Microfishing in Champaign County

I'll keep this short with mostly pictures. I fished two spots in Champaign County on Friday. The first was the Copper Slough, which later becomes the Kaskaskia River. It's not much more than a field drainage ditch, but it's spring fed so it has a small but steady flow of water year round.

Bluntnose Minnow male (Pimephales notatus)

Tadpole Madtom (Noturus gyrinus)


Sand Shiner (Notropis stramineus) - new hook & line species #57






Yellow Bullhead (Ameiurus natalis)

Central Longear Sunfish (Lepomis megalotis megalotis)


Green Sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus)


My second location was a tributary of the Salt Fork Creek. This was my first time using microfishing gear in this location, so I was looking forward to sampling from a different demographic than I normally do in this area.

Spotfin Shiner (Cyprinella spiloptera)


Striped Shiner (Luxilus chrysocephalus)


Redfin Shiner male (Lythrurus umbratilis) - new hook & line species #58


Central Longear Sunfish (Lepomis megalotis megalotis)

Hornyhead Chub male (Nocomis biguttatus) - new hook & line species #59

Creek Chub female (Semotilus atromaculatus)


Sand Shiner (Notropis stramineus)

Carmine Shiner (Notropis percobromus) - new hook & line species #60




Central Greenside Darter (Etheostoma blennioides pholidotum)


I spent over 2 hours trying to catch a greenside darter hook & line with no success. Had 3 good bites where I saw the bit of worm disappear into the darter's mouth, but wasn't able to set the hook. I think I need to look into the Tanago hooks that so many people are recommending. I really enjoy microfishing, but I'm starting to feel limited by these #20 hooks. Darters, topminnows, and silversides have all been very difficult to catch with them.