Pond Boss Forums FISH & FISHING Fly Fishing & Other Fish Species Keeping me up at night.....

I'm in central Alabama and have a one room living area that joins my boathouse on a private lake. The lake was formed by damming a creek some 12 years ago. It's a nice get away and I go down once a week to relax and fish. Last night was a rough night. It seems the Creekchub Suckers have invaded my shallows inside the boathouse and are proceeding to slash the water to a froth. They are especially loud at night to the extent that they woke me up several times. I only wish my sex drive was as strong as theirs!

Enjoy your Spring and good fishing.

My biggest fear is dying and my wife selling all of my fishing tackle for what I told her I paid for it.

It is that time of year for fish. LMB males are making nests now (redbuds in bloom as per Bill Dance).

Not up here it isn't! It was 12 F. this morning and a pond I was planning to seine and completely drain is frozen back over for at least the 12th time. We are stuck in a weather pattern due to a Greenland blocking High pressure system until at least into the first week of April. Here's an interesting example of what is going on by Tom Skillis a meteorologist for WGN weather:

Chicago’s frigid spring open the coldest in 48 years; Wednesday’s 25-degree high comes in 60-degrees below last year’s record-breaking 85

Not since 1965 has the first day of astronomical spring in Chicago been any colder. The official Wednesday O'Hare high of 25-degrees was not only the chilliest peak daytime reading here in a month, it was colder than any "normal high" at any point of the year---including those in January, the city’s coldest month. The reading was 23-degrees below the March 20th normal of 48 and 60-degrees colder than the high of 85 on the same date one year ago.

March's first 20 days an eye-catching 23+-degrees behind same period a year ago

The first 20 days of March are now running 23.7-degrees behind the same period a year ago---a stunning change. 34 of the past 48 days---71 percent of them--have posted temperature deficits, quite a turnaround for a cold season which started comparatively mild and with record-low levels of snowfall!

Huge pool of abnormal warmth aloft draped across the arctic sets up the latest "Greenland blocking pattern", propelling chill southward into the Lower 48


The unseasonably chilly pattern which has descended on Chicago and the Midwest is being driven by a new round of atmospheric blocking in the arctic. The so-called Greenland block has returned and is predicted by global forecast models to dominate the closing weeks of March and spill over into early April, suggesting the below normal temperature regime in place since February, won't be leaving soon. The strengthening March sun may contribute to modest temperature increases from time to time, but prolonged warming isn’t yet in sight.


Blocking patterns in the arctic, like the one now in place, occur when vast pools of warmer than normal air take up residence aloft. As the planet 's arctic regions have warmed, these blocking patterns have occurred with increasing frequency and with a variety of impacts felt to the south in the mid-latitudes.

Climate researchers point to the growing volatility of mid-latitude weather as examples of the sorts of changes which may be expected to become more frequent in years and decades to come as additional warming takes place.

The vast reservoir of warmer than normal air aloft, which currently covers much of the arctic, extends from northern Russia across the North Pole and into Northeast Canada. Such pools of warmer than normal air act to dislodge the frigid air indigenous to the arctic, sending the chill cascading southward into portions of the Lower 48.


The southward flood of colder air is, in the current situation, being fostered by a northern U.S. snowpack which covers twice the real estate that it did at this time last year, running from the Rockies across the northern Plains and Upper Midwest.


One of the seemingly counterintuitive weather developments which has resulted from the current Greenland block is that, even as Chicagoans and Midwesterners shiver through abnormally frigid temperatures, readings observed far to the north in coastal areas of Baffin Island and Labrador province in northeastern Canada as well as on much of Greenland's coastline are actually running warmer than those observed in the Windy City.

They're still tapping trees here for Maple Syrup. My pond froze over again last night, and we had about 1" of lake effect snow.

I did pick up 4 gallons of syrup from my supplier the other day.

sounds like an opertunity to source some chubsukers if you had a desire to stock some place....

