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Southeastern Oklahoma Early November 2 Day Trip


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#1 catfishcain

catfishcain
  • NANFA Guest

Posted 22 December 2014 - 06:13 PM

In the hopes of sparking excitement for the upcoming NANFA Convention in SE Oklahoma. I figured I would start sharing a few pictures of fish I have encountered on my trips to the SE corner of my state. This post consists of fish from my trip this last November around the 10th. The only other trip I have made to the SE corner was early spring and I will share those photos at a later date in the near future. Most the fish shown were caught while micro fishing but a couple fish were netted and I will make sure to point out the ones which were netted. Probably the most abundant species of shiner/minnow that will be encountered in the SE corner are Bigeye Shiners. DSCN2427.JPG Notropis boops (Bigeye Shiner) this shiner was caught from the upper Kiamichi River where highway 259 crosses the river just south of highway 63 and highway 259 intersection. DSCN2434.JPG upper Kiamichi River at the highway 259 crossing. This location has easy and great access. There is a small dirt road that runs along side of the highway which provides plenty of parking for multiple cars. And you don't have to worry about trespassing because as soon as I parked a state trooper drove by and never even slowed down. I observed plenty of Topminnows near the shoreline, at least one juvenile darter species while flipping rocks in the shallows. And caught plenty of Bigeye Shiners and one Redfin Shiner. DSCN2417.JPG Lythrurus umbratilis cyanocephalus Redfin Shiner, caught from the upper Kiamichi River shown above. DSCN2482.JPG More Bigeye Shiners, these were caught from Little Eagle Creek, Little River system. CreekChubsucker.JPG Erimyzon oblongus Creek Chubsucker, netted from a small run that flows into the Glover River (Jones Ranch Trail, Ouachita National Forest). The run is small enough to step across but has a few pools which also hold Highland Stonerollers and Longear Sunfish. The crawdad shown below was also netted from the same location. DSCN2841.JPG FreckledMadtomGloverRiver1.23.JPG Noturus nocturnus Freckled Madtom, caught from the Glover River where Jones Ranch Trail crosses the river. This location was loaded with madtoms. Nearly every rock that I flipped on the north side of the road had at least one or more madtoms under them. Catching them on hook and line proved very difficult due to the large number of Green Sunfish which also hide under most of the rocks and would find a chunk of worm before any madtom would. UpperGloverRiver1.JPG Glover River on the north side of Jones Ranch Trail. UpperGloverRiver2.JPG Another view of the same area where Jones Ranch Trail crosses the Glover River. When I visited this same spot last spring the water was at least 3 feet higher then it was in this photo. During the spring even though the water was high I still caught Bigeye Shiners, Bluntnose Minnows, Green Sunfish, Longear Sunfish, and Orangebelly Darters on hook and line. Oh and last spring I seen a family of River Otters (about 4 otters) cross the road enable to move upstream. When I load my photos from the spring I will also include a photo of the otters. LowerGloverRiver.JPG This is the access to the Glover River from highway 3. Very rough muddy road that leads straight to the rocky river bank. Unless you have 4 wheel drive and a high clearance vehicle, I would not attempt to drive down to the river. The good news is that there is a large paved parking area right before the dirt road begins that has plenty of room for multiple cars. In the spring I owned a 4wheel drive Geo Tracker and made it just fine to the banks of the river. But now I own a 2014 Mazda3 with after market rims and so I didn't even attempt to drive down to the river. Its not a very far walk down to the water from the paved parking area. This location had tones of juvenile Orangebelly Darters and Bigeye Shiners. I also caught a Spotted Bass. During the spring I seen a madtom, silversides and caught a few Highland Stonerollers. Below is a turtle I caught by hand from this location. Turtle.JPG BandedPygmySunfish.jpg Elassoma zonatum Banded Pygmy Sunfish, caught from a creek in Broken Bow, OK. Believe it or not I caught 2 of them on hook and line. You can actually see the hook still in the one pygmy, which I left in for pictures as photo evidence I caught them hook and line. I caught them at night, I spotted a total of 3 in about a 2 foot span of shoreline. The third pygmy I left alone and just took a picture of it trying to hide just inches from dry land. DSCN2715.JPG Can you see the pygmy sunfish? OrangethroatDarter.JPG Etheostoma spectabile pulchellum Orangethroat Darter, this one was caught from the same creek that the pygmy sunfish was caught. NettedKiamichiRiverOK36.JPG Percina sciera Dusky Darter, netted from the Kiamichi River below Whitesboro, OK where N4580 crosses the river. CrawdadKiamichiRiverOK1.2.JPG This crawdad was also netted from the Kiamichi River below Whitesboro, OK. NettedKiamichiRiverOK22.JPG Etheostoma radiosum paludosum Male Orangebelly Darter, netted from the Kiamichi River below Whitesboro, OK. In Oklahoma there are 3 subspecies of Orangebelly Darters. The Ouachita and Little River systems have E. r. radiosum; the Kiamichi, Clear Boggy and Washita River systems have E. r. paludosum; and the Blue River has E. r. cyanorum. NettedKiamichiRiverOK18.JPG Etheostoma radiosum paludosum Female Orangebelly Darter, netted from the Kiamichi River below Whitesboro, OK. DSCN2511.JPG Etheostoma radiosum radiosum, male Orangebelly Darter caught from the Little Eagle Creek, Little River system. DSCN2562.JPG Etheostoma radiosum radiosum, caught from Ramos Creek near highway 259 north of Broken Bow Lake. This same location had large numbers of silversides and Highland Stonerollers. DSCN2782.JPG
Walter "Levi" Cain
catfishcain

#2 Casper

Casper
  • NANFA Fellow
  • Chattanooga, TN alongside South Chickamauga Creek, just upstream of the mighty Tennessee River.

