Catching and keeping native fish

[@NativeFishKeepers]

The sunfish in the photo tank looks like a female Northern Sunfish. The first sucker type fish look like female Stonerollers. The second sucker is a Northern Hogsucker and can reach lengths of 24 inches.And what you called a Johnny darter is actually a Greenside Darter. Great video by the way. Looks like an area I visit here in Ohio.

[@CowTurtle]

Native Fish Keepers Thanks for the correct IDs I had no idea on the stonerollers. They're all doing well in a 100 gallon tub right now to be moved to a large goldfish pond next spring. The area was just south of Ohio.

[@NativeFishKeepers]

Your welcome,glad to hear they are all doing good. Beautiful place you get to collect at.

[@theflyingsandwich2586]

Can you tell me why darter fish flip so much and fast when I catch them Because regular minnows that I catch don't flip that fast and much

[@duanemorgan5831]

I started keeping native fish when I was ten back in the 50’s when people though you were crazy to do so. Really excited to see these new videos of young people getting into the collecting of native fish vs. aquarium purchased tropicals, etc. This is a great way to preserve our native species, which have been disappearing at an alarming rate over the years. One tip I would offer any future collectors is to purchase a rectangular shaped, black, fine mesh swimming pool leaf net when collecting from shallow streams. Attach a 6 to 8 ft piece of either PVC or aluminum pipe for a handle. Work down-stream by inserting the net in front of you and gently working it around on the bottom so it is fairly level and close enough to the bottom so the fish won’t slip under then net. Then gently nudge the rocks in front of you to dislodge the hiding darters. This method works much better than swiping at the fish and will not damage them. As your video shows, there is an amazing world out there and you never know what you might discover.

[@gregmeissner9960]

I know this was 6 years ago, but it's a great little video, thanks for posting. I think I had just about every one of those fish at some point when I was a kid. Since them I've kept many tropicals, salt water, I've bred wild-type Betta species, kept many reptiles and birds. Nothing was ever more satisfying than keeping native, local fish though. Despite their availability and simplicity, they are way less "mainstream" than the other things.

[@krankenheim13]

Please try to spawn any candy darters you may catch. They're actually endangered and you probably shouldn't be catching them but since you are, at the very least, try to spawn them.

[@gtd360]

You know the biggest tool fish and game uses to catch poachers is social media right.

[@juicygaming1400]

@@gtd360 not 8 years ago

[@neilhayes4054]

Sir, I love such videos. Where you catch wild fishes and tell us about them. I’m subscribing rn hope you make more videos like these. God bless you ❤️

[@rustybricks2950]

I was doing this for years before I went to college and couldn't maintain a tank year round. Keeping the stuff that lives next door to you is the best as long as you can keep the water clean enough, cold enough etc. Can't wait to build another tank once I've graduated!

[@BeautifuLakesStreamsBiologists]

Thanks for promoting native species! People will be so surprised how much more interesting they are than carp.

[@TomBartram-b1c]

Blimey, you did well! I spend hours combing the grassy overhangs in my local river, the Rumney, UK, and come away with sticklebacks, sticklebacks and st.…….. you've guessed it!

[@AK_6.66]

Only thing I get in my creek is creek chubs salamander larvae dragonfly larvae, but the dragonfly larvae are good creek chub food

[@WE_WUZ]

4 years ago a friend and I rescued a bunch of fish from a drying pond and transferred them to a bigger one. My friend kept a baby largemouth. A month later he called me and said he was going to flush it down the toilet because it killed all of his other fish. I kept it and named it 'Bob'. 4 years later and Bob is a murderous psychopath that will kill/eat anything else in the tank. But I can put my hand in the tank and pet his nose. Bob is good.

[@SteraFaux]

0:24 "OOOOH BUTTERFLY!"

