Small
Fish Make a Big Difference
Likely
all of us that wade the cool waters of North Georgia have had the
occasional minnow take our fly. I know we all pay those
seemingly insignificant species the same respectful catch and release
homage as we would a trophy brown. Since minnows may be the
wilder fishy inhabitants of our rivers and streams their presence,
like that of other stream organisms may indicate how healthy our
waterways are.
My
fishing and hunting buddy from Central Georgia often emails me
pictures of warm water game fish he catches. Often pictures of
fish out of water and out of any measurement context like a rod
handle or person’s hand look smallish, so I will remind him to put
them in a measurement frame of reference next time by returning a
comment like “what kind of minnow is that?”. My bad joke.
Small fish are incorrectly called minnows.
After
a little research ala Google, I found that minnows are a huge family
of fishes, called Cyprinidae.
Over 2,100 species have been identified in North America with
over 100 of those residing in Georgia Waters.
Shiners,
chubs and darters are part of the fish fauna that we commonly
describe as minnows. Georgia's Chattahoochee River basin has
endemic minnows - species that occur nowhere else in the world.
They are beautiful and interesting fish – not “trash
fish”.
In
our mountain water, the bluehead chub (pictured with mouthful of
stone) constructs a pebble nest for spawning protection, and these
nests can act as spawning habitat to other fish species, potentially
– trout habitat: By
building nests, chubs can create “islands” of clean gravel in a
stream full of silt.
“Trophy”
chubs can grow as large as yearling trout – 7 or more inches long.
My
home river, the Toccoa, is also home to a brilliantly colored endemic
minnow, the Tangerine Darter:
Acidic
rain and runoff has posed problematic for many minnows and small wild
freshwater fish. When the level of pH drops below 6 – becoming
more acidic, minnow and small fish populations have decreased. The
best fresh water has a pH close to 7. It's almost a no-brainer that
when we see minnows in our streams, there is a good chance that wild
trout may be present as well. The South Atlanta Water Science Center
of Georgia reports: Because
fish respond directly to the quality of water they inhabit, they are
useful as indicators of the cumulative effects of water-quality
problems that may not otherwise be detected. Since
many of our streams depend upon stockings for stable trout
populations, the minnow population may be the prevailing wild fish of
the habitat.
One
of my favorite go to flies, when I am having a hard time matching or
seeing much insect hatch (most of the time) are one of the classic
minnow imitations, particularly when I can match it to trout hunting
minnows chased to breaching the stream surface like miniature
porpoise pods. Big fish do eat smaller fish. Minnow plugs and
minnow spinner imitations have held their place in the top five trout
spinning lure list for decades. Minnows may be the only obviously
active food in fast moving water. Since Winter hatches here in
North GA are thin at best, when fly fishing, trying a modern natural
minnow or muddler minnow may simulate the available trout
prey just enough, also hinting that what takes your offering may be
wild trout life in a pristine stream.
If you are looking for a fun fly fishing game and/or the ONLY Fly Caster Cert Exam Sim, get my Fly Casting Solitrivia and Fly Caster Exam Sim to help you get through days you can't fish and become the better guide. And if you are in North GA and want to find trout - contact me.
Webliography:
http://georgiawildlife.com/node/1943
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PH
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PH
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