I went to the South Fork of the Root River in Preston, Minnesota this afternoon and evening hoping to catch a Brown Trout for my species list. I used the same bottom rig I had the other night, baited with a bit of worm. Once again, I ended up with something different—LOL. I landed a nice Rainbow Trout and hooked a couple more fish that I couldn’t bring in. One of those might have been a Brown Trout, but I can’t say for sure. I stayed from about 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., getting occasional bites, though I missed most of the hooksets. Just as I was about to call it a night, I caught one last fish that I suspected might be something new, but I wasn’t sure what it was.

iNaturalist identified it as a Common Shiner, which immediately made me wonder what exactly that was. A little research cleared things up. Shiners are part of the Minnow family (Cyprinidae), the largest family of freshwater fish in North America. The Common Shiner (Luxilus cornutus) is one of the more widespread species and is typically found in clear streams with moderate current—exactly the kind of water I was fishing. They usually have a silvery body with a darker back and tend to grow to about 2–6 inches. The one I caught was right around 6 inches.

I also learned that while all shiners are minnows, not all minnows are shiners. “Minnow” is a broad term that includes shiners, daces, and chubs, among others, while “Shiner” generally refers to these small, silvery, often schooling fish. Common shiners are a bit more robust than some of the other shiner species and can be an important forage fish for larger predators. Overall, it was a fitting and interesting catch for that stretch of river—even if I’m still looking for that Brown Trout.

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