Esshup do you drink that syrup, 4 gallons would last me 10 years.. Also been cold and nasty here too.. Looks like early garden won't be like last year

No, I might only use 1/2 gallon a year myself. I use some on my oatmeal in the morning. It seems every year I get asked "Can you get me some?" and I have to pre-order it for the following year. I get it from an Amish family, and unless you get "in" with the correct people, you can't buy from them. They don't sell to the public, and I think I'm the only "englishman" that purchases from them. I have some Amish friends, and one of them put in a good word for me. It's almost like a secret society - buying syrup from them. First time I went there, I got this real funny look and "Have you bought from us before?" "No, but "X" said I should come and talk to you about putting in an order for next year. Oh, and by the way, this is for you to snack on while you're cooking the syrup. (I was talking to them in the sugar shack at the time)"

"Oh, if he said to come here, then O.K. Come back again next year at this time and we'll have some for you."

I don't know for sure, but I think it helps that I bring a couple packages of venison snack sticks and a couple pounds of venison summer sausage to them when I pick up the syrup. I had a package of each in my hands when I went to talk to them the first time.

Last year I had only ordered 2 gallons. My Mom & Dad wanted some, so I gave some to them. I ordered 3 gallons for this year, but since it was a good year for them I asked if they had another gallon that they would sell. Lucky that I did, for a friend of my parents just called them and wants a gallon. All they had last year was a pint that Mom gave them.

A friend of mine has a standing order of a gallon a year, and another friend that I have said that they'd take a gallon.

I've seen prices in local stores between $15 and $20/pint, so $47/gallon is a deal.

I have some Mennonite friends down here that tap on a large scale, and they invited me over to witness their operation. I was flattered at the invite and jumped at the chance to help out. I was the only English there, but they did their best to make me feel at home.

Learned a lot too....next year I hope to expand my own production, just to have enough to give everybody who wants some!

I am still laughing over your tag line!

I wonder what type of fish creek chubsuckers are in Alabama? Any photos of these fish?

You can google creek chubsuckers and see a couple of pics. However these fish are lit up with a pinkish color that you would not see on the google pics.

kingfish. Have you ever tried fishing for them with a small hook and small pieces of worm. Maybe even chum them with small chopped worm pieces where they are spawning? Then you could get a couple good pictures of them?

Kingfish, I am not doubting you have creek chubsuckers, but what people in Alabama call creek chubsuckers could be very different than what I call a creek chubsucker. Different regions have different names for the same fish many times.

Creek chubsuckers as I know them do not spawn in the manner you mention. They will migrate up streams to spawn, but I have never known them to splash so wildly. But then again, I have never lived near a creek chubsucker spawning site...

Are the fish in this video the same as the ones you speak of?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKYjWlZs2Ag

I will be down at the lake this Friday and if they are still there will try and net or catch one for photo. I used Audubon Fish field guide to try and ID the suckers. Now you guys have got me very interested.

Here are the Creek Chub or the Dixie Chub in Alabama.
http://www.outdooralabama.com/fishing/freshwater/fish/other/minnow/chub/creek/

http://www.outdooralabama.com/fishing/freshwater/fish/other/minnow/chub/dixie/

Kingfish the Creek Chub does have pinkish color and definantly may been the fish you seen.

Definitely "Tis the season"...FINALLY!....making my fisrt private stocking run of the spring through the heartland in early April...hopefully ther will be some add-ons to it.

Thanks for the photos Tums. Can't be the Dixie Chub because some of these fish are 16". That kind of length almost rules out the Creekchub as well. Maybe they got so big because they have lived in a lake environment instead of a creek. Hopefully they will still be in the boathouse Friday so I can catch and photograph one, if not we wait until next year.

PS I forgot to mention that there are tons of CNBG mixed in with them, apparently they are interested in eating the eggs as the Suckers drop them.

Creek chubsuckers only get to 8", Creek Chubs can reach 12", but the mouth is completely different than a suckers mouth.

If they are creek chubs they are very easy to catch with a small hook baited with worm.

Went to lake on Friday and they have left. Stay tuned, I will be back with hopefully a photo or two next year to help and id these boys.

If I am lucky, I'll still be here to give IDing them a shot!