Species: Texas Shiner (Notropis amabilis) Location: New Braunfels, Texas Date: August 25, 2018 After slaying the Redspotted Sunfish in the artificially cooled whitewater river flowing through New Braunfels, I opted for a more natural setting. I still had a number of potential species, but I’d become especially enamored with the Gray Redhorse. As I arrived…
Species: Longnose Dace (Rhinichthys cataractae) Location: Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico Date: August 9, 2018 I didn’t pace this trip very well. I spent a week in California, a day in Arizona, and two in New Mexico before making it down to Texas. I spent a whole day driving from Phoenix to Roswell, and it wasn’t…
Species: Longfin Dace (Agosia chrysogaster) Location: Peoria, Arizona Date: August 8, 2018 I did an absurd amount of driving that first day, and I ended up picking up a handful of random micros in the space from San Diego to Phoenix. My last win of the day came when I met up with Chris Moore….
Species: Porthole Livebearer (Poeciliopsis gracilis) Location: Undisclosed Location, American Southwest Date: August 8, 2018 I didn’t end up pursuing a career as a fish biologist. From the time I was little, it was my dream. The reality was I graduated from high school in 2008, the year The Great Recession peaked, and by the time…
Species: Threespine Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) Location: Undisclosed Creek, Southern California Date: August 8, 2018 When you think of the most naturally widespread freshwater fish on earth, you probably think of bass, carp, or trout. That’s a reasonable assumption, but it’s wrong. Those three fish have been introduced worldwide to become the most prevalent, but the fish…
Species: Western Mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) Location: Santa Ana River, CA Date: August 3, 2018 I haven’t written a #SpeciesQuest post in almost a year. My last one published in July while I was on my Fishing Across America trip, and I spent the time not fishing working on my book of the same now. This means I’m…
Species: Rainbow Darter (Etheostoma caeruleum) Location: Smokes Creek, Buffalo, New York Date: July 18, 2018 “Butterfly in the sky, I can go twice as high Take a look, it’s in a book, A Reading Rainbow! I can go anywhere Friends to know, and ways to grow A Reading Rainbow! I can be anything Take a look,…
Species: Emerald Shiner (Notropis atherinoides) Location: Buffalo, New York Date: July 18, 2018 Microfishing is still relatively new to me, and the newness of it all is partially why I love it so much. This method has yet to hit the mainstream, but microfishing is a gem. In combination, the ability to sight fish, to actually…
Species: Golden Topminnow (Fundulus chrysotus) Location: Orlando, Florida Date: July 10, 2018 After checking off Golden Shiner, I tried to catch the tiny little pike-like fish that roamed just under the surface, darting this way and that to investigate everything on its turf. The telltale red-tipped tail told me it was another Golden Topminnow, and I’d…
Species: Golden Shiner (Notemigonus crysoleucas) Location: Orlando, Florida Date: July 10, 2018 A school of Golden Shiners pestered me for almost an hour at the Lake Fran Urban Wetlands. I knew what they were, and I knew I’d never caught one, but for the life of me, I just couldn’t get one to bite. They were…