[@fleendarthemagnificent7372]

I keep rainbows, bandeds and Johnny darters in my tank and without power heads and I have done so for years with great success. Darters need good aeration, but not necessarily "flowing" water. They need good oxygenation, but not necessarily river water type currents. If you can provide them with these things, great, but the short of it is that darters can be kept in a large enough tank that gives them room, cover and protection from predators. I keep darters in my tank WITH crayfish without any issues. However, you MUST feed them enough blood worms to sate the crays. Darters are benthic fish without swim bladders and stay on the bottom as do crays. As a member of NANFA, PLEASE research the fish you want to keep, find out if they're protected or endangered, learn about their needs for care, get permission to collect them, and if you're uncertain of the species, turn them loose! We never want to intentionally or unintentionally harm or endanger our wildlife. Blessings!🙏 Enjoy and respect the beautiful world God gave us!

[@cdesfusa]

Cool video. I caught a crayfish in Lake Michigan and he's/she's doing great after two weeks in my native tank, with minnows

[@peterpzazz2441]

Your Johnny darter is really a green-side darter. They need some snails in their diet to thrive.

[@RobHorror240]

I've been thinking of doing this same thing. I did it once, but it didn't work out. But sometime I will do it again.

[@tylerbryan7873]

I have been really into the rainbow darter lately and wanted to catch and keep them myself but everywhere near me seems a bit far it’s strange more ppl aren’t doing it the fish is really interesting almost like a fresh water goby

[@bryceakright3181]

Those striped suckers get huge, I’ve seen them get like a foot long

[@Verticalground100]

Hey nice video. Reminds me of me and my friends going out to the river. We can never stop flipping rocks and netting things.

[@daquariums535]

Cool. The darters are very pretty

[@flashy5150]

We have lots of Darters in Northern Ontario,Canada. They like to live near the docks in lakes. Wherever you catch Perch, Darters are usually there in about 3ft or less water. You can catch them with a minnow trap and some bread, or a dip net. The first time I saw them, I didn't know what they were, but a very cool looking fish. I like the Payara at the end.

[@minemasterteam1149]

Lel, but here in Ontario the rule and regulations are kinds not strict. You can catch and keep/move them if you consider them as bait fish, but really no one cares.

[@McChimkin123]

Fun fact: Darters ARE a species of perch (a tiny one, but still one)

[@marshalthompson8192]

Keep the net in the water before you strike, scares them a bit less

[@aureliusva]

North American native fish are by far my favorite to keep. I prefer the smaller sunfish you find in swamps and bog and small forest ponds. Cool vid, thanks for sharing.

[@kinnikuzero]

This is nice. Not much people do this, or at least on youtube.

[@voiceboxglock]

Haha, I use to go after new born catfish the same way. Only problem you have is, the rocks tend to cut your net where it wraps around the aluminum ring. Had to carry a few small zip strips with me just to make quick repairs till I could get back home and mend it with spiderwire.

[@TheRowdyRudy]

i lacrosse goalie would be immaculate at this stuff lmaooo

[@overtinker93]

I like your adventure but seriously bro your fishing method is brute haha.

[@TheFishingNomad]

More videos like this please. It was a good one.

[@RoGuExPaNcAkE]

They’re awesome. I caught 3 today with a net. blue n orange. Plan on doing a tank that has Indiana species.

[@leyenda6149]

I just got farm-raised juvenile rainbow darters (about 2" long). My research says to feed them freeze-dried bloodworms, but I'm not convinced that is the best choice. Any suggestions you can give would be great! Thank you!

[@forrealfifavids7144]

Frozen blood works, frozen brine shrimp, I’ve gotten mine to eat flakes but it’s not very nutritious for them I think

[@fleendarthemagnificent7372]

Frozen, raw blood worms, NOT the frozen dehydrated ones. My darters LOVE the frozen fresh blood worms!

[@airsoftdeath]

Try trapping instead, a simple 2 liter cut in half and the top flipped to create an inward funnel with a rock to weigh it down and some smelly grub to attract em

[@blackhawksfan2390]

you should try to get a school of small mouth bass just like 2-3 it will add more aggression. You can then also add crawfish and hellgramites.

