Edited by Casper, 29 July 2019 - 09:45 AM.

I'll take average leeches over tiny hard to find leeches any day.

So if there is hellbender DNA, there must be hellbenders. I Wonder if juveniles use headwater streams as nursery areas? Do you guys see adult hellbenders in other headwater streams?

Still itching today, but diminishing, 48 hours later.

Hellbenders have nesting rocks and in my experience the juveniles ( 2" ) stay in the immediate area.  They will eat one another and i suspect slowly radiate / advance outward.  They do not migrate to a nursery site.

I have been hearing debates on the DNA water samples on just how reliable it is.

I'm hoping to return this weekend as the weather promises to be ideal.

So do you see them in streams any smaller than the one pictured? I have seen them in the Clinch and the Davidson. Davidson is fairly small where I have seen them. Wondering what the cutoff is. What is too small?? I wish they were more local to me.

Hellbenders...

I'm not so sure stream size / width matters.  Most important is water quality, habitat, food supply of crayfish, big flat rocks to hide under, and minimal siltation.

I have seen them in big, wide waters like the Hiwassee, smaller rivers like the Tellico and many very narrow, little streams you can easily wade across.

 I really had never thought about them being in such small streams. That's really cool. If the high quality small stream lacks the right size flat rocks, look elsewhere.

They need those flat rocks for sure.  And crayfish.  I have seen them many times in small streams, meaning about 15' wide.

Back into the creek Saturday.  Forgetting my swim shorts and ragged shirt i was forced to wear my wetsuit.

That was a good thing as my comfort level was much more to my liking during the 4 or 5 hours.

I picked up another 3 bags of trash and flushed about 10 tires and perched them in logjams.  I will surely need help come the TRR October 5 Saturday.

Several sunfish nests, some with fry.  Big Yellow Perch.  More River Chubs.  Added a pod of Creek Chubs.  The Darters aplenty.  Mr. Bass following me.

I'm not sure what kinda turtle this is.  Its face is marked different to me.

This is likely a Yellow-Bellied Pond Slider.

Old plastic pouch with an evicted resident.

The ever present Bass.

Old relic bottles.  Many cans are the old pull tab variety.

Very cool.  Looking forward to your next visit/report.  I bet there are relic hunters that would like some of those bottles.

This Saturday, less than 2 months til the 2019 October 5 TRR, a new snorkel buddy and i eased off the steep banks into the cool North Chick Creek as several Gar approached, welcoming us.  This time we started downstream near the mill and bridge, working our way upstream a hundred yards or more.

Throwing an old pool pump on the bank, a Lamprey slithered out, a new first for this stretch.  Again Bass stayed with us looking for opportunities to snatch anything exposed.  Turning over an old rusty rim 3 Bass swooped in quick to grab one of the biggest crays i have ever seen here.  With his pinchers fully extended he fended off a few grabs and the wary Bass backed off.  Like wolves they moved in again but i waved them away.  After a few photos i cleaned off the rim and as i was preparing to position it, in they moved, grabbing the cray by the claws, its only defense.  Had they pulled off the claws he would have been an easy meal.  I was finally able to settle the rim over the big cray.  It's a rough life out there.

Just downstream i found this dead cray or perhaps a molt of about the same size.

Will held these bottles up to the light.  We filled a couple bags and dislodged several tires in about 3 hours.

Silt seems more common than last year.  I remember many lush, green, stands of millfoil but now everything seems covered with a layer of floamy silt.

Except for this finely manicured Redbreast nest.  No eggs, nor fry seen and the male wary from afar.

An interesting odd abstract.  My TG4 continues to yield blurry pictures for the most part.  Arg.

Casper, you should start keeping some of those bottles and looking them up.  I collect Pepsi bottles and I'm plugged into the bottle collectors scene.  Some bottles are worth a bit of money.

I keep the interesting ones.  But they are dirty inside and out and difficult to clean.  And they are often scuff scratched from tumbling in the creek.

Nonetheless i keep the interesting ones.  I have found a couple old Pepsi's.  Maybe i can remember to bring them to you in SC.

