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After
a minor delay due to my dog escaping and running a solo around
the neighborhood, our destination would be Swine Creek, a tributary
of the picturesque State Scenic Grand River, part of the Lake
Erie drainage. Swine Creek is a biologically diverse oasis amidst
the rapidly developing and populated region of northeast Ohio.
Most of us piled into the back of my truck and off we went! After
approximately a 20 mile trip to this first stop, to my surprise,
I passed the usual spot of access to this stream. I was unable
to recognize it due to a recent heavy logging operation in what
used to be a heavily vegetated and healthy riparian zone. Fortunately,
it appeared to be a select cut and was not encroaching up to the
stream's edge.
As we found a suitable area for parking
the vehicles, we piled out with our various gear and trekked down
to the stream bed. The water was running clear and was rather
warm. We sampled a few riffle areas and immediately retrieved
breeding male and female rainbow darters! The colors on them were
no less than brilliant and dazzling, certainly living up to their
name! In the same riffles, we also encountered fantail darters
and some pretty large Johnny darters. The breeding patterns on
these fish looked as though someone had patiently performed pen
and ink artwork along their bodies. For those that had never seen
these fish before, it was very fascinating to find so much so
fast! Small stonerollers and blacknose dace were abundant. A little
farther downstream, a long deep pool yielded nets full of minnows
and suckers including common shiners, northern hogsuckers, fathead
minnows, white suckers and southern redbelly dace with fins painted
lemon yellow.
