streamerguy,

I was pretty sure that they were creek chubs. However, you may be correct. Now I am a bit confused of the difference between creek chubs and striped shiners - not that we really need to get into an in depth discussion about it but I do take an interest in being able to correctly identify a species of fish - even if it is a non-game fish .... always trying to learn something.

How about the horny headed ones, those are interesting.

^lol now we're really getting complicated. I'm not a biologist or anything, but do like catching many different species and love knowing what I caught, even if I have to do a little research when I get home from my trips. So many species, so much to learn. Anywho, here it goes.

Striped shiner- pretty much your second pic. That one is a pretty good sized one and it's in full spawning mode. Most are just silver and a little smaller. http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Home/speci ... r/tabid/6773/Default.aspx

Creek chubs- compared to striped shiners, they look more like fall fish. Where I fish, striped shiners are actually more common, but in some of the real small streams creek chubs are present. http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Home/speci ... b/tabid/6599/Default.aspx

River chub- can get bigger than creek chubs and are more silver. Scales seem bigger too. The males can get a pretty big head. They're actually pretty good fighters http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Home/speci ... /tabid/22148/Default.aspx

Hornyhead chub- smaller than river and creek chubs but they're similar. The mouth is more towards the bottom of the head. I've only caught a few of these. http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Home/speci ... /tabid/22147/Default.aspx

All three of those chub species, as well as striped shiners even, can get those "horns" on their heads.

I don't know much about fallfish, they aren't around where I fish.

I think it is time to post Sasquatch's favorite picture.

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both look like a meal for a big brownie

^Yep. I've actually used creek chubs for pike before and they work.


Here's a creek chub I caught today....

And the fish in Sandfly's thread is a good example of a striped shiner in spawning colors. Also got a couple of those today.

Streamerguy,

Thanks for posting up those links. That is very good information. I definitely picked up some solid ID features on those minnow and shiner species. However, there is still some crossover of things that makes it a bit confusing to be sure all of the time. Thanks again.

No problem. It definitely can get confusing sometimes, especially once you start adding other species of minnows such as spotfin shiners, stonerollers, emeralds, different dace(which are usually tiny), etc. Even though they're not "gamefish" I still like learning about them.

Thanks streamer guy. Those links were really helpful. I think I'll just admit that I don't know all my minnows. Lol. But I think I can generally tell the difference between a chub, a shiner, and a fall fish at this point. Also that one link answered another question I had about horns heads on the minnows I catch.

If you are not sure, just call them baitfish. Problem solved.