Species #10 Spotfin Shiner (Cyprinella spiloptera): I didn't identify this thing for 2 years, This one is not only
member of a tiny species, it is a juvenile spotfin shiner.
I spent the rest of the summer catching more bowfin and largemouth bass. I also managed to get a few surprises that I didn't even know were in the creek. The first was the carp I wanted to get a picture of. I initially thought is was a Goldfish just based on its size. It is not a Goldfish. This was helpful as it helped me find a spot to try fishing for carp, especially a low pressured area where I could get away with a sloppy rig.
Species #11 Common Carp (Cypinus carpio): I swear the other ones were bigger... honestly
The other interesting fish I managed to catch here was a beautiful invasive fish from Europe. They aren't too common (or so I thought, I have caught plenty since) in Ontario, so catching one was pretty cool
Species #12 Rudd (Scardinius erythrophthalmus): a beautiful fish far from home
And here are some other cool pictures of rudd from later years.
I was going to go on vacation to Virginia with my dad and brother for the last week of summer before I headed off for my first year of university. Before we went, we wanted to get one last fishing trip close to home (we would go in Virginia). We decided to try fishing a large hydroelectric dam, I had gotten a goby there earlier this year, but the spot terrified me. The water flows incredibly fast and there are massive rocks that litter the entire bottom. It is also very deep. This trip was a different story however. The dam was turned off for repairs of some kind and the entire bottom was filled with carp, hundreds of carp. We only had lures and worms and the water was crystal clear, they spooked very easily. The resident smallmouth were not so skittish though, and I got a new species
Species #13 Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu): They have smaller mouths than
Largemouth Bass. Largemouth also have a dark-black horizontal line
I actually managed to hook a larger one closer to the dam. I reeled it to shore, and then had a problem. I had to reel it vertical about 5 feet up onto the rocks I was standing on. I didn't have a net with me. I was also using barbless hooks. Being very careful I grabbed m line and lifted it by hand up to where I could grab its lip. It shook and put my hook into my hand. I dropped it (thankfully it was off or I would have a nice mark) and had a hook in my hand. Thankfully it slid out as easily as it went in, although I recieved a fair bit of ridicule from my dad (and deservedly so.)
To make matters worse, my dad goes and pulls out a shorthead redhorse. I have been wanting to catch a shorthead redhorse since I started this crazy hunt. my dad tells me where he caught it and moves over to my smallmouth spot. I catch another smallmouth... and my dad gets another shorthead redhorse. Then he catches a golden redhorse. The good news is that I now know of a spot to catch redhorse suckers, the bad news is that as of 2015, this has not happened yet.
This was one of the best trips I had ever had up to this point. I ended up catching 8 smallmouth and losing 3, and my dad caught a bunch of smallmouth and redhorses. I'd always thought that a real angler needs to be able to catch bass, and now I had caught both types. None were particularly large, in fact, many would not even consider them to be big enough to be called small, but I certainly felt like I had accomplished something.
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