Our first stop was at Beaverdam Creek at SSR 35. When first stopping at
this spot, we got out and walked over to the bridge, looked down into the
water and saw small fish swimming everywhere. We were all getting a little
anxious to get down to the water. Little did we know things would only get
better as the day went along. This site was a small creek that had very
little flow. Mostly sandy bottom with some rocks scattered around. In the
water on one side of the road there was a beaverdam so this creek was aptly
named. The water depth was around knee to hip deep. Most fish were caught
with our seines here. We found these fish:
(Site 061502-1)
Eastern Mosquitofish - Gambusia holbrooki
Yellowfin Shiner - Notropis lutipinnis
Bluehead Chub - Nocomis leptocephalus
Tessellated Darter - Etheostoma olmstedi
Redbreast Sunfish - Lepomis auritus
Pirate Perch - Aphrododerus sayanus
We left this spot and headed on to the next spot. This was on Beaverdam
Creek at SSR 51. At this area, a few miles downstream of the first spot, we
could again see many fish swimming in the water. The water was much
shallower here, rarely getting to knee deep, with a better flow than the
last. We seined a little here and got some Yellowfin, Dusky and Coastal
shiners but the many rocks here made it difficult. We decided it was dipnet
time. We started kicking upstream of our nets, letting the current push
anything into our nets and started getting darters and madtoms. In the
pools we could see chub nests with shiners all around them. Lots of shale
was here and we took some back with us as well. In this location we got the
following 16 species:
(Site 061502-2)
Whitefin Shiner - Cyprinella nivea
Yellowfin Shiner - Notropis lutipinnis
Dusky Shiner - Notropis cummingsae
Coastal Shiner - Notropis petersoni
Bluehead Chub - Nocomis leptocephalus
Christmas Darter - Etheostoma hopkinsi
Tessellated Darter - Etheostoma olmstedi
Redbreast Sunfish - Lepomis auritus
Redear Sunfish - Lepomis microlophus
Bluegill - Lepomis macrochirus
Pumpkinseed - Lepomis gibbosus
Largemouth Bass - Micropterus salmoides
Redeye Bass - Micropterus coosae
Pirate Perch - Aphrododerus sayanus
Margined Madtom - Noturus insignis
Channel Catfish - Ictalurus punctatus (juv.)
We rode back into Edgefield and ate a late lunch at a local country diner
on SC 25. Great food, especially the peanut butter pie for dessert.
Heading on to our last collection site, we made our made our stop at Stevens
Creek on SC 23. This was a larger stream than either of the last two
creeks. More water flow along with sandy and rocky areas made this a great
place to dipnet and seine. There were many small fish swimming around as
well as an ample supply of leeches. Very little vegetation was found in the
water here but there were some really nice rock formations crossing the
stream at a slight angle. This was a good place for snorkeling and Steven
jumped right in. This was very fitting, seeing that the name of the stream
was Stevens Creek! Steven saw a Hog sucker, Stoneroller, and a Redhorse and
many other fish while snorkeling. The fish that we caught here are:
(Site 061502-3)
Whitefin Shiner - Cyprinella nivea
Yellowfin Shiner - Notropis lutipinnis
Sandbar Shiner - Notropis scepticus
Spottail Shiner - Notropis hudsonius
Bluehead Chub - Nocomis leptocephalus
Christmas Darter - Etheostoma hopkinsi
Tessellated Darter - Etheostoma olmstedi
Blackbanded Darter - Percina nigrofasciata
Flat Bullhead - Ameirus platycephalus
Largemouth Bass - Micropterus salmoides
Bluegill - Lepomis macrochirus
Pirate Perch - Aphrododerus sayanus
Eastern Mosquitofish - Gambusia holbrooki
By now it was getting late, after 6:00pm, and Steven and John both had
pretty long drives ahead of them, so we started loading up for our rides
home. We all agreed we should come back to these spots again.
Special thanks to Fritz Rohde for providing information and possible areas
where we might find our targeted fish.
Chip Rinehart
West Columbia, SC
/-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
/"Unless stated otherwise, comments made on this list do not necessarily
/ reflect the beliefs or goals of the North American Native Fishes
/ Association"
/ This is the discussion list of the North American Native Fishes Association
/ nanfa_at_aquaria.net. To subscribe, unsubscribe, or get help, send the word
/ subscribe, unsubscribe, or help in the body (not subject) of an email to
/ nanfa-request_at_aquaria.net. For a digest version, send the command to
/ nanfa-digest-request_at_aquaria.net instead.
/ For more information about NANFA, visit our web page, http://www.nanfa.org