Species: Blacktail Shiner (Cyprinella venusta) Location: New Braunfels, Texas Date: August 25, 2018 The fragile Texas Shiner came first, but after that, I caught nothing but Blacktail Shiners for the next hour. Cyprinellas are always agressive, and Blacktails are pretty ubiquitous in the south. I’ve caught them from Texas to Florida since, and their large…
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: Red Shiner (Cyprinella lutrensis) Location: Rio Hondo, Roswell, New Mexico Date: August 10, 2018 Every angler has those moments he or she would go back and change. Keep a little more line tension, set the hook harder, loosen the drag. Most of these regrets are tied to trophy fish that any angler would be…
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 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…
Species: Coastal Shiner (Lepomis auritus) Location: Little Wekiva River, Florida Date: July 8, 2018 One of my favorite professors in college used to say “If you haven’t ____________, you haven’t lived.” He honestly had a lot of great catch phrases, but this was my favorite — especially as it relates to fishing. If you haven’t waited chest-deep…
Species: Redside Shiner (Richardsonius balteatus) Location: Corvallis, Oregon Date: June 16, 2018 After school got out, I loaded my car and drove up to visit my brother, Gabe. I knew it would be the last summer he lived in Corvallis with his roommates, the guys who had been surrogate brothers to me in the dozens of times…
