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#41 Guest_Creekwalker_*

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Posted 14 August 2011 - 05:41 PM

Thanks for the i.d. The darter was in Santeetlah Creek.

#42 Guest_Casper_*

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Posted 14 August 2011 - 09:02 PM

Tuck a sea gee.
Sure about the minnow? Perhaps a rosy side.

#43 Guest_Creekwalker_*

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Posted 14 August 2011 - 09:43 PM

Hogsucker video from Santeetlah Creek:



#44 Guest_Creekwalker_*

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Posted 14 August 2011 - 09:46 PM

Greenfin or Tuckaseegee darter video. Santeetlah Creek, NC



#45 Guest_Creekwalker_*

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Posted 14 August 2011 - 09:50 PM

Here's a video of the shiners. Let me know what you think.



#46 Guest_Creekwalker_*

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Posted 14 August 2011 - 10:00 PM

Stoneroller action:



#47 Guest_Creekwalker_*

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Posted 14 August 2011 - 10:03 PM

Here's a completely different darter in the same stream. Which one is this?



#48 Guest_Creekwalker_*

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Posted 14 August 2011 - 10:07 PM

Warpaint & Saffron Shiners. I tried moving some of the gravel to see if they would feed on what I stirred up. It worked.



#49 Guest_Casper_*

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Posted 14 August 2011 - 11:41 PM

Your on it. Getting into the current of blowing bubbles and holding on. Nice clear water, it will start getting colder from now forward, i think we hit the peak of summer temps last week. Set to video macro and ease up on those darters, suckers and sculpin. They will relax and behave as long as you dont push them. Shiners and minnows... a whole nuther story. Some trap them in photo tanks.. thats cheatin!

:)

Your doing good. I like the stonnies grazing. Note the mottled pattern on the rock. That is from the herds lower lip. What you can scrap off with your fingernail is what they eat. Think about a sculpin next time you call out darter fish.

I dont recall saffrons ther, but certainly Rosysides. Will verify soon enough. Those Warpaints looked frosty... tho i dont see how this time of year.

To really be impressed return in the spring a gaze upon a Tuck a sea gee. The finest Greenside known to man... at least round these parts.



#50 Guest_EricaWieser_*

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Posted 15 August 2011 - 06:53 AM

Greenfin or Tuckaseegee darter video. Santeetlah Creek, NC


Wow, that current is pretty intense. The darter basically gets pushed backwards across the rock. I can see now why people say that unless the water is churning out of the tank, the current can't be too strong in a riffle tank. I guess that's what it's like in the wild.

I also understand a bit more now what an advantage it must be for gobies to have that suction cup - like fin. It would save a lot of energy to be able to stick to the rock instead of trying to maneuver constantly to stay on it. Makes a bit more sense now.

Thank you for sharing that video :) neat

#51 Guest_Creekwalker_*

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Posted 15 August 2011 - 07:13 AM

Thanks guys. Sure is fun out there. I swear it's like swimming in an aquarium. Reminds me of snorkeling in Hawaii, but not so expensive to get there. (;

#52 Michael Wolfe

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Posted 15 August 2011 - 10:13 AM

Wow, that current is pretty intense. The darter basically gets pushed backwards across the rock.


Never be fooled. That darter is totally in control of his body position... it is like Tokyo drift... yes he is skidding... but he is skidding to where he wants to go... notice hoe he drifted into a position to turn his head/face towards the camera... he was watching to see what was going to happen... some people will say that is one of the purposes of the second dorsal fin, to act as a sail in the current,,, watch them long enough and you will see them use these tools... and if he wanted to swim straight upstream into that torrent, he has the pectorals and caudal to get the job done too.
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin

#53 Guest_gerald_*

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Posted 15 August 2011 - 11:13 AM

So Casper are you coming to VA Nature Camp Adult Session this Friday I hope? Come watch torrent suckers filling the stoneroller's niche and leaving similar grazing tracks. Both spp are in Big Marys Cr and South River at Camp but the torrent suckers are way more numerous.

