caught in the tiny stream with abundant E. sagitta spilotum & Phoxinus erythrogaster in Kentucky last year. This thing appears to have much larger scales and a more compressed body.

#19 Guest_daveneely_*

Guests

Posted 11 September 2009 - 01:34 PM

We could send it to you. We preserved it since we couldn't figure it out either. We thought micropteryx was the most fitting, but were by no means certain.

After looking at the photo a bit closer, it's almost certainly not micropteryx: the dorsal is too far forward, mouth is too large, it's got a black humeral bar vs reddish pigment that's more on pectoral base, the scales are too well-outlined and too large, not sufficiently silvery, the caudal pattern is wrong, etc. etc. etc...

Bruce, the micropteryx that Joe illustrated for Bo & Rick's book came from Shoal Creek, and they're pretty consistent across their range. If you're getting something different looking, well, it's probably something different. Uland has a nice photo of a specimen from Little River somewhere, probably check the Gallery for that.

I'd be happy to take a closer look at the specimen, though I'll be sampling across KY for the next couple of weeks and won't be able to get to it until after I return. I'll pm you a mailing address.