{"id":4992,"date":"2016-07-03T20:06:08","date_gmt":"2016-07-04T00:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/?p=4992"},"modified":"2017-01-05T17:15:15","modified_gmt":"2017-01-05T22:15:15","slug":"what-ontario-fish-red-around-eye-trout-salmon-shape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/what-ontario-fish-red-around-eye-trout-salmon-shape\/","title":{"rendered":"What Ontario Fish Has Red Around the Eye and Maybe a Trout Shape?"},"content":{"rendered":"

This June while walking along Sixteen Mile Creek in Oakville, I stopped to watch a Snapping Turtle edge ashore perhaps to lay her eggs. While I stood quietly by the river, a flash of fins shooting past downstream made me look after a fast-moving fish. It stopped at a somewhat deeper spot in the clear river. It had a noticeable red spot where the eye was and I didn’t know what type of fish it was although it was shaped vaguely like a trout.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a><\/p>\n

What Trout Like Fish Has a Red Eye and Lives In Sixteen Mile Creek, Bronte Creek or the Credit River?<\/h2>\n

Because the water was so clear when I saw the fish, I was able to take some fuzzy photos. When I looked at them at home on the computer, I realized that the fish’s eye itself was not red, it was the scales or skin around the eye that was orange or red.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a><\/p>\n

The fish was very simply coloured and it had a normal mouth. It was not, for example, a White Sucker<\/strong><\/a>. I’d seen lots of them spawning in Sheridan Creek at the Rattray Marsh. The lower jaw and lip seemed to push further forward than the upper jaw and lip.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a><\/p>\n

I tried to find my fish using Google without success. I did find the same question asked by someone else to the anglers of the Credit River! They suggested that it might be a Rock Bass. I’ve seen many Rock Bass though and this didn’t look much like them.<\/p>\n

One of the Family’s Fishermen Rescued Me<\/h2>\n

\"Photo<\/a><\/p>\n

Fortunately, we have several fishermen in the family. (Or fishers, although to me those are large brown weasel-type animals.) I asked one to take a look at my photos and see if they could recognize my fish.<\/p>\n

I received an immediate reply: It’s a Small-mouthed Bass.<\/p>\n

I had thought till then that they liked weedy lake water but apparently I have them mixed up with Large-mouthed bass. Small-mouthed bass are fine with fast moving, clear water.<\/p>\n

When I looked at other photos of Small-mouthed bass I found several that showed the same red-orange colouring around the eyes.<\/p>\n

So I added a new fish to my list of things seen on my rambles. Now if I could just figure out what the sculpin-y looking one with the orange and brown spots was….<\/p>\n

Related Reading<\/strong><\/p>\n