I like the stonnies grazing. Note the mottled pattern on the rock. That is from the herds lower lip. What you can scrap off with your fingernail is what they eat.



#54 Guest_Creekwalker_*

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Posted 15 August 2011 - 01:08 PM

Never be fooled. That darter is totally in control of his body position


I totally agree. These guys are masters of the current.

#55 Guest_Creekwalker_*

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Posted 23 August 2011 - 10:41 AM

More darters!

Attached Images

  • darter.jpg
  • Tangerine darter.jpg
  • Tangerines.jpg


#56 Guest_Casper_*

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Posted 23 August 2011 - 12:37 PM

So Casper are you coming to VA Nature Camp Adult Session this Friday I hope? Come watch torrent suckers filling the stoneroller's niche and leaving similar grazing tracks. Both spp are in Big Marys Cr and South River at Camp but the torrent suckers are way more numerous.


Gerald... i hope the Nature Camp went well. I like the offer they made but no one else on the forum seemed interested so the opportunity drifted by. I did satisfy my desires last weekend though and if things work out as one of us hopes i will be in Virginia again and see the Percina Rex firsthand via a guided tour.
:)
Gerald, please write an account of the Nature Camp if you did attend or participate.

#57 Michael Wolfe

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Posted 23 August 2011 - 03:20 PM

More darters!

Nice snorkel photos there... that first one is now clearly your local Greenside... the Tuckaseegee Darter.

Next one is a Tangerine Darter... and the next photo is a pair of Tangerines! Nice shot!
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin

#58 Guest_farmertodd_*

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Posted 23 August 2011 - 11:16 PM

Was able to go out with Creekwalker this weekend. He and Casper played a trick on me with a pair of swim trunks left at the Snorkelmeister's last fall after the Southeastern Fishes Council meeting. Geoff was wearing a pair of trunks that looked extremely familiar and then he told me he found the really big tangerines because he had on some lucky shorts. I commented that I used to have a pair of lucky shorts like that too. He soon revealed they were mine :)

Really enjoyed the time out, you're very lucky to have such bounty in your back yard. I'm working on making it my back yard too, and I look forward to future trips!

In the meantime, here's a couple that I squeezed off. The video is far more inspiring, but I won't have time to fuss with it for a bit.

habitatsm.jpg
The habitat we were exploring.

Mottled_Sculpinsm.jpg
A mottled sculpin greet me as I went into the water. This might be the smokey sculpin, they were extremely colorful guys. I didn't have any nets to get a good ID on it (nor would I really have known what I was looking at :))

Greenfinsm.jpg
Greenfin Darters were all about. They're much less colorful this time of year.

Tuckaseegeesm.jpg
Interesting shot of the ecology of Tuckaseegee darters. Had a little bit of that green halo in the male.

Tangerine01sm.jpg
There were roving packs of Tangerine Darters all about.

Tangerine03sm.jpg
Tangerine Darters

Tangerine02sm.jpg
This was the big boss of the riffle. He didn't want to come out and play. Lance and Casper thought this was a nice artsy shot, I'm starting to agree with them.

There's gold up in them thar hills. I suggest y'all get a mask and snorkel and check it out for yourself (in any stream with decent clarity). The streams we were in would require neoprene unless it was the warmest of days. But main sections of river will have warmer temps and probably more fish species with some of those shown here.

Todd

#59 Guest_Creekwalker_*

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Posted 23 August 2011 - 11:23 PM

Dang Todd! Did you shoot those with the HD movie camera?

I can't believe the shots you got! WOW!

#60 Guest_farmertodd_*

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Posted 24 August 2011 - 07:19 AM

Thanks Geoff :) Yeah these were with that camera. Would have had a lot more if there wasn't a gouge in the front "glass". Also having trouble with it steaming up, so I had a LOT of pictures where I was really happy with the framing, but the picture is really soft and grainy (high ISO). It does alright tho, but then again, there's the cost.

Todd



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