2016 US Midwest

[MuskieBait]

In 2013, I took a trip to Illinois hoping for a chance at a Shovelnose Sturgeon. However, the Mississippi was flooded and I didn't have a chance.

Fast forward to May 2016, I've yet again planned a trip to Illinois for Shovelnose Sturgeon. And yet again, the Mississippi was flooded.

Still, all the other species made up for it. I had the goal to catch the two remaining Sunfish not on my list, the Bantam Sunfish and the Redspotted Sunfish, and finally checked off all the Lepomis species! I also wanted to catch the Shadow Bass and Ozark Bass and be that much closer to completing all the Ambloplites species.

A total of 26 new species in 5 days of fishing. That's a pretty good count!

Here are the stories (starting on Day 1):

http://muskiebaitadventures.blogspot.ca/...day-1.html

Spottail Darter (Etheostoma squamiceps) - Species #551



Stripetail Darter (Etheostoma kennicotti) - Species #552



Rainbow Darter (Etheostoma caeruleum)



Whitetail Shiner (Cyprinella galactura) - Species #553



Ozark Minnow (Notropis nubilus) - Species #554



Shadow Bass (Ambloplites ariommus) - Species #555



Banded Sculpin (Cottus carolinae) - Species #556



Cardinal Shiner (Luxilus cardinalis) - Species #557



Southern Redbelly Dace (Phoxinus erythrogaster) - Species #558



Plateau Darter (Etheostoma squamosum) - Species #559



Ozark Sculpin (Cottus hypselurus) - Species #560



Ozark Darter (Etheostoma spectabile) - Species #561



Ozark bass (Ambloplites constellatus) - Species #562



Hornyhead Chub spp. (Nocomis biguttatus)



Yellow Bullhead (Ameiurus natalis)



Checkered Madtom (Noturus flavater) - Species #563



Blackspotted Topminnow (Fundulus olivaceus) - Species #564



Brook Darter (Etheostoma burri) - Species #565



Dollar Sunfish (Lepomis marginatus)



Redspotted Sunfish (Lepomis miniatus) - Species #566!



Bantam Sunfish (Lepomis symmetricus) - Species #567!



Starhead Topmminnow (Fundulus dispar) - Species #568



Slough Darter (Etheostoma gracile) - Species #569



Central Stoneroller (Campostoma anomalum) - Species #570!



Bleeding Shiner (Luxilus zonatus) - Species #571



Knobfin Sculpin (Cottus immaculatus) - Species #572



Sand Shiner (Notropis stramineus)



Spotted Bass (Micropterus punctulatus) - Species #573



Dusky Darter (Percina sciera) - Species #574



Slenderhead Darter (Percina phoxocephala) - Species #575



Longear Sunfish (Lepomis megalotis)



Silver Chub (Macrhybopsis storeriana) - Species #576



Freshwater Drum (Aplodinotus grunniens)



Yes...we did it...even though we were faced with adversity!!!

Shovelnose Sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus platorynchus) - Species #577!!!





Shorthead Redhorse (Moxostoma macrolepidotum)

[Fossil Fish]

I suppose I could just google this, but how many sunfish/Lepomis species are there? Congrats on checking them all off your list. Which one was the most challenging?

[MuskieBait]

(05-28-2016 03:05 PM)Fossil Fish Wrote:  I suppose I could just google this, but how many sunfish/Lepomis species are there? Congrats on checking them all off your list. Which one was the most challenging?

There are 13 recognized Lepomis species on FishBase. (See link below)

http://www.fishbase.org/identification/S...us=Lepomis

The hardest one is probably the Warmouth. I've only even caught one, and it was more or less an incidental catch (I did not target it). Whereas, all the other Lepomis species I did seek out to target each and every one of them.

There are other "Sunfishes" under different genus. (yes = caught already)

Acantharchus species (1) - Mud (yes)

Enneacanthus species (3) - Blackbanded (yes), Banded (yes) and Bluespotted (yes)

Then there are other genus within the Sunfish family.

Ambloplites (4) - Rockbass (yes), Shadow Bass (yes), Ozark Bass (yes), Roanoke Bass (not yet)

Archoplites (1) - Sacramento Perch (not yet)

Centrarchus (1) - Flier (yes)

Pomoxis (2) - White Crappie (yes), Black Crappie (yes)

And the last genus in the Sunfish family is Micropterus (Black Bass)...there's still a lot of work for me to complete the Micropterus family...but when I eventually become a teacher and I can have my summers off, I'll be making some crazy road trips to cross off all the Basses

[zippyFX]

Once again, awesome fish! I really need a tutorial from you on how to dial in the micros. Seems all the spots I find are colonized by sunfish. The spots that don't have sunfish don't seem to have much of interest.

I love them all, but I really love the sturgeon, darter, and the tail on the shorthead.

Nice trip!

[OldTimer]

Great stuff. Overall - much more colour it seems than what we find locally.

Like the checkered MadTom. Quite unusual.

Cheers,

OldTimer

[MuskieBait]

(05-28-2016 10:34 PM)zippyFX Wrote:  Once again, awesome fish! I really need a tutorial from you on how to dial in the micros. Seems all the spots I find are colonized by sunfish. The spots that don't have sunfish don't seem to have much of interest.

I love them all, but I really love the sturgeon, darter, and the tail on the shorthead.

Nice trip!

If you are being pestered by Sunfish, move to a different area, or fish in the surrounding area where you are no longer getting the Sunfish bites.

It also depends on what you are looking for. Smaller creeks, especially in streams with defined pools and riffle areas, tend to be more productive for micros. Larger rivers, ponds or lakes are generally much less productive for catching micros. Part of the reason is the fact that many micros requires clean, well oxygenated waters of the smaller headwater creeks. The other part of the reason is the fact that you can see these micros much better in a smaller, shallower creek compared to a deeper, larger river.

[Deadfisher]

26 new species in one trip is incredible! I usually don't catch the usual 26 per year.
Do you carry your field guide with you and identify the fish at water's edge, or wait until the end of the day?
What type of baits do you use when fishing micros?

[MuskieBait]

(05-30-2016 10:41 AM)Deadfisher Wrote:  26 new species in one trip is incredible! I usually don't catch the usual 26 per year.
Do you carry your field guide with you and identify the fish at water's edge, or wait until the end of the day?
What type of baits do you use when fishing micros?

Yeah, Michael had a Peterson's Field Guide with him.

Personally, when I go on one of these species hunting trips, I have an idea of what species to expect at each location, so I already know what features to look for in the species I wanted to catch. If there are any species caught that were unexpected, I try to take good pictures of all the features, and ID them later using multiple online resources available.

I also have a network of friends who can also help discussing ID with me.

Our typical bait for micros are small bits (or flake) of nightcrawler. You just need enough to fit on the bend of a hook. For the #26 hooks or tanago hooks that we were using, our bait is usually between 1/16" to 1/32" in size, especially if we wish to catch the smaller species of Darter.