Author Topic: Anyone ever seen this type of fish?? (Read 8091 times)

BBB · « **on:** Jan 07, 2009, 06:22 PM »

I caught this just at the end of summer and am not sure what it is. I know it looks like a carp but it definetly isnt my uncle wrote his PhD on carp and worked at delta marsh with carp for years so i think he knows what he's talking about

. He's trying to figure out if it is a bigmouth buffalo fish or a smallmouth buffalo fish. I am just wondering if anyone would have a clue which on it is?
Ps look at the mouth it is to high for it to be a carp its not on the bottom and also it has a very black eye

fishinfiend · « **Reply #1 on:** Jan 07, 2009, 06:29 PM »

I have never seen one of those before!?! It does look like it would belong to the carp family

Let us know what ya find out

mike304 · « **Reply #2 on:** Jan 07, 2009, 06:34 PM »

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/snapshots/fish/bigmouthbuffalo.html - Bigmouth Buffalo

http://fieldguide.mt.gov/detail_AFCJC07010.aspx - Smallmouth Buffalo

BBB · « **Reply #3 on:** Jan 07, 2009, 06:38 PM »

Yep ill post whatever type it is when i find out. Apperently if it is a smallmouth buffalo fish i am one of the only ones to catch one in manitoba on a rod and reel other then that they have only been caught in net's and are very rare. So i hope it's a smallmouth

haha

Illinoizboy · « **Reply #4 on:** Jan 07, 2009, 07:55 PM »

Looks like a Sucker, a member of the Carp family.
Pretty good smoked.
I've seen schools of them at Eagle Lake Ont.

laclabiche walleye hunter · « **Reply #5 on:** Jan 07, 2009, 08:00 PM »

i can 100 percent guarantee you that that fish is a white sucker we have tons of them here in Alberta i would not eat them though.

dalwhe1970 · « **Reply #6 on:** Jan 07, 2009, 08:04 PM »

That is definitely a sucker, Used to catch them in northern Manitoba for trappers to feed thier sled dogs; Nasty ugly fish, If you are eating that then you might as well eat the minnows and all the smelts you could handle ........; Would be better...

fish_finder · « **Reply #7 on:** Jan 07, 2009, 08:07 PM »

I would say it really looks like a white sucker to me...but could be wrong ..u got another pic maybe a head-on shot? The best way to check would be to check an online ID key, both are pretty similar you might not be able to tell from just a pic but you would remember a lot of its features, i just looked some up and the black buffalo seems to be more similar to the sucker

Master Angler · « **Reply #8 on:** Jan 07, 2009, 08:22 PM »

I'm 100% sure that's not a white sucker, for one it'd be a huge white sucker..............bu t the dorsal fin is not that of a white sucker. A few years ago I am pretty sure I caught a bigmouth, or smallmouth buffalo, but most likely bigmouth; on Lake of the Prairies but didn't have my camera with me, and I just threw it back as I thought it was really rare for there, I'd never caught or seen one there and haven't since. It was just a small one and silvery in color like some pics I've seen online. I've never seen either one before that, so I'm not 100% sure what you caught. 8)

bassman417 · « **Reply #9 on:** Jan 08, 2009, 01:26 AM »

Its deffinately a smallmouth buffalo. I use em by the tons to feed our turtles. We bowfish for carp and buffalo for both turtle bait and to feed the ones we raise. They have a soft white meat, not much blood at all throughout the meat either. (not like carp with their darker orange-ish much bloodier meat) Buffalo are pretty ok when scored and fried. Not my favorite table fare but they arent too bad. Nice fish, especially if they arent common around you.

Mix bag of carp and buffalo

dickvinny1219 · « **Reply #10 on:** Jan 08, 2009, 07:17 AM »

We here in NY have something similar but are more red in color though I have cought them with a light complection such as your fish there. To me it looks like a giant white sucker. Most of the ones we catch here are Redhorse or white suckers but there are other kinds. Plus your in Manatoba and I'm in NY so there could be drastic differences in breeds.

PERCHPULLER · « **Reply #11 on:** Jan 08, 2009, 10:51 AM »

round here we call em a drum or sheepshead

bigredonice · « **Reply #12 on:** Jan 08, 2009, 11:27 AM »

has the body shape of a sucker but it can't be, it has the wrong dorsal fin, definitely a buffalo, looks more like a bigmouth than smallmouth to me.

taxi1 · « **Reply #13 on:** Jan 08, 2009, 11:29 AM »

Quote from: Master Angler on Jan 07, 2009, 08:22 PM

I'm 100% sure that's not a white sucker, for one it'd be a huge white sucker.............

It also doesn't have the scale size change that is evident on a Catastomas commersoni.

