Emerald Shiner
Notropis atherinoides
Other Names: Buckeye shiner, common emerald or lake shiner, plains shiner, lake silverside
Description: An elongated, streamlined minnow with pale olive-yellow or silvery back with narrow, horizontal emerald stripe on bluish-silver sides and a white belly. Identifying characteristics include forked tail, single dorsal fin with 8 rays and no spines, round lateral line scales, and large mouth that lacks barbels. Also, the emerald shiner has 10 to 12 (usually 11) anal fin rays, compared to the similar spottail shiner, which has 8 (rarely 7) anal fin rays.
Size: 2.5 to 4 inches
Food: Zooplankton, aquatic and terrestrial insects, algae
Spawning: Emerald shiners spawn when water temperatures reach the low 70ºF range, typically from late May to mid-July (sometimes into August) in walleye country. Large schools of shiners broadcast and fertilize eggs at night near the surface over a variety of bottom types including sand, gravel, and vegetation.
Range: Native from the Mackenzie, St. Lawrence, and Hudson drainages, south through the Great Lakes and Mississippi River systems to the Gulf Slope from Mobile Bay, Alabama, to Galveston Bay, Texas.
General Habits: Emerald shiners look delicate but actually are hardy members of the minnow family. They favor near-surface areas of the open waters of large, deep rivers and large lakes and reservoirs. Though they may be found in bays and backwaters, they tend to stay offshore during the summer. A fall migration, mainly of young-of-the-year fish, moves inshore to drowned rivermouths and harbors. Shiners move up and down in the water column in correspondence with light levels and penetration.
Walleye Connection: Along with other species of shiners such as the spottail, the emerald shiner is an important food source for walleyes in many fisheries. It’s worth noting that although emerald shiners reach just 4 inches in length, studies have shown that walleyes from 22 to 26 inches select them as prey during spring and fall.
From an angler’s perspective, one of the most important shiner-walleye connections occurs during the shiner spawn, when hungry walleyes focus on giant schools of these silvery baitfish. Key areas where walleyes target spawning shiners include sand and gravel shoals at tributary mouths, shorelines, and lower reaches of inflowing streams. Bulrush beds adjacent to deep water are also good bets. Much of the carnage occurs at dusk and after dark—minnowbaits and jigs are top options during these lowlight feeding sprees. Still, daytime jig-casting can be productive at times. Another full-sun option is trolling minnowbaits or livebait rigs along breaklines just offshore from spawning areas.
Cisco
Coregonus artedi
Other Names: Lake herring, tullibee
Description: Silvery sides, often with purple or pinkish tinge. Identifying characteristics include adipose fin and long, deep body. May be distinguished from the very similar lake whitefish by its slight underbite or jaws of equal length. In whitefish, the snout extends over the lower jaw.
Size: With more than 22 described subspecies, average size is highly variable by lake of origin. Lengths of 12 to 14 inches are common in many waters, while other systems produce ciscoes topping 20 inches. In contrast, Ten Mile Lake, Minnesota, rarely produces specimens more than 3.2 inches long.
Food: Plankton, aquatic insects, small crustaceans
Spawning: As water temperatures reach the lower 40ºF to upper 30ºF range, schools of ciscoes gather to scatter eggs and milt over rock, gravel, or sand in depths of 8 feet of less (deeper in the Great Lakes). Eggs sink to bottom and hatch the following spring, with no care from parents.
Range: Native to much of Canada and the northern U.S. in the St. Lawrence-Great Lakes, Arctic, and upper Mississippi River drainages south to northern Illinois, Minnesota, and Ohio. Introduced in other areas including the Missouri River system, where it is established in some locations.
Habits and Habitat: A coldwater fish of oligotrophic and mid-mesotrophic lakes, the cisco prefers water temperatures in the mid-50ºF range and cannot tolerate temps above about 75°F. As a result it is often found below the thermocline where dissolved oxygen levels are at least 5 parts per million—sometimes venturing into depths of 150 feet or more, at least during the day. By night, schools of ciscoes rise to the surface to feed on zooplankton or emerging insects.
Walleye Connection: Though ciscoes are a favorite food of walleyes, the two species’ paths cross only at key times (due largely to different temperature preferences). When their travels coincide, however, key fishing patterns emerge. One occurs on summer nights when ciscoes move toward the surface to feed. Longline-trolling with large minnowbaits over deep water can be very productive. This pattern fizzles when surface waters warm to the upper 60ºF range. In lakes where ciscoes are forced out of their comfort zone in late summer by declining oxygen levels, walleyes often take advantage of their plight, suspending 25 to 35 feet down to harass the weakened baitfish.
In fall, another connection is established as ciscoes spawn over shallow humps, points, and hard-bottom flats near shore. Schools of walleyes move in to take advantage of the abundant forage, offering nighttime action for hardy anglers trolling or casting large minnowbaits.
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