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NFC: Eno River, NC
Howdy folks,
OK I am as most of you know a total newbie to North American natives but
not to fishkeeping.
I took an opportunity today to check out a creek behind one of our
county government buildings to see if there was anything worthwhile
there. The creek is fed by natural springs as well as rain runoff from
the streets. It ranges from one inch to maybe a foot deep, and no more
than a few feet wide at the wider spots. Boy was I thrilled to find
this little creek teeming with life. The first thing I saw was
damnbusia so I was pretty disappointed at first. But then as I crept
along the banks I saw all kinds of fish, of all different forms. There
were also different kinds of fish in the deep calm pools than there were
in the riffles. I also had a treat watching a young water snake
catching small fish for the day's lunch.
I followed the small creek on foot a few hundred yards to where it met
the Eno River. The Eno was also full of life. While I noticed the
sunfish population seemed to consist entirely of bluegills, I noticed a
couple of fish with much longer "ears". I'll have to come back with my
fishing tackle to see just what that might be. Further upstream I found
a deep calm pool off to the side that had a vast number of these little
fishes that I hadn't seen before. They were maybe two inches in length,
torpedo shaped but mildly compressed, with three or more black lines
running the length of the fish. They were moving pretty fast and were
well aware of my presence so I couldn't get a very good look.
I've ordered a pair of dipnets (my first) from Aquatic Eco Systems that
should be in this week. My wife and I are going to head back there as
soon as we can and try to catch some of these fish. I'm also going to
order a field guide from the NFC web site so I can have some hope of
figuring out what it is that I'm looking at (and hopefully by that time,
catching as well).
--
"I would remind you that extremism in defense of liberty is no vice; and
I would remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no
virtue." - Barry Goldwater