Pond Boss Forums FISH & FISHING Fly Fishing & Other Fish Species Minnow (?) ID Requested

Earlier today, I went to my favorite place to catch creek chubs for use as catfish bait.

I threw my minnow trap in the usual hole, baited at usual. I returned about 30 minutes later.

As usual, my minnow trap was alive with little fish when I got back. For a number of years, this hole has mostly provided 3-5 inch creek chubs, with occasional small green sunfish.

It is a small coldwater spring-fed mountain creek near where I live. It supports native brook trout throughout the year, and it is stocked with rainbow and brown trout from October through early May.

Today, when I pulled up my minnow trap I found fish I couldn't identify. I looked through all my thick "Fishes of ..." textbooks, but still couldn't identify these things.

Anybody know what these are? I've got about 15 of them, along with only four creek chubs.





I just hope I'm not using some kind of endangered species for catfish bait!

Thanks,
Ken

Good photos Ken, that's a beautiful fish. I'll bet Cody or Travis will have some ideas...I have zero clue.

We need to get Travis involved and he will know. For starters, it is a species of dace, very likely a blacknose dace. There are a fair number of dace species and I am not familiar with all the possibilities in WVA.

Bill -- thanks. Just confirming that they are dace is really enough. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't using some kind of endangered species for bait.

Good job Bill, they are the eastern subspecies of the blacknose dace. The western and eastern subspecies have fairly distinct orange coloration. They max out at about 3" in size. The females do not have that pretty orange coloration that the males do.

Blacknose dace are very common in tiny and small streams but become less common in streams larger than that. They are often found in streams with brook trout and brown trout but can tolerate much warmer water. They generally aren't found in streams that are big enough to support SMB or other game fish. Surprisingly they are fairly tolerant of low DO, most likely because they are sometimes found in seasonally dry streams where flow may stop. So they are adapted to living in the stagnant deeper holes of these streams during the dry months. However, they spawn in the spring and need moving water to be successful. This is usually early April here in VA and if you go to a stream where they are found, you can see them by hundreds in shallow riffle areas spawning and you will see the many males and their bright orange fins flashing about guarding their little section of the riffle.

A closely related species is the longnose dace, which gets up to 6" and doesn't have the bright orange coloration down the side and in the pectoral fins like the males of the blacknose dace do. They are more commonly found in slightly larger streams and are often found with SMB. Both species make easy to care for and interesting aquarium inhabitants. Using a powerhead to create current will allow them to show of their fast water maneuvering talents.

Ken, just saw your post. They are probably the second most common species of minnow found in WV behind bluntnose minnows. So feel free to use them for bait. They are excellent bait for trout and SMB in my experience. They aren't quite as hardy in a bait bucket as FHM, but darn near close. I have caught many trout using them for bait.

Travis -- thanks. I did get a catfish on one last night.

So far they are holding well in a minnow bucket tied to the end of my dock. I still prefer creek chubs for catfish. I just need to figure out where they went, and why they were mostly replaced with these dace.

Not uncommon to find them in the same creek. Seems creek chubs tend to be a bit more common in the larger creeks though. Maybe search for a slight larger creek to target them in?

It's a dime.

I wish I knew how to catch a lot more of them in my minnow trap.