Posted 22 December 2014 - 07:43 PM

Nice Tease! I am excited to visit a new part of the country and see new fish, Noodlers and Okie cookery.
Casper Cox
Chattanooga, near the TN Divide on BlueFishRidge overlooking South Chickamauga Creek.

#3 fritz

fritz
  • Board of Directors

Posted 22 December 2014 - 08:53 PM

Yes indeedy. It will be great fun!

#4 fritz

fritz
  • Board of Directors

Posted 22 December 2014 - 08:54 PM

And yes these old eyes found the pygmy but find it hard to believe that you actually caught one on a hook. Did it fight hard? :biggrin:

#5 catfishcain

catfishcain
  • NANFA Guest

Posted 22 December 2014 - 09:18 PM

It bent my rod tip lol. But then again I use a 3' telescopic tanago rod from Japan that even a penny would bend the rod tip. I didn't really give them a chance to put up a fight though. Once i spotted them i put my bait right on their nose and they sucked it up and I pulled them straight out the water and into my hand. At first I thought they were juvenile bowfin until I had them in hand and put them in my photo tank.
Walter "Levi" Cain
catfishcain

#6 Isaac Szabo

Isaac Szabo
  • NANFA Member
  • Marble Falls, AR

Posted 23 December 2014 - 12:29 AM

Interesting that you found orangethroat darters and pygmy sunfish at the same site. That's got to be pretty rare. Love those orangebelly darters!

#7 Josh Blaylock

Josh Blaylock
  • Board of Directors
  • Central Kentucky

Posted 23 December 2014 - 08:19 AM

Crazy how different those O-throats are from anything here in KY. I can't wait for the convention!

Josh Blaylock - Central KY
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#8 catfishcain

catfishcain
  • NANFA Guest

Posted 23 December 2014 - 11:12 AM

IsaacSzabo, yeah that site was mainly a rocky bottomed creek with the occasional lone vegetation stem sticking up here and there. I didn't think that type habitat matched the typical pygmy sunfish habitat preference that i usually hear people talk about. I also caught juvenile Orangebellies at that same spot. The orangethroat darters though here in Oklahoma seem to inhabit all stream bodies from small headwater creeks to large rivers such as the Neosho River at Ft. Gibson, OK. I had always thought they were more of a small stream inhabiter. Until I started to get out and explore the waters of OK.
Walter "Levi" Cain
catfishcain

#9 gerald

gerald
  • Global Moderator
  • Wake Forest, North Carolina

Posted 23 December 2014 - 11:37 AM

E. zonatum seems to be a bit more flow-tolerant than the other pygmies (or maybe that's just my impression because I see them in more places than any other pygmy). I think there ought to be a special NANFA Microfishing award for the first ever documentation of an Elassoma caught on hook. Now, hook a Heterandria (male of course) and Leptolucania and you'll have achieved microfishing nirvana.

Gerald Pottern
-----------------------
Hangin' on the Neuse
"Taxonomy is the diaper used to organize the mess of evolution into discrete packages" - M.Sandel


#10 BenCantrell

BenCantrell
  • Moderator
  • Sebastian, FL

Posted 31 December 2014 - 09:59 AM

Awesome photos Levi. They make me really excited for June!

#11 AussiePeter

AussiePeter
  • NANFA Member

Posted 02 January 2015 - 06:02 PM

No pictures of the stonerollers? That species does well in aquariums unlike some other Campos. Love seeing your pics and fishes from that part of the world, always really enjoyed collecting around there! Bummer that I can't make it to the convention.

Cheres
Peter

#12 Matt DeLaVega

Matt DeLaVega
  • Forum Staff
  • Ohio

Posted 02 January 2015 - 06:17 PM

Looks like a loggerhead musk turtle, but from what I can find from range maps it should not be there. I am pretty sure it is though.

The member formerly known as Skipjack


#13 Isaac Szabo

Isaac Szabo
  • NANFA Member
  • Marble Falls, AR

Posted 02 January 2015 - 11:49 PM

I would call it a Razor-backed Musk Turtle, Sternotherus carinatus. I don't think the Loggerhead Musk Turtle is found west of the Mississippi. They do look pretty similar, though.

#14 Matt DeLaVega

Matt DeLaVega
  • Forum Staff
  • Ohio

Posted 03 January 2015 - 12:57 AM

Yeah, there we go. Did not even know of that one, but it does not look like a common musk, and I thought it sure looked more like a loggerhead. But it is not supposed to be there, but that would not be a first. Thanks Isaac.

Very similar. From the photos I am looking at, some razorbacks have a very pointed carapace, and some are nearly domed. then add a bunch of algae.

The member formerly known as Skipjack




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