Fish #17 Common Shiner

A fishing trip to the Lamprey River in Epping bagged us Fish number 17 in the quest; the Common Shiner (Notropis cornutu).


We found a school of these fish in beautiful spawning colors parked behind a riffle with large cobblestone bottom.   They were in about two feet of water. We used a small icefishing jig tipped with a red worm.  As soon as the lure hit the water, they were on it.

Dave ate a common shiner when he was in Indiana and remembered that it did not taste very good. He also is a bad fish chef. We froze these for later preparation. We are thinking about smoking them.


These fish were really nice looking and reminded us of fancy aquarium fish you would by in a pet store. 

ASIDE:
We actually targeted the Lamprey River for common shiners. We found a study online that reported the relative abundance of fish species at several different stations. This information was made available because the Lamprey River is part of the NH Designated Rivers Program and thus gets extra protection of encroachment by development.  In our opinion, every angler and lover of wild river things should applaud the work of NHDES and volunteer groups like the Lamprey River Watershed Association or the Lamprey River Advisory Committee. We don't volunteer our time, but we appreciate their work.