OK LETS TRY THIS AGAIN. SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT THIS FISH IS

[iceman7]

They also call them lings and burbot i think.

ling cods and burbot are the same thing, but bowfins r different. id rather catch a bowfin tho cuz those lings r creepy lookin.

[blackshanty]

They also call them lings and burbot i think.

I never knew that, thought the were the same thing, I wonder if I have caught ling or bowfin on Sandy Pond

[blackshanty]

Looks like lingcod are a pacific ocean fish

[TheOutdoorsman]

Looks like lingcod are a pacific ocean fish

They are, and cusk are an atlantic ocean fish, but burbot are called all sorts of common names by fishermen.  I'm not sure if bowfin have many common names.  That is why biologists must use scientific names instead...

[burtbomberz]

It's a bowfin...ling are blacker and delicious ..cought them in temagami canada...catch bowfin in 18 mile in burt all the time...mean and fight like heck..hear they smell when you cut open..couldn't imagine eating one of them...get them on spinnerbaits and pike chubs.

[jigginoff]

SWAMP BASS! Thought that was a good one, was on that site that raquettedacker left the link for.

[butch76]

I've caught a few of them on Lake Champlain.  I always heard them called ling.

[FrankM]

The fish in the picture is not a ling its a bowfin.  The bowfin has bigger scales, bigger teeth and is uglier than a ling.  The ling is a freswater member of the cod family also called a burbot.  The bowfin is an ugly,  prehistoric looking fish and they are not fit to eat whereas the ling can be cooked up and has been called the poor man's lobster.

[trapper2000]

That's Rocky"s ugly cousin....you need a date?

RG

=))  now  i wish i had said that!!!.....  oh there cod in the alantic   by the way  ling bourbit and bowfin are all fresh water  codfish!

[GDominy12]

Im pretty sure the technical name for this fish is the burbot.

[Long Point Slammer]

Ling have different heads than the bowfin.

[trapper2000]

you can call that a layer ling or burbit ...it  isn't a bowfin!  bowfins  have a  black spot on it's tail, which doesn't matter there all trash fish anyways

[captain54]

COBIA I think? or maybe a ling,or maybe a snakehead, or burbot. IT'S A BOWFIN

[scavengerj]

A cobi? good one captain I didn't expect that one to be thrown in there 

[fishfishfish]

its a bowfin go to our dec ny site find unuasual fish and read about it I used to camp at duck lake camp ground and would catch them all the time on bass minnows igot one 28 inches once therein duck lake  we all at camp ground would kill them thy eat bass and pan fish eggs

bowfin   , kill them all

[trapper2000]

interesting we all have our idea's   if you google bowfin  you will see that  one of the main things is  a  black "eye"  just before  the tail this  fish doesn't have that ... it is a comman burbit  or  as we call them ling

[trapper2000]

there actually a predator , everything gets blamed for eating  eggs ....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowfin   read this.... then read this....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burbot
now  that you can tell what kind of fish you have , we can  figure out  what it prys on!...i love taking kids  fishing

[KeukaZ71]

interesting we all have our idea's   if you google bowfin  you will see that  one of the main things is  a  black "eye"  just before  the tail this  fish doesn't have that ... it is a comman burbit  or  as we call them ling

sorry for keeping this post going, but it is a bowfin. the best way to ID them is a gular plate (like i mentioned earlier) which is easier to see in person. also, look at the anal fins. you'll see

[trapper2000]

nope thats a burbit  ! plain and simple  , you can't see it's gular plate in the picture  but it clearly does not have a eye spot   just before it's tail !  i suggest you look at the two web sites i posted ! the trouble with  iding these fish is we do it by what we learned locally  ,thus all the different names for the very same fish.

[pimplejigger84]

Burbot/Ling are actually much different than a Bowfin.  Burbot are more slender, almost eelike, and have a head similar to a catfish with "whiskers". Bowfin tend to be a little beefier. This fish is lacking the spot on it's caudal fin simply because it's a female.  They put up a really great fight.  Many people around here fish for them with live minnows and cutbait during open water fishing.  It's not uncommon to catch them throught the ice.  Nice fish!  