What is your best source for looking up bottles?

Great report, and a most worthy endeavor, good sir!

Josh ain't foolin', either.  We hit a spot in MS that must have been a dumping ground for glass bottles at some point.  Between Cyprinella sweeps he was pulling up bottle fragments and could tell ya all kinds of things about it.  Pretty interesting stuff, Josh ought to be an archaeology professor.  Move over Indiana Jones, Kentucky Blaylock is about to school ya.

Now that's funny. Hmm....

Do you ever run across any insulators while diving in these rivers?

Do you ever run across any insulators while diving in these rivers?

Yes.  I have a small collection of them.  Find them often enough creek walking and mushroom hunting.  The broken ones are in the cement pond.  The nice ones on window sills.  A friend is a member of the Dixie Jewels Insulator Club.

Sunday, September 2.

Will and i spent a few hours at North Chickamauga Creek, mostly simply observing the fish today.  Though the day was bright and blue skied the water was murky from a rain event about 5 days prior, limiting good viewing to about 4 or 5 feet.  We stayed in a new zone, just below and above the bridge and mill site.  We saw a good diversity of fishes and the best viewing were in the shallow riffles right at the bridge.  High colors are absent but the fish seemed to be enjoying the season and day.

I started to gather glass shards and assorted trash into piles, and after Will chilled he bagged them while i continued gathering.  After about 4 hours Will had enough of the cold and left while i stayed another couple hours working my way upstream.  Again the big Bass stayed with me as i turned and dumped bottles and cans.  In a deeper pool, say 6', i observed these Bass, a Gar, 2 Yellow Perch and unknown big Suckers.

Sunfish: Redear, Longear, Bluegill, Redbreast.

Shiners: Striped and Warpaints and something loner i could not decide on.

Minnows: River Chubs, Stonerollers, and probably a school of Bluntnose in a lush plant run.

Darters: TN Snubs, Bluesides, Redlines, Greenside, Banded, and lots and lots of Logperch.  They really do well.

Sculpins, Hogsuckers...

More glass and pottery shards, cans and bridge cast offs.  More piles are upstream awaiting October 5.

Will warming and near ready to walk out.

I found a few paw paws and this RC bottle.  I suspect it to be very old as it is marked: PROPERTY OF NEHI BOTTLING COMPANY.

Excellent posts again.  I love fish pics, but pictoral stories about trip experiences are just as interesting!

Less than 2 weeks away now.

I returned to North Chick yesterday and snorkel mongered another 1/2 bag of trash and piled into tire centers another bags worth.  No rain is predicted all next week so i expect the trash piles to stay in place.  The water is quite low and getting cooler with the low night temps and the constant 60 degree input of springs.  Digging my fingers into sandy areas i cold feel the chill.  Multi colored leaves are falling and float clumping in front of log jams, making it a bit difficult to navigate through.  I did not note many species yesterday with the exception of, once again, the 3 big Bass following me for at least 300 yards!  It's almost as if when i clink clunk two glass bottles together... here they come!  I can almost touch the Bass' lips, teasing my finger in front of their noses.  Alert, smart fish they be.

I did see hordes of Logperch, some Snubs and a few Bluesides.  Several Sunfish species.  But i was mostly keen on hunting trash, swimming zig zag upstream from just above the bridge, going the entire distance, 4 hours and i was chilled.  No treasures found but on Friday Will and i snorkeled the Hiwassee and we found several old bottles.  I kept a NuGrape and a Chero Cola... bottles i have never seen in my days.  Over the last few years I have collected an interesting assortment of very old, vintage? soda bottles.  Cleaning them is quite a time extensive chore so i am researching sending them off for polishing.

Will and i found a couple Pawpaws and boy were they good, like a smooth banana custard with a hint of mango.  Probably my last taste of the season.  2 weeks ago I made Pawpaw ice cream and Pawpaw bread after my flood plain walkings.

When i got home Connie had bought me a nice fresh, hot mitt Bass, from Salamander Fisheries.

I promise more fishy photos next time.