Fish Identification

Does anyone know what kind of fish this is? Found it and a few suckers and creek chubs in our creek. They were hanging around in groups inside holes in the bank that looked like where old underground streams were.

Idk, I've never seen a smallmouth fry...maybe? Hope you get your answer, I'm stumped!

Mudminnow.

I don't think it's anything bigger than a sucker due to the creek only being like a foot and a half wide and around a foot or so deep where they were.

JP that may be it.

Yup it is. I catch millions of them each year.

Jurrasic Park is correct. It's a Mudminnow and probably a Central Mudminnow. At one point, I kept 56 species of fish and I used to go on trips to collect different species of native fish.

Keith

How big do they get? Also is their primary source of food insect larvae and eggs?

They get up to about 9” I’ve seen and kinda that same size as a trout. They survive very well in low oxygen waters. They’ll last longer out of water than other minnows. Very hardy!

Not sure what they eat.

Central mudminnow- https://www.lakesuperiorstreams.org/understanding/centralmudminnow.html

JP nailed it.

In my experience they make terrible bait compared to an emerald shiner or even a golden shiner. Definetly a very tough fish that can survive in conditions most others can't though.

They make a good bait if you can keep them suspended from the bottom with a bobber. We sold minnows when I was young and we kept the mudminnows in a wooden barrel buried within a couple of inches from the top. Filled with water it stays cool and a lid on top keeps it dark inside. No need to add air or running water. They are very hardy, but I agree with Michigander that other minnows are a better bait.

Not the best walleye bait but smallmouth slam them here.

I get several of them while scooping willow cats. Walleye love them like willow cats.

I have a pile of them in my marsh. They sure are a tough little fish.