BBB · « **Reply #14 on:** Jan 08, 2009, 01:38 PM »

Thanks for all the feed back guys. Ive caught suckers before and have never seen one even close to that size. We checked the weight on that fish and he was 10.8pounds so thats a pretty big sucker and once again look at the mouth on my fish it is more to the front of the head a white sucker has a mouth on the bottom.
Here's a pic of a white sucker i got off of google

And now my fish

AirManCam · « **Reply #15 on:** Jan 08, 2009, 04:19 PM »

Looks like a sucker to me. I catch a bunch that look just like that every year in the spring on lake george when I'm laker fishing. During the end of the smelt run the suckers start coming up in the streams, and they are fun to catch :-)

bigredonice · « **Reply #16 on:** Jan 08, 2009, 04:20 PM »

Quote from: AirManCam on Jan 08, 2009, 04:19 PM

Looks like a sucker to me. I catch a bunch that look just like that every year in the spring on lake george when I'm laker fishing. During the end of the smelt run the suckers start coming up in the streams, and they are fun to catch :-)

dude, you gotta let me know when that happens i need as many suckers as i can get every spring.

Bugman1964 · « **Reply #17 on:** Jan 08, 2009, 04:21 PM »

Definitely a sucka.

Ed_r · « **Reply #18 on:** Jan 08, 2009, 04:31 PM »

Suckers all seem to only have the single dorsal fin. This mystery fish, is there 2 separate dorsal fins? Or is it one Long dorsal fin that got split during the battle?

Caught plenty of drum Its not that either.

jknuth · « **Reply #19 on:** Jan 08, 2009, 05:53 PM »

The mystery fish isnt a sucker, but a Buffalo.
It is either a bigmouth Buffalo or a Black Buffalo.
Bigmouth Buffalo have a mouth that faces forward while a Black Buffalo has a mouth angled down slightly, (Similar to a sucker, a close relative)
What river system was the fish caught in? that will help determine if it is possibly a black Buffalo.
If it is a Black Buff chances are it is a Very rare catch indeed.

I fish for Bigmouth Buffalo here in wisconsin and they are a tricky fish to get on hook and line.

The Black Eye is amazing on these fish, very strange looking at first.

Ill try to narrow down the exact species for you.
Do you happen to have a Higher resolution image you could email out?? if so feel free to email it to me, Ill have the boys at roughfish.com look it over and get a positive Id.

Nice fish!

taxi1 · « **Reply #20 on:** Jan 08, 2009, 06:21 PM »

Shesham! I was going to forward this picture to you Josh and see what you thought. This is downright spooky!

fireguy1 · « **Reply #21 on:** Jan 08, 2009, 06:39 PM »

I Commercial fished on Lake Winnipeg for years. It's a white buffalo sucker. As for the people that say not to eat one, they really have no idea what they are talking about. They have been sold to many countries through the Freshwater Marketing Corp. They are used for canning and are very much like salmon when prepared properly. Also they can be ground up in a meat grinder and made into fish burgers. With the proper spices are awesome. As for catching one on your line I have not heard of that before. Hope this helps you out.

Iowa ice · « **Reply #22 on:** Jan 08, 2009, 08:34 PM »

BUFFALO smoke it baby. It'd be great outta that cold water

SDFlagChaser · « **Reply #23 on:** Jan 08, 2009, 09:00 PM »

that fish is definetely a buffalo. not sure if it's a bigmouth or smallmouth buffalo, but it's for sure a buffalo. i have shot a ton of these while bowfishing, pretty cool looking fish. they get a real awesome deep green/grey color in the spring, and I love that huge absolute black eye.

BBB · « **Reply #24 on:** Jan 08, 2009, 09:02 PM »

jknuth this fish was caught at lockport right up beside the locks actually and no i dont have any better pictures then that one sorry. If you find anything out it would be appreciated if you would post it. Thanks

Smeltecca · « **Reply #25 on:** Jan 08, 2009, 09:27 PM »

It's definitely a goldfish during its summer molt - they get longer and thinner to slide out of there old skin then after a couple of days go back to short and fat and turn orange................ .......Right?

matty23 · « **Reply #26 on:** Jan 08, 2009, 09:30 PM »

maybe a sheepshead?? we have caught them in champlain they have a sucker type mouth so much fun to catch too

iluvcrappie · « **Reply #27 on:** Jan 08, 2009, 09:41 PM »

looks to me like its part of the carp family...........or something along those lines........I kinda think more along the lines of some sort of sucker...........we have suckers that run the creeks around here that we shoot with the bow............just usually call them creek chubs as they only get to be about 4-5 lbs.............the carp we get are usually along the lines of 20-75 lbs.............

PCB · « **Reply #28 on:** Jan 08, 2009, 09:49 PM »

Dont mean to bash anyone, but it sounds like some of you guys need to buy a petersons fish field guide book. some of the names being thrown around for the same fish are entirely different species, some of which probably dont even live in some of the drainages mentioned. Or six different species named to describe one fish. Its kinda like saying a walleye is the same thing as a smallmouth which is the same thing as a carp which is the same thing as a darter.

Not that I can positively ID this fish, but Id be tempted to say its a buffalo.

Sturno · « **Reply #29 on:** Jan 08, 2009, 09:55 PM »

Bigmouth Buffalo. Put a beer on it.

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Author Topic: Anyone ever seen this type of fish?? (Read 8091 times)