[@AdamLH96]

Imagine my surprise Im searching info on keeping Rainbow Darters, find this vid and realize it was posted by the Eel Pit Guy 😅

[@kevinpitts1252]

I've caught and kept rainbow darters and mottled sculpins in my area. I would just use a seining(sp) net to tap a bunch of fish at one time, take the few out that I wanted to keep and release the rest. Caught a needle nose gar a cpl times. I really liked the sculpins! Ppl r saying go to a fish store in these comments... Do they not realize most fish stores don't stock native fish... at least mine doesn't... If u want native fish, u have to catch them. Just b respectful and don't injure the fish or take too many.

[@markusez8403]

I have a question and need help. I will travel to Florida next week and I just bought a auto feeder for my fish. I got 2 darters and I really like them. I usually give them bloodworm and they don’t eat the other dry food that I give my other fish. Can u pls Tell me a dry food that the darters would eat? Thank you

[@CowTurtle]

Purple Haze your best bet is probably freeze dried blood worms or brine shrimp the problem is it will float. I’d start now on trying to switch them over to it.

[@markusez8403]

Cow Turtle thank you!

[@Random_Things1001]

What river is this? I live just north of Cincinnati

[@adamseagroves6685]

I think the darter on the bottom at 3:46 is a channel darter. I've accidentally netted them before, when I was trying to scoop minnows for bait.

[@Hosemastenbrook]

Oh my God! I saw one of those in the river and I almost had him! I had the same idea in mind. "Imma put that fucker in my fishtank!" Thought it was some kind of mutant fish that no one had ever seen before. Good to know I'll likely get another chance to capture one, but on the other hand, too bad it wasn't a one of a kind thing on which I had an inside track.

[@salvolondon]

Are They cold water fish ?

[@upsidediy3945]

hahah I just caught me a youtuber.nice video . for the pond build

[@antonioirizarry4582]

What's the clear aquarium u have then in while u caught em?

[@CowTurtle]

Antonio Irizarry Just a small plastic container I had laying around I'm not sure.

[@antonioirizarry4582]

Okay thanks

[@SCYTHE2525]

There's some Alabama hogsuckers near me. Considered catching some for aquarium because I think they are rather pretty for a wild fish. However, you say you can't successfully keep them so maybe you saved me the trouble.

[@Raikon316]

I caught Rainbow Darters and few different Minnows in Minnow Traps from small stream at near friend's house. I will keep Rainbow Darters later and I'm starting to clean my 30 gal. tank. I only need to know their behavior in the setup tank and you know decor Rocks, Woods and Sand bottom. Also I might add live plants and hopefully grow algae on Rocks. Tough to know which Rocks is better with growing Algae for other small fishes to eat it.

[@CowTurtle]

+Raikon316 Mine were always peaceful, they were fairly active also jumping and hovering from rock to rock.

[@theygowhootnnn5807]

Cow Turtle did you manage to breed yours? I'd love some of these don't think they have em here in the north.

[@peterkinasz6693]

Rainbow darters need a current in the tank from a powerhead or a hang on filter. you'll need to feed them live or frozen foods as they wont eat dry or flaked foods. To breed them they need to go thru a winter chill period and be fed quality live or frozen foods in order to develope their eggs/sperm. As the water warms they will start to breed. The female will dive into the gravel and deposit her eggs while the male releases his sperm at the same time. Siphon rhe eggs into a small aerated tank and treat the eggs with methylene blue to prevent fungus. After the fry absorb their yolk sacs have some pond water available containing infusoria. As they grow feed them live baby brine shrimp. They only eat live foods at this time. Good Luck!

[@edwinkeith9223]

Awesome from where did you get this

[@RoGuExPaNcAkE]

I learned that if you slowly put the net in front of the fish and slowly put your hand in front of em and they’ll swim into the net

[@stevehogan8829]

cracks me up every time I see someone doing this... Stop netting from the top down. Net from the bottom up always from the bottom up.

[@madras8766]

Isn't he catching bottom dwelling fish ..

[@bigslimm7]

Those were aiming the gush I use to too. They're fast tho. It usually works better with 2 nets

[@Bsprecksfishing]

Such an awesome channel!!!!