There are many credible websites out there for identifying fish.  If you go to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) they have alot of informative information on some of the more popular species of fish, as well as detailed images, making it simple for anglers to identify fish.  

Check out this link.  You can clearly see the difference between the Burbot and the Bowfin! Tight lines...

http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/52634.html  

[step2jimi]

All i know is i want to catch another one. THat thing fought harder then the biggest northern i cought yesterday. and then when i got it out oof the hole i think it was trying to bite me. that was kinda cool too.

[Sullymon]

[TheOutdoorsman]

nope thats a burbit  ! plain and simple  , you can't see it's gular plate in the picture  but it clearly does not have a eye spot   just before it's tail !  i suggest you look at the two web sites i posted ! the trouble with  iding these fish is we do it by what we learned locally  ,thus all the different names for the very same fish.

That is wrong, it is a bowfin.  Plain and simple.  Look at the fins.  The ventral, anal and caudal fins are distinctive of a bowfin.  Burbot will have a much longer, more eel-like posterior and the anal/ventral fin is much longer.  This bowfin is very robust toward the tail and has a very short anal fin.  The pelvic fins give it away as well.  The absence of the spot is not enough to rule out a bowfin, because sometimes colorations vary and the spot could be difficult to make out if it is there.  

And to those of you who think they are junk fish, they are not.  They pre-date most fish on the evolutionary scale, much like sturgeon.  They are a top predator, and should be treated with respect (not thrown on the ice and left there).  Burbot are also not trash fish, and, as part of the cod family, many people love to eat them and even target them.  

[pimplejigger84]

(Image removed from quote.)

This is an excellent image of a Bowfin... notice that there is no spot on the tail... notice the "broad" head...

[step2jimi]

dont worry i released it. i would never leave a fish on the ice unless i was going to be keeping it. i may be totally wrong and might have got some bad info but, i noticed that every fish i cought was very light in color. a gentlman on the ice told me it was because lake champlain has a clay bottom. maybe this is why some people cant see this black spot by the tail. im just sayin i reall y have no clue.

[Kim]

Just drop it already posts have been made and the answer is obvious by majority.

[Sullymon]

bowfin   , kill them all

That's what you want to do, kill it.  All because of your ingorance.  Why would you kill anything for no reason?  "They eat bass" is NOT a good reason.  If you don't want to eat it, put it back.

[carcaju]

in champlan bowfin are called scale ling and burbot are called skin ling they are no relation borbot are a fresh water cousin to the cod ,bowfin have no other fish in their family they are prehistoric ans have been around before the dinosaurs

[trapper2000]

again  a misinformed  person ,bowfin belong to a family called Amiiformes! which also include  gar and sturgon! again the picture the person wishes  idenified is  a burbit!  the scale and  skin ling again is locale names give , which are  great  if you are  talking to someone from that ares however  that is not there names elsewhere.and  a majorty  does not make  anything right... i use  our presant political arena  as a example

[IFISHY]

I'm going to chime in again because I am a biologist and thats what i do this is a bowfin also known as a dogfish.  ling is a name many use but only because they are not fully familiar with it ling is more appropreat for the burbot any one who fishes onieda can tell you about them.  The spot is missing because of the sex and age of the fish.  the spot can come and go with time.  For reference we actually sell this fish preserved and for special orders as a skeleton pm me if your interested.  More important to note this is the fish that occupies the nich that the northern snakehead will most likely try to move into.  The bowfin will provide the most direct competion for food and resources.  there established presence is the most likely thing to limit the populations of snakeheads.  However the bowfin is a fairly slow growing and long living fish where as the snake head grows much more quickly because of that if bowfin are removed it opens up the door for snakeheads to occupy.  Please release them as they are the resident and there continued presence poses no real threat for the fish currently in presence as they have been there longer than we have snakeheads however would have an unpredictable effect on current populations.  Also I love catching these things they are big and mean and toothy and that spells perfect sport fish to me.