Tiny fishing

[Rickshaw swami 4,119]

Recently I started tiny fishing.There are hundreds of species of fish in Alabama.Most are small and not much are known about them.I figured if I could learn more about the small fish it would help me understand predators better such as smallmouth and otter.I bought a 10 ft telescoping pole.I tie about 3 ft of 2 lb tippet fly line to a number 20 nymph fly hook.

So far I have caught mosquitofish.

Black sided topminnow

Several shiners

Creek chub 

 

And one fish that I don't know what it is lol.

I have used small worms and pieces of cricket mostly for bait.I hope to try corn soon.If yall have any suggestions for other types of bait I would be happy to hear them.

 

 

[Borr 5,884]

Very cool, interesting to see new (to me) species of fish. We'd call it tiddler snatching in UK. Baits here might be maggot or smaller version called pinkies/squats, or caster which is their chrysalis. Also bread maybe using a small punch to make tiny biscuit shaped pieces. Seems like your natural baits are working ,

[Borr 5,884]

Had a quick Google, could it be a redfin shiner or a shiner of sorts?

[Rickshaw swami 4,119]

7 hours ago, Borr said:

Had a quick Google, could it be a redfin shiner or a shiner of sorts?

I'm guessing it's some type of shiner that has a parasite.I like the name tiddler snatching

I have just sent the picture to a biologist.Hopefully there will be a new discovered species.Rickshaw swami shiner lol.

I do have some questions about the corn.What do yall prefer,?canned,frozen or fresh.i have been thinking.The sweetest corn is peaches and cream grown locally.Would this be a wise choice or does it not matter? 

[paulus 26]

33 minutes ago, Rickshaw swami said:

I'm guessing it's some type of shiner that has a parasite.I like the name tiddler snatching

I have just sent the picture to a biologist.Hopefully there will be a new discovered species.Rickshaw swami shiner lol.

I do have some questions about the corn.What do yall prefer,?canned,frozen or fresh.i have been thinking.The sweetest corn is peaches and cream grown locally.Would this be a wise choice or does it not matter? 

I always use tinned (Jolly Green Giant sweet corn) as i find it is harder and stays on the hook better, Frozen sweet corn i find is soft but is good to mush up to add to ground bait, 

[Rickshaw swami 4,119]

14 minutes ago, paulus said:

I always use tinned (Jolly Green Giant sweet corn) as i find it is harder and stays on the hook better, Frozen sweet corn i find is soft but is good to mush up to add to ground bait, 

Thanks Mr Paulus. That's what I needed to know.

[Rickshaw swami 4,119]

8 hours ago, Borr said:

Had a quick Google, could it be a redfin shiner or a shiner of sorts?

The biologist said it's a shiner but unidentifiable from picture.He guessed that it was a mimic shiner.

[Daniel cain 45,150]

Found 2 little ponds yesterday,so out this morning with my lad "maggot drowning"..had loads of little perch,roach,skimmer bream and rudd,theres a few carp to 20 lbs apparently in here and some tench

[Daniel cain 45,150]

Perch on the bait caster...

[Rickshaw swami 4,119]

I've experimented with several baits now.Big creek chubs like  the corn.I made a punch bait from cotton balls and tinned dog food.It caught alot but would wash away quickly in these small creeks.I wasn't satisfied and I wasn't catching any new types.I remembered a bass bait that I never liked because little fish attacked it.I stopped by the bait store and got a pack.

I tore off a tiny piece,put it on the hook.i added some cotton fibers to the tip to add some life to it.

I caught chub,shiners,bream and a largemouth.I caught a new type of shiner.Whitetail shiner. 

[hambone 950]

That mosquito fish looks like a guppy sold in our pet shops. Is it a livebearer?

[BEARINATOR 2,867]

5 minutes ago, hambone said:

That mosquito fish looks like a guppy sold in our pet shops. Is it a livebearer?

That is the name for them across there, kept in ponds to keep mosquitoes down