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Anybody know if the San Gabriel has a spot with tadpole madtoms?


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#1 Betta132

Betta132
  • NANFA Guest
  • San Gabriel drainage area

Posted 22 February 2015 - 12:31 PM

I'd like to catch a tadpole madtom for my longear/shiner tank, but I haven't seen any in my usual searching spots. Granted, I could just be missing them due to the fact that they're small catfish. What would be a good way to figure out if they're just hiding from me?

My usual spots to check are along a small section of the San Gabriel river, in Texas. I'm near Austin. Has anybody found any tadpole toms near here?

Yes, I know they'll possibly eat smaller fish. My reasoning for keeping one is:

Madtoms are bottom-dwelling catfish

Madtoms are small

Blacktail shiners are fast top-dwellers

Blacktails are reasonably large (at least 3/5 the length of a big madtom)

If blacktails are anything like danios, they sleep at the top

Madtoms hunt at night and eat the things down on their level

Blacktails will not be down on their level

Worst comes to worst, I can replace the occasional shiner

Madtoms are cool little fish



#2 mattknepley

mattknepley
  • NANFA Member
  • Smack-dab between the Savannah and the Saluda.

Posted 22 February 2015 - 01:23 PM

If my knowledge of Texas geography is accurate (not always the case), Peterson's and the Florida Museum of Natural History both indicate you are right on the edge of verified collections of them. Whether you are on the side of the edge with or without tadpole madtoms, I can't say.

http://www.flmnh.ufl...dpolemadtom.htm

Perhaps a search of fishnet2.net or state agency websites would help.

I did not find any N. gyrinus in the San Gabriel, but that doesn't mean they aren't there.

http://www.fishnet2.net/search.aspx

These are all the Texas locations fishnet2 has records of tadpole madtoms being collected at, perhaps one or more are within your reach.
http://www.fishnet2.net/search.aspx

Best of luck, madtoms are very cool fish!
Matt Knepley
"No thanks, a third of a gopher would merely arouse my appetite..."

#3 Michael Wolfe

Michael Wolfe
  • Board of Directors
  • North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 22 February 2015 - 02:22 PM

I like your rationale for keeping the madtom... good to see someone thinking things through... here is a resource that shows where fishes have been found in Texas...

 

http://www.fishesoftexas.org/map/


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

#4 Betta132

Betta132
  • NANFA Guest
  • San Gabriel drainage area

Posted 22 February 2015 - 04:06 PM

Excellent, it looks like there have been a few catches in my area.

Now I just need to find some. Catfish like sluggish areas with lots of stuff on the bottom, correct? I know a few creeks that might have some. Maybe I'll just carry a couple of large Ziplock bags and a tiny fishing kit everywhere in case I spot a good place.

Do barbless hooks work on catfish?

 

Hmm... come to think of it, I could have been catching madtoms when I was little. We lived in Taylor, right across the street from a pond, and we would fish for catfish. They ate bread, so they were easy to catch. Never caught any big ones, just little bitty ones... either the big ones lost interest in bread, or there weren't any big ones. I think I'll see if we have any pictures of that, I don't remember exactly what they looked like.


Edited by Betta132, 22 February 2015 - 04:09 PM.


#5 mattknepley

mattknepley
  • NANFA Member
  • Smack-dab between the Savannah and the Saluda.

Posted 22 February 2015 - 05:10 PM

Nice resource for our Texas friends, Michael. I see my fishnet2 links only copied the search entry fields, but I figure Betta132 is sharp enough to have figured it out. Sorry, Betta132.
Matt Knepley
"No thanks, a third of a gopher would merely arouse my appetite..."

#6 Michael Wolfe

Michael Wolfe
  • Board of Directors
  • North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 22 February 2015 - 05:23 PM

I love the dead-fish-in-jars database (a.k.a. fishnet2).  I use it all the time for trip planning.


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



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