Alabama Rainbow Shiners

On April 24th I visited two sites, one in Bibb County and the other in Monroe County, Alabama to check on the spawning status of two Rainbow Shiner populations. The Cahaba group were not actively spawning and showed typical subdued color appropriate for the season. The Alabama drainage population on the other hand were found to be actively aggregating over Bluehead Chub redds and in peak spawning color. In addition to the Rainbow Shiner, Rough Shiner, Striped Shiner, Bluehead Chub, Largescale Stonerollers, and even some hybrid Rainbow x Rough shiner were all actively utilizing the redds to spawn.