# Native fish of the GMR, LMR and WWR



## QueticoMike (Sep 25, 2008)

With all these questions about whether fish are native to the GMR or not I thought I would post a link to a study and chart showing the native species of each of these three rivers. Enjoy.........

http://studentresearch.wcp.muohio.edu/april01/fish_sp_miami_basin.pdf


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## oldstinkyguy (Mar 28, 2010)

Very interesting link. Thanks.I did notice that the chart lists paddlefish as absent from the GMR and LMR in recent times. But I've seen photos on here of one caught in the GMR and I caught one below the dam at Caesar Creek that must have come from the LMR. I noticed too it lists a carp/goldfish hybrid so maybe goldzilla wasn't a one off. Another cool thing was the American eel listed for the LMR. Has anyone ever caught or seen one?


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## nitsud (May 22, 2010)

Thanks for the link, Mike! Good stuff for lunchtime reading.


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## kingofamberley (Jul 11, 2012)

This is a sweet link. Maybe I'm just reading this chart wrong though, but none of the fish appear to be listed with the "N" designation for non-native (which things like brown trout and carp definitely are).
Could you imagine hooking up with a huge sturgeon in the GMR? That would be crazy.


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## 9Left (Jun 23, 2012)

...pretty informative article...good stuff in there


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## chrsvic (Apr 20, 2005)

"The upper Great Miami River demonstrated significant improvements in
aquatic community performance4 and water quality in 1994 compared to surveys in 1982 (Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, 1996)"

I concur! Upper GMR seems much improved since the 80's.


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## Dandrews (Oct 10, 2010)

Very cool!



oldstinkyguy said:


> Another cool thing was the American eel listed for the LMR. Has anyone ever caught or seen one?


I caught and American Eel out of Four Mile Creek near Hamilton, I don&#8217;t remember exactly when but it was before 1981 (when I started driving). A year or two before that I saw one caught at the old dam, there was no &#8220;new&#8221; dam at the time. I released the one that I caught but the one I saw caught in the GMR wasn't so lucky. The guy freaked out, whipped out his knife and cut it to pieces.


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## deltaoscar (Apr 4, 2009)

Nice list, thanks Mike.



Dandrews said:


> The guy freaked out, whipped out his knife and cut it to pieces.


I guess that's one reason they are no longer on the GMR list. Too bad; although the way you wrote it made me chuckle.


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## Dizzy (Oct 1, 2012)

I thought the same thing. I would have liked to see the guy freaking out, too bad the eel got hacked up.


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## Dandrews (Oct 10, 2010)

deltaoscar said:


> Nice list, thanks Mike.
> 
> 
> 
> I guess that's one reason they are no longer on the GMR list. Too bad; although the way you wrote it made me chuckle.





Dizzy said:


> I thought the same thing. I would have liked to see the guy freaking out, too bad the eel got hacked up.


It WAS funny (except for the fish mangling), a couple grown men acting like scared little girls. They wouldnt touch it until it was dead; they teased each other about it afterward. 

The one I caught was extremely slimy, my brother and I fumbled around trying to get a hold of it; that was funny too, would have made a good video.


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## backlashed (Mar 19, 2011)

Dandrews said:


> The one I caught was extremely slimy, my brother and I fumbled around trying to get a hold of it; that was funny too, would have made a good video.


About '65 my grandfather tried to teach me how to hold an eel. That's the last time I ever remember seeing one.


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## kingofamberley (Jul 11, 2012)

I've heard something like the eels hatch in the Gulf of Mexico and then swim all the way up the Mississippi drainage/wriggle across wet grass and such to get to wherever they want, before ultimately making the journey back to spawn. Don't know of that's true, but if so it would make sense as to why they have become scarce, with all the river corridor development.


Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


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## Dizzy (Oct 1, 2012)

kingofamberley said:


> I've heard something like the eels hatch in the Gulf of Mexico and then swim all the way up the Mississippi drainage/wriggle across wet grass and such to get to wherever they want, before ultimately making the journey back to spawn. Don't know of that's true, but if so it would make sense as to why they have become scarce, with all the river corridor development.
> 
> 
> Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


Yup, they go out to sea to spawn and the hatchlings make their way back to the freshwater. The dam system on the Ohio impedes them but I have heard the are still prevalent in the Mississippi. I remember when I was a kid I heard people would fish near Markland dam for them. Not sure if they take bait or if you have to snag them. 



ODNR American Eel fact sheet


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## kingofamberley (Jul 11, 2012)

I bet they are fun to catch; they must be in crazy good shape if they swam all the way to Ohio from the gulf!


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## Dandrews (Oct 10, 2010)

They take bait; I caught mine drifting a three or four inch sucker past a fallen tree. The current was very slow and didn't really notice a hit, I thought that I was hung up on the tree; as I recall it was not a very impressive fighter, it might have been 20". I have no idea what the guy was using at the GMR but he was fishing for catfish, it was smaller than the one I caught.


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## Jointed Minnow (Jun 12, 2012)

Used to go with a buddy to catch them growing up (out of state) in a deep hole of a trout stream, where a local lake spill-away met the stream. 

A abandoned railroad bridge was over the hole; when someone hooked up, the other guy would run up on the bridge and try to spot light the thing... I remember a couple big ones breaking off that looked like sea serpents.. They get pretty darn big.

My friend worked at a seafood store and would eat the things.. A ranger stopped us once and checked our cooler (assuming under age drinking)... only to find a couple eels.. I never ate 'em, but supposedly they taste like chicken!

Awesome article by the way. 

Happy holidays. 




Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


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## Bazzin05 (Feb 2, 2011)

A buddy of mine that fished the WWR when he w as a kid said they used to catch eels regularly in the 70's and 80's. I have been fishing the WWR a bunch as an adult and have not seen one. It would be really cool to see one up there these days.


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## oldstinkyguy (Mar 28, 2010)

A good article on eels and their migration...

http://www.wvdnr.gov/wildlife/magazine/archive/06fall/journey.pdf


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## kingofamberley (Jul 11, 2012)

oldstinkyguy said:


> A good article on eels and their migration...
> 
> http://www.wvdnr.gov/wildlife/magazine/archive/06fall/journey.pdf


That was a good read, thanks!


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## LeeWoolery (Jan 9, 2013)

Great information on the Great Miami River...I've fished the stretch of water in Troy and between Piqua and Tipp City...on and off...for 40 years.

Tons of fish.


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