2015

This is the Coles notes version because this was another year of sporadic fishing. Also caught a bunch of farmed trout, out of a trout farm, yes I caught fish out of a farm. I also had a hunt for a Grass Pickerel. Grass Pickerel are the smallest members of the pike family and apparently they are common in the creek by my house that I get all the bowfin out of. After losing one about 1ft from shore I decided to research. I pulled all the papers I could find on the surrounding waterbodies and found another creek with a good population. Two days before I went up for school I missed hookups with 2, then managed to lose one on the bank. I tried to flip it on shore and got to watch in slow motion as it rolled down the bank and back into the water once the hook came loose. I went back the next day, caught one on the second cast and went home happier than I should have been after catching a 4 inch fish. After the Grass Pickerel I figured I could catch anything.

The year started off with some hornyhead chubs at my friends spot. Then we went to my spot and caught suckers, which I didn't even know were in there. Then I got a striped shiner. You can tell them apart from common shiner by looking at the dorsal lines. If they converge its a striped, if the lines are parallel then it is a common. I found this out after catching the first one, so I needed to go back and catch another. The second trip to my Dad's nostalgia spots yielded some white crappie and black bullheads. Then some farmed rainbows.

Species 20: Hornyhead chub (Nocomis biguttatus), unexpected catch

Species 21:  White sucker(Catastomus commersonii), not a common fish in Niagara

Species 22: Striped Shiner ( Luxilus chrysocephalus)

You can see the stripes converge on the back if you look closely and tilt your head to one side. (might need to zoom a bit)

Species 23: White Crappie (Pomoxis annularis) not going to mention how many trips and ticks I collected trying to get one of these

Species 24: Black Bullhead (Ameiurus melas) they are cute

Species 25: Rainbow Trout (Onchorhynchus mykiss) It was a stocked pond and it still took me a few hours to get one

While going after the Grass Pickerel I found  a stream that had a population of them in it. I threw my smallest spinner in hopes of getting one and missed two hookups by a fallen tree. I retied with a small chunk of nightcrawler and ended up catching a bunch of golden shiners and pumpkinseeds. 

Species #26: Golden Shiner (Notemigonus crysoleucas) They count

Then I managed to snag my tiny spinner and was not able to recover it. I tried a new spot on the same creek and this time used some gulp minnows. After catching several tiny bullheads I finally got the fish I was after, the Grass Pickerel. Unfortunately, I had the bright idea to try and flip it on shore with barbless hooks. The fish flew off and returned to its home before I could take its picture. I returned the next day to the same spot and caught it without difficulty.

Species #27: Grass Pickerel (Esox americanus vermiculatus) yes I spent most of this summer trying to catch a fish this size, hence the name of the blog