A couple nights ago, I went out to target a new species, one I had heard was quite difficult to catch on the fly. I have hooked a few in the past and broke them all off. They have big, paddle like, leathery tails that make the exceptional fighters. When hooked they often give a violent tail slap. They can usually be found around the stick and mud nests they build.
I'm just kidding, of course! I was looking for something in the perch family. Tessellated darters, though tiny, are indeed close relatives of walleye and yellow perch. Other darters, like rainbow, plateau, yoke, and banded darters are dramatically more colorful, but tessellated darters are far from ugly and are very charismatic. They were far more aggressive than I expected, even attacking my splitshot.
I almost caught a second new species, I had two takes from a small bowfin, but I failed to get a hookset. I hadn't caught a new species in months so maybe that was asking to much. Tonight I'll be fishing for a species I haven't caught before, maybe, just maybe, I'll get one or two.
That, is really cool. Amazing how different the fish looks in the hand vs the water. It really looks like a little tiny mottled walleye or maybe sauger in the water.
ReplyDeleteThanks for showing and describing it!
My pleasure.
DeleteI'm thinking of getting a small acrylic photo tank for that reason.
I've seen those and thought they were minnows of Walleye. Thanks to you Rowan we learn something new. Wow, no wonder you missed a few bites.
ReplyDeleteTie, fish, write, conserve and photo on...