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| Smallmouth Flounder |
If you know me then you know that I love being in nature and it is not just birds that gets me excited. I did a blog post (July 2022) about the reptiles and amphibians I had been chasing. While I have spent a good deal of time looking for snakes again this year, I haven't taken any adventures looking for "lifers". Besides seeing birds, fishing, and looking for snakes I've been spending a lot of time trying to catch small fish with a seine.
A seine is a long net that you drag along the bottom of either a lake, stream, or the ocean. The object is too catch small animals for closer inspection. I've been using a 20 foot seine. While they make much bigger, the twenty footer is perfect for me and I can maneuver it easily with another person or I can make small circles by attaching one end to a tree in the water.
I've been a fisherman all of my life so I know most of the "gamefish" in New England in both freshwater and salt. I know much of the predominant bait that those fish eat. However, I have to admit there are a lot of minnows and small fish I had never heard of.
One thing I learned quickly, unlike birding, I really am at the mercy of another person to help. In ponds, I can leave one end in a tree at the waters edge and work a small piece of the shoreline. To be effective in saltwater and any large stretch of shoreline, I need help. So I want to thank Allison O'Conner and Louise Ruggeri for being regulars and always willing to help. Also, Sue Palmer, Dick and Marge Bradley, and Jan St. Jean went with me once or twice. As I said, I need help, so much appreciated.
An interesting fact is that during the warmer months tropical fish get caught up in the Gulf Stream from Florida and the Caribbean and end up here. These juveniles are too weak to fight the current and can get dragged up the coast and end up in our salt ponds and coves. I am not an expert so every new fish is a learning experience. Usually I have to ask experts what they are.
Below are some photos I have taken of fish I have caught seining this year. Enjoy
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| Crevalle Jack |
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| Menhaden |
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| I'd say this is the prize of the summer... Striped Seahorse |
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| Needlefish |
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| My friend Carlos found these guys in Ninigret Pond so we caught them. They are Short Bigeyes. The adults live at 600 feet on the Continental Shelf |
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| One of the freshwater fish I caught. Common Shiner |
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| This is the smallest Bluefish I've ever seen. It was only an inch long |
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| My favorite freshwater catch. An Eastern Chubsucker and a lifer |
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| The front fish is a Swamp Darter |
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| Sheepshead Minnow |
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| Needlefish |
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| Beautiful Banded Killifish |
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| I worked all summer to catch this guy, a Banded Sunfish |
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| One of my favorite tropical fish I've held Pompano |
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| This little fella is a very small Permit |