[@plebny]

Cool video, nice job. Thanks for sharing. Native tank is the kind of tank I would like to have. I didn't know there was a name for it.

[@BeautifuLakesStreamsBiologists]

Two thoughts, if you love color then a chiller is worth the investment to keep trout. The best thing to do with a gold fish pond is introduce big bass, especially stripers. Problem solved ;)

[@fum7175]

I just realized that this guy doesn't have like 100k subs

[@os7692]

Is this all shot with a GoPro?

[@CowTurtle]

Most of it isn't just the first person view and underwater parts.

[@theoutdoorshow5255]

I have rainbow darters in my creek

[@colin9786]

Those minnow-like suckers look alot like golden shiners except without the tarpon looking face. I've tried to keep big goldies, they are a hardy fish but won't eat for too long after they get tanked.

[@IndraJayaGroup]

Cool dude 👌 i love keeping native fish too 😂 i hit the subscribe button 👍

[@jamarionlewis2016]

That's awesome me to

[@bipolaraquatics]

nice video brother

[@alyssawilliams7642]

I have a small creek where alllll the kids in the neighborhood go fishing at and it gets deep in places and shallow but we catch alllll sorts of fish including trout and bass

[@DerekSallmann]

At 6:00. That's a Northern Hogsucker.

[@isabellejones9487]

Hi, I am back, and I just bought a 100 gallon tank, I live in the UK, I don't know if you do but can you get these fishes in the UK in some sort of River, Pond ETC? Thanks.

[@CowTurtle]

The only ones I know are available in Europe are green sunfish. Other than that I'm not sure.

[@shrimpbynightbythomas8212]

Do you have candy darter?

[@german_shepherd_dog9169]

I'm thinking about getting a greenside darter. Do you know what kind of food it eats, the water temperature, and if I can have just one in a tank?

[@CowTurtle]

They take to frozen bloodworms or brine shrimp pretty quickly, they'll do fine individually and at room temperature.

[@german_shepherd_dog9169]

What is the smallest tank size? Thanks a bunch!

[@CowTurtle]

One would be alright in a 10 gallon but a 20 long would be better.

[@german_shepherd_dog9169]

Alright. Thank you for your help!

[@madras8766]

Where do I get the net ?

[@nuttybar9]

How deep is the water you look for them in?

[@CowTurtle]

Usually less than a foot deep probably around 6in deep.

[@theflyingsandwich2586]

Can you tell me why darter fish flip so much and fast when I catch them Because regular minnows that I catch don't flip that fast and much

[@CowTurtle]

No reason for it they're just quick and freak out a lot at first.

[@theflyingsandwich2586]

oh

[@Svue071]

What are those eel like fish at 8:37?

[@CowTurtle]

A group of dojo loaches.

[@Nick-cx9iv]

I have 4 pumpkinseed sunfish biggest being about 6inches and I keep them with what I believe to be a logperch darter which is about 6inch as well and they get along just fine

[@sulaiman2375]

how do u only have 1k sub's? great vid by the way.

[@ericvue4508]

What type of minnow is at 3:13? Anyone know what it is?

[@markusez8403]

What Is the real Name of the Rainbow daughter because i also have those

[@misconceptions5613]

ive caught a bunch of rusty crayfish and never knew what they were. i only reconized them, bc of the orange tip. feeding to my yellow perch

[@southrootedoutsideoutdoors2052]

Nice 👍 new to your channel

[@kody_dryden-conway]

nice catches I'd like to go out and do this someday

[@matthewtrn5328]

where exactly are you to be catching these guys? thanks

[@CowTurtle]

+matthew trn Pretty much anywhere in the Eastern US should have the more common species. Look for streams off of small rivers. Rainbow darters can be found from Wisconsin all the way down to Mississippi.

[@sonyafaken4348]

The sucker you could not keep alive is a northern hognose. I have seen one over a foot long!

[@markcilia97]

what state are you in and so what part?

[@CowTurtle]

+mark cilia Just south of Cincinnati in Kentucky.

[@BlitzTheEqualizer]

0:25 OOH SHINY OBJECT

[@AK_6.66]

Have you ever tried a gee's minnow trap ?

