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I&M Canal


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#1 strat guy

strat guy
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  • Orland Park, IL

Posted 15 April 2015 - 07:52 PM

Anyone know about what species can be found in the canal between Willow Springs and Lockport? Just wondering what species are available there before I try trudging through that garbage dump they call a canal.


120 low tech native planted - Blackstriped Topminnow, Central Stoneroller, Fathead minnow, Golden Shiner, Black chin shiner, Carmine Shiner, Emerald Shiner, Sand Shiner, Spotfin Shiner, Orangethroat darter, Johnny Darter, and Banded Darter.


#2 Matt DeLaVega

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  • Ohio

Posted 15 April 2015 - 08:47 PM

Carp.


The member formerly known as Skipjack


#3 strat guy

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  • Orland Park, IL

Posted 15 April 2015 - 09:52 PM

Lol, that's about what I figured. I did walk a small section in Willow Springs, and saw a lot of really small fish on the surface, couldn't have been more than 1". It was oddly shallow there though, the canal was no more than 2' wide at some points, really fast current with clear water.


120 low tech native planted - Blackstriped Topminnow, Central Stoneroller, Fathead minnow, Golden Shiner, Black chin shiner, Carmine Shiner, Emerald Shiner, Sand Shiner, Spotfin Shiner, Orangethroat darter, Johnny Darter, and Banded Darter.


#4 Matt DeLaVega

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Posted 16 April 2015 - 04:53 AM

I really have no idea.


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#5 strat guy

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  • Orland Park, IL

Posted 16 April 2015 - 08:25 PM

Well I went out and got some answers.

 

Black striped topminnows by the gajillions. They're everywhere.

IMG_0962.jpg

 

Goldfish:

IMG_0965.jpg

 

Creek chub:

IMG_0966.jpg

 

I also got a bluegill, a dead brown bullhead, and I saw a darter. I couldn't catch it to id it because it darted away.  :biggrin: 
 


120 low tech native planted - Blackstriped Topminnow, Central Stoneroller, Fathead minnow, Golden Shiner, Black chin shiner, Carmine Shiner, Emerald Shiner, Sand Shiner, Spotfin Shiner, Orangethroat darter, Johnny Darter, and Banded Darter.


#6 swampfish

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Posted 20 April 2015 - 10:31 AM

In the 1980's when I lived in the western suburbs, it was a popular place for anglers. From the stringers I could see from a distance, they appeared to be primarily catching sunfish. The water quality will have improved significantly since then. Nice to see that the curly leaf pondweed is growing. I assumed that it was still too cold for macrophyte growth. I need to check my ponds for hornwort growth after the winter.

 

Phil Nixon

Tolono, IL



#7 olaf

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Posted 20 April 2015 - 08:34 PM

How certain are you that it was a brown bullhead? Black seems more likely to me in that water.
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#8 strat guy

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  • Orland Park, IL

Posted 22 April 2015 - 07:32 PM

Olaf- If it wasn't a brown, then it was a yellow, which as far as I know, are sorta uncommon around here. The water was surprisingly clean, and in the area I was in, was fast moving. I guess I could have been wrong, the thing was VERY dead and I didn't touch it, but was curious enough to at least scoop it up with the net. As far as I know my bullheads, it was a brown.

Swampfish- I went to quite a few different spots and saw quite a bit of Potamogeton crispus washed up on shore at a few different places. A little bit of hornwart here and there, but not much. I'm not too familiar with the canal around my area, but out west near LaSalle it was thick with carp and gar. I swear at one spot right off the Illinois there were sturgeon jumping. I was a kid though, so the probability of me being wrong is pretty high.


120 low tech native planted - Blackstriped Topminnow, Central Stoneroller, Fathead minnow, Golden Shiner, Black chin shiner, Carmine Shiner, Emerald Shiner, Sand Shiner, Spotfin Shiner, Orangethroat darter, Johnny Darter, and Banded Darter.


#9 lilyea

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Posted 22 April 2015 - 07:45 PM

Olaf- If it wasn't a brown, then it was a yellow, which as far as I know, are sorta uncommon around here. 

 

strat guy - from my experience and supported by Fishes of Alabama (Boschung, Mayden, & Tomelleri, 2004) and similar reference material, a visible difference between the brown and yellow bullheads is the color of their barbels -- brown bullhead having brown/black barbels and yellow bullhead having white/cream barbels.



#10 strat guy

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Posted 23 April 2015 - 07:57 PM

Well it was dead, so I wasn't taking a strong look at it. When I first pulled it out, I thought it was a massive bullfrog tadpole. I'm about 99% sure it was a brown though. I've caught a million of them.


Edited by strat guy, 23 April 2015 - 08:02 PM.

120 low tech native planted - Blackstriped Topminnow, Central Stoneroller, Fathead minnow, Golden Shiner, Black chin shiner, Carmine Shiner, Emerald Shiner, Sand Shiner, Spotfin Shiner, Orangethroat darter, Johnny Darter, and Banded Darter.


#11 olaf

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Posted 25 April 2015 - 05:38 PM

They're pretty rare in this state I think, especially compared to black bullheads. In my experience they want cleaner, colder, faster water than is generally available in Illinois year-round. I don't think I've ever caught one in this state, but I've caught a million blacks. I'd like to know they're around, so I want you to be right, but everywhere I've seen that canal it's pretty stagnant by summer and stays that way.
Redhorse ID downloads and more: http://moxostoma.com

#12 BenCantrell

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  • Sebastian, FL

Posted 26 April 2015 - 10:31 PM

Kishwaukee River is the one place I've caught brown bullheads in IL.  (not saying they aren't elsewhere of course)

 

DSC04939.JPG



#13 strat guy

strat guy
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  • Orland Park, IL

Posted 28 April 2015 - 07:45 PM

Like I said, the thing was dead, so who knows.


120 low tech native planted - Blackstriped Topminnow, Central Stoneroller, Fathead minnow, Golden Shiner, Black chin shiner, Carmine Shiner, Emerald Shiner, Sand Shiner, Spotfin Shiner, Orangethroat darter, Johnny Darter, and Banded Darter.




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