Help ID darter and insect!

[ColdwaterCreekGuide]

First two pics are the aquatic insect, I've seen these a lot, heard them called "Water Scorpions" but I think that could be a redneck term. lol
And the third pic is a darter that is abundant in Coldwater Creek. Just wanted to ID them so I'll know if I can feed em to my bass or not.

 

[midnight]

dragonfly nymph
and not sure on darters but some are protected

 

[ewurm]

Don't use darters as feeders, there are many more abundant fish you can use. And those are nice ones.

 

[ColdwaterCreekGuide]

I caught two of these small (1&half inch) darters in one swoop of my net, they are EVERYWHERE in this creek which is part of the Coosa drainage in northeast Alabama. I looked through a list of darters native to Bama and couldn't find em. Red blue & green on the dorsal fin, just red on the other fins.. Pretty little fish.. I released them back right after the photo, just kept em in a fishbowl for maybr 15 minutes today to check em out. Fishbowl was clean, I used water from their creek to keep em in, so putting them back should be ok. Right?

The only reason I wanted to see about using them as feeders, is they're small enough for my small LMB to swallow, and they're so abundant, they fill up my crawdad traps before the crawdads do. LOL
Which is a lot easier than trying to catch tiny sunfish or minnows. The shiners and stonerollers are as big as my LMB!!

 

[ColdwaterCreekGuide]

Don't use darters as feeders, there are many more abundant fish you can use. And those are nice ones.

Ok I won't, ewurm. I was a little hesitant anyways because they are so beautiful and delicate! Any better suggestions though?

 

[ColdwaterCreekGuide]

dragonfly nymph
and not sure on darters but some are protected

I figured it was either a nymph or larvae of some sort! Dragonfly makes perfect sense though... They are good feeders eh?

 

[ewurm]

Ok I won't, ewurm. I was a little hesitant anyways because they are so beautiful and delicate! Any better suggestions though?

For feeders?


I would actually suggest getting it on pellets, mine likes Omega One and Massivore. But if you want to go with feeders, I recommend fatheads, chubs, shiners, small sunfish, perch, mosquito fish, and crayfish. Check legality of collecting live specimens before you do it.

 

[likestofish]

guppies would work.

 

[demjor19]

as long as you have a fishing license there is usually no issue with harvesting baitfish.

 

[drewish]

Edit... oops, i was wrong