[@liuyusi125]

Hey man~ nice video. Enjoyed it a lot! Which part of country you are in? You in US.?

[@CowTurtle]

Eastern US specifically Kentucky.

[@liuyusi125]

Cow Turtle Anazing how many fish in the water and the variety of fish!

[@PatriotCoinRings]

Looks like you were in Florida waters?

[@CowTurtle]

Michael D. Baker Nope just in Kentucky.

[@PatriotCoinRings]

Very nice.

[@kyles5960]

Very interesting video

[@erixsjimenez1506]

Hi, I need to get a photo tank like yours, you could help me by telling me where they sell it or where you bought it. please

[@CowTurtle]

Erixs Jiménez I'm not sure I just got it from a reptile show with a tarantula in it.

[@BodmonBullet]

Pretty cool, not going to lie

[@lovefishkeeping]

nice and interesting. thanks for sharing

[@peterniknar2540]

were is this

[@CowTurtle]

Kentucky

[@BFP2021]

what is the tank setup at the end of this video?

[@CowTurtle]

My fish tub it's just a big tub.

[@BFP2021]

Cow Turtle is that a temp holding tank for your fish? It looked huge with parts of it having dried wood and rocks.

[@CowTurtle]

perfecttrunks2000 Not really temporary I've kept a lot of different fish in there.

[@kr7kr]

At the end of the video: looked like some sort of orange African cichlid, yeah? What on earth was that last fish, the one that snatched the minnow? Looked like some sort of exotic but couldn't identify. It wasn't US native, was it?

[@CowTurtle]

kr7kr Yep the cichlid was an orange zebra and the other fish is a payara, Hydrolycus scomberoides.

[@kr7kr]

Kewl - thanks for the reply!

[@superdave54811]

1942!

[@nuttybar9]

What state did you catch them in?

[@CowTurtle]

+robert justus Just South of Ohio in Kentucky.

[@FostaFunk]

Which state do you live in?

[@CowTurtle]

Kentucky

[@m.mariusmassett4425]

great video!

[@tuluswj199]

nice caught. i fell nostalgia, in my caountry call "sili fish"

[@christophercridlebaugh8965]

Can these colorful fish still be found in ohio???

[@CowTurtle]

Everywhere in the state!

[@aaronarmstrongaa]

Did you count how many fish you slashed in half? Geebus!

[@mrmojorisin9729]

Aaron Armstrong oh they move you wont hit one

[@jerryjunoirmint]

ohh brother stfu

[@sledge760]

Nice video.

[@skyguy4164]

what kind of net is that

[@CowTurtle]

Not sure exactly any decent size dip net will work.

[@skyguy4164]

ok thanks

[@evanschricker6743]

Cow Turtle where is this

[@stevebreese2153]

Here do you get a net like that

[@CowTurtle]

Steve Breese Most outdoor fishing/camping stores will sell them.

[@chickenrick8503]

I love how the camera is way back there and he is just swiping at the what

[@nuttybar9]

Why didn't you keep the crayfish ...they make nice pets.

[@CowTurtle]

+robert justus I've kept them before and didn't have a tank to spare at the time.

[@sjb2202]

They also make nice food for my datnoid :D

[@nuttybar9]

What's a datnoid?

[@sjb2202]

Datnoids are a breed of carnivorous fish. They are more commonly known as Indonesian tiger fish. They will eat anything they can fit there mouth around.

[@sulaiman2375]

SJB 😂

[@WildFishAquarium]

Good job! Where is ?

[@CowTurtle]

WildFishAquarium Kentucky

[@WildFishAquarium]

Cow Turtle :)

[@SleepyGH22A]

i spotted a hog sucker at night in moving water that was 12 inches plus.

[@mikepellerin4611]

Throw chunks of white bread Fish find it irresistible.

[@JZiELLEV]

How I wish I could buy 2 males and 3 females of the first ones you showed that look like gobies. Please let me know if you sell them.

[@ashishtiru1294]

nice i would do that but in india in yamuna river there is only big catfishes lol