Species Identification - fallfish?

[DConICE]

A buddy of mine saw this photo and told me he thought it was a dace - but it seemed large to me for that species and looking on-line I am thinking it is a Fallfish.

The Clark's guide has this listed as a baitfish for this body of water - so I am leaning that way.

Figured someone here may be able to settle this... and if not maybe it would make good conversation...

[MBrown4]

You are correct.fallfish all day

[lammy1960]

Looks like a sucker, same as i got at clough state park a couple of month back.

[Hardwata]

You are correct.fallfish all day

X2

[TheOutdoorsman]

It's a fallfish, Semotilus corporalis.  100%, biologist approved.

[HUNTnFISHSD]

 Almost looks like a whitefish.

[stripernut]

Looks like PiKE Bait!

[HUNTnFISHSD]

Looks like PiKE Bait!

 Got that right!

[moosehunter]

have caught many of them. called chubs in maine but it is a fallfish.

[Iowan]

We use them for flatheads. Never knew they were called anything more than a chub until this post.  Thanks for the lesson.

[TheOutdoorsman]

Almost looks like a whitefish.

Whitefish have a very strange and small mouth.  Whitefish also have an adipose fin (like a trout/salmon). 

[potatomansoup]

Nice trophy fallfish, they are great as fish cakes!

[Oddfish]

The common names are fall fish, Laker bait, Cusk bait, largest minnow.   Also, not bad eating, shiners are better however.

Oddfish

[JoeGG]

Called Roach as well.

[haightdaddy]

usually call them chubs. But must be the same as fall fish

[jimmyrig]

The common names are fall fish, Laker bait, Fisk bait, largest minnow.   Also, not bad eating, shiners are better however.

Oddfish

You have eatin them badboys, we catch big ones in ossipee alot, I was told to not even think about eatin them.....maybe we are missin out?

[potatomansoup]

I have eaten 42 species of NH fish, minnows beat trout for flavor all day.. Eat minnows and thank me later!

[Guinea]

have caught many of them. called chubs in maine but it is a fallfish.

I know a lot of people in NH who call them chubs too.

You can tell the difference between them and suckers by the placement of the mouth...sucker has the mouth down lower, kinda like a vacuum.

They put up a heck of a fight! Only caught them in the rivers in open water, and yes, a buddy and I brought one home and tried it. It's a flaky meat and not too bad!
Then again, I eat lake trout, so you may not want to go by my opinion lol.

[Oddfish]

I have eaten 42 species of NH fish, minnows beat trout for flavor all day.. Eat minnows and thank me later!

The large golden shiners are my favorite at the moment.

Oddfish

[WhereDaRainbows]

I call em chubs too. Didn't know it was a fall fish. I had these guys eating my salmon eggs in only a couple feet of water very frustrating because they are strong you think u have a nice bow..

[DConICE]

Thanks for all the feedback... my first thought when I pulled it up was that it was a sucker but thought the same thing about the mouth... wasn't on the bottom like a sucker.  Wasn't sure what I had as I was pulling it in on the tip-up... but on a slow day like this one was really didn't care!
This one went back in the lake to be eaten another day...

[Oddfish]

Thanks for all the feedback... my first thought when I pulled it up was that it was a sucker but thought the same thing about the mouth... wasn't on the bottom like a sucker.  Wasn't sure what I had as I was pulling it in on the tip-up... but on a slow day like this one was really didn't care!
This one went back in the lake to be eaten another day...

They are a good fighting fish good fun on a fly.  Sometimes in the fall they are so many in number that they are a nusance when hunting trout in rivers.  That's when they go home for cusk and laker bait,

OD

[DConICE]

Yea... a buddy of mine said he has had a blast at times finding them in bunches and keeping busy with every fly cast...   I just started fly fishing last season and would welcome that kind of activity... though I get your point about taking home bait when you are targeting something else.

[TheOutdoorsman]

Yea... a buddy of mine said he has had a blast at times finding them in bunches and keeping busy with every fly cast...   I just started fly fishing last season and would welcome that kind of activity... though I get your point about taking home bait when you are targeting something else.

They are a big minnow, and a lot of people consider them to be trash fish and/or bait...but they get pretty big (I've caught some over 18", and I know they get larger than that), take a fly readily and put up a good fight!  Now that I think about it, there are some places to the south where I think a fallfish fishery would do much better than something like, say, stocked browns! 

[ice malitia]

Those Buggers are EVERYWHERE!

[Oddfish]

Those Buggers are EVERYWHERE!

Tidbit hidden deep in a post.  Where you find fallfish you will likely find trout.

OD

[wildwoody]

A buddy of mine saw this photo and told me he thought it was a dace - but it seemed large to me for that species and looking on-line I am thinking it is a Fallfish.

The Clark's guide has this listed as a baitfish for this body of water - so I am leaning that way.

Figured someone here may be able to settle this... and if not maybe it would make good conversation...

(Image removed from quote.)

This one won me top honors for 2012 trophy program 2lbs 2.24oz

[DConICE]

Nice and congrats...  Given the background looks like you got it through the ice as well.

[Oddfish]

This one won me top honors for 2012 trophy program 2lbs 2.24oz
(Image removed from quote.)

Perch boy you're back.  When did they let you out?

Oddfish

[Riffle]

Tidbit hidden deep in a post.  Where you find fallfish you will likely find trout.

OD

+1 to the above, I love it when I'm fly fishing and I catch a big fat fallfish, as it means that the river is healthy and food is plentiful. I always have good days out on the water when I catch these fish. Growing up, we used to target them in the Pemi, and man, we used to catch some beasts. This was back in the 80's and 2+ pounders seemed to be everywhere. We also called them roach fish, which is confusing because there is a roach fish species found in the UK, but they are not the same. I caught a few this season through the ice and a couple on the Pemi back in December when I was chasing the broodstock salmon. They are aggresive feaders and good fighters. Never did eat one though. These fish will grunt and squeek and make all kinds of weird noises sometimes. During spring spawning the males turn purple/red and will nail whatever you present to them. They also will grow horn like tubercles, that make them look like a devil fish!! They are also little engineers, building rock/pebble nests with great precision. NH most underappreciated fish species if you ask me.