Who wants to trade natives?
- Thread starter kzimmerman
- Start date
I live in Southern Illinois and I would love to get some longear or yellow bullhead if I can. I'm sure they're around here but I don't know where to look for them.
Lepomis peltastes & Ameiurus natalis should both be readily available in your state.
Do you have access to a seine?
Now would be a good time to go and do some pulls through shallow weed beds for juvenile bullheads. Might be a little too soon, but not by much depending on your temperatures there.
Do you have access to a seine?
Now would be a good time to go and do some pulls through shallow weed beds for juvenile bullheads. Might be a little too soon, but not by much depending on your temperatures there.
I don't have any experience with seining but I can get one. Should I start in lakes, creeks, or rivers?
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Whereabouts in Southern Illinois are you? I could tip you off to several places in my area that will get you longears and yellow bullheads. I haven't studied the subspecies and split in L megalotis in a long while, but I don't believe the Northern longear (peltastes) is found around here.
Hmmmm I'm not too familiar with that area. I'm around the Marion area further South. Lots of really cool creeks where Longears are found down here, and usually yellow bullhead are in pretty much any place that holds water. If you're interested in bigger fish, I have a few adults that I'll be getting rid of very soon. If I don't find a home I'll just release them into my private pond. Before anyone chimes in about releasing, it's MY pond and we could have epic floods and no runoff still.
Get yourself a Delorme Atlas for Illinois and start finding some creeks. I'm looking at mine and looks like there are lots of creeks and streams near you. Just get an atlas and start finding creeks with public access. I've lived here all my life and I'm still finding places I've never been to with this little atlas. Great detail.
As for collecting, large dipnets like Jonah's Perfect Dipnet and even large aquarium dipnets work really well. If you have the opportunity, try it at night with a flashlight. The fish don't see you very well and very easy to catch. Another option is to get some very small hooks, preferably barbless and go fish for some.
As for collecting, large dipnets like Jonah's Perfect Dipnet and even large aquarium dipnets work really well. If you have the opportunity, try it at night with a flashlight. The fish don't see you very well and very easy to catch. Another option is to get some very small hooks, preferably barbless and go fish for some.
