Slimy sculpin 100th species, Roughfish Roundup

The milestone has been reached! While driving to Minnesota for the Roughfish Roundup, Don and I stopped by a trout stream southeast of La Crosse. Sampling reports showed high numbers of slimy sculpin, a species that I've been looking forward to finding for quite some time. And with no mottled sculpin present, any sculpin I caught would be a new lifer! You can imagine the excitement I felt when a big sculpin swam away when I lifted up a rock in the stream. In fact, there were sculpin under almost every rock. Don and I broke out the micro gear and caught several within a few minutes. Hook & line species #100! Unfortunately, we only have cell phone photos, so they will have to suffice.

Slimy Sculpin (Cottus cognatus) - new hook & line species #100




We also encountered some juvenile brook trout.  The strange shape of the first fish's throat and belly is due to distortion at the bottom of the acrylic box.  Sorry!

Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) -


Don and I continued on our way to southeast Minnesota to the Root River for the Roughfish Roundup. The roundup was a great time. Head over to roughfish.com to see the full report and the pictures shared by people who went. My camera was broken, so I had to rely on others to take photos. Thanks Don, Greenwood, and Corey!

Silver Redhorse (Moxostoma anisurum)


Shorthead Redhorse (Moxostoma macrolepidotum)


Northern Hogsucker (Hypentelium nigricans)


White Sucker (Catostomus comersoni)


Common Shiner (Luxilus cornutus)


Carmine Shiner (Notropis percobromus)


Stonecat (Noturus flavus) - new hook & line species #101


On the drive back on Sunday, I stopped by a few trout streams in Wisconsin. I caught a few brown trout in one, and a few rainbow trout in another. No pictures, but you'll have to believe me that they were colored up nicely. Hope you enjoyed the post!

Hook & line totals for the weekend:

5 slimy sculpin (new lifer)
19 silver redhorse
1 shorthead redhorse
1 golden redhorse (foul hooked in the cheek)
2 northern hogsucker
6 white sucker
5 stonecat (new lifer)
1 common shiner
8 carmine shiner
4 sand shiner (no photos)
2 brown trout (no photos)
2 rainbow trout (no photos)