Wrapping up the North Fork trip, Billy and I left the North Fork Recreation Area and headed west to Bryan Creek and Rippee Conservation Area. RCA is a gorgeous Missouri Department of Conservation owned area at the confluence of Rippee and Bryant Creeks. I wasn’t going to get back into my now clammy wetsuit, so we were limited to wading around using a dipnet.
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Bryant Creek from the mouth of Rippee Creek |
We found this “one-armed bandit” Orconectes neglectus chaenodactylus in Bryant Creek, but since we were wading, we concentrated on Rippee Creek since it’s much smaller and more accessible without getting wet.
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Just above it’s mouth, Rippee Creek plunges down a nice little run.
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By holding the dipnet in the run and kicking the rocks above it, we caught several more O. neglectus including this female with eggs, or “in berry.”
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We also picked up this stonefly larvae in the same spot.
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Just upstream from the run, the creek splits into two channels with the majority of the water running along the cutbank to the rear.
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The channel in the foreground is all less than 6” deep. None the less, there were several fish in the small pool to the extreme left in the photo and we tried to catch a few to see what they were. Most were rainbow darters, but Billy managed to net this Fantail Darter (Etheostoma flabellare.)
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I had no way to photograph him underwater, but fortunately the one-gallon tank was in the truck already loaded with gravel. Just add water! Check out the cool knobs at the top of the first dorsal fin.
That takes care the North Fork trip (finally.) Next up are trips to the upper Meramec and Jacks Fork Rivers. See you soon.