Carp and other Rough fish pics

[Chad Peterson]

Nice look'n fish guy's and awesome pic's.

Sniffer

[carpmanjake]

carpman Jake, are you catching those lunkers already in a river? Are you using the same tactics as summer or do the coldwater carp require a different technique?

nope. inlet coming from another lake. and im kinda just drifting 1/100th oz jigs tipped with little atom wedgies down the current. i always seem to have better luck with artificial baits, then livebait, corn, etc. before the ice goes out

[mike11]

last fall

[Slabasaurus]

First open water fish of 2011. Caught this guy on saturday... amongst a ton of bites. I am going to re-rig tonight to something that will actually let me land more of these... but anyway.

What the heck is this? I think it's a redhorse, not sure what kind though...

Regardless it's a first for me.... so for the second year in a row, first open water fish is a life-lister diggit.

[DTro]

Looks like a Golden Redhorse maybe?

[Slabasaurus]

Yeah... that's what i thought after looking at rough fish dotter com, but then I kept looking at all the stuff in there and ended up just confusing myself.

[TonyKay]

Nice fish. Thats a big sucker regardless of which sub-speices it is

[OnAFly]

Nice fish, those things have a lot of power. Lots of fun to catch.

[Schollmeier]

What color was the tail?

If red it is a Shorthead Redhorse

If grey it is a Golden Redhorse

The head looks much more like the typical Shorthead than a Golden.

Tony- the various redhorses (6 in MN) are all unique species, not sub-species. Just as different as LM Bass and SM Bass. Genetically anyway, for beginners the ID can be tough

[Schollmeier]

On second look, I'm even more sure it is a shorthead - tail color would seal the deal. When IDing anything try to get a clear, close up, broadside pic (or two for good measure) of the whole fish - including tail. For redhorse I'd toss in a clear shot of the dorsal fin (with it spread out clearly) - for bonuses you could add pelvic fin and mouth shots but these are often the least helpful.

Here is a good ID dicotomy for MN redhorse:

Is the tail grey or red?

Grey Tails

How many rays in the dorsal fin?

15 or more = Silver Redhorse

Less (typically 12) Black or Golden, if Blacks Redhorse are present in the river:

How many lateral line scales?

46 or more lateral line scales = Black Redhorse

43 or less lateral line scales = Golden Redhorse

Red (sometimes orange) Tails

Divide the Standard Length by the Head Length

4.3 or higher and you have a Shorthead Redhorse

Lower and it is either a River or a Greater:

Count the scales around the Caudal Peduncle

8 on half (16 total) = Greater Redhorse

6 on half (12 total) = River Redhorse

*standard length is measured from the tip of the nose to the base of the caudal fin (not counting the fin)

*for an example of how to count caudal peduncle scales, check out those species pages on rough fish dotty com – they have good example shots

*For Golden/Black Redhorse with 44/45 lateral line scales the pelvic fin helps, Blacks wil have 10, Goldens 9

[Slabasaurus]

Funny you mention that broad side pic.

The reason you can't see the tail in the shot is the fish had just started flopping... i was quite surprised to see that shot came out as well as it did! I do have a mouth shot though, it's just not formatted online yet.

This one did have some red tint to the tail though, and most of the fish I've seen at that spot over the past week have reddish tails.

thanks for the help

The fish was quite fun to bring in.. took some turns to try to hide under brush, and to wrap me up in a tree. I managed to pull him out of there though.

[Schollmeier]

No problem.

Yeah the red caudal fin can be bright or just a tint - depends. But if there was red it was a Shorthead, which fits the head/mouth shape. Goldens have chunkier heads/bigger mouths. '

Good pics can be tough - depending upon how spazzy the individual fish is. Sometimes laying them on their side in the grass or really shallow water will work well too, but it seems some of them hate having their picture taken.

[maj330]

Thanks for the detailed redhorse data and ID method Mr. S. I'm going to copy it into my log. Maybe even make a flow chart. Now if I could just take a decent picture or 3 of a fish I could officially confirm I've only caught 3 of 6 MN redhorse.

[Schollmeier]

-note about should say that Black Redhorse have 10 pelvic fin RAYS and 9 rays on Goldens...

You're welcome(though my personal method is a bit different, this one is much easier for people to understand) - 3 of the 6 is good start. I'm assuming Golden, Silver, and Shorthead. The other 3 are where it gets really tough. Greaters are widely distributed but low in numbers, Rivers have a pretty limited range (though numbers are ok-ish), and Blacks are limited in numbers and range.

I've only got the big 3 out of MN waters, in WI I have caught Greater and River in addition. Still looking for that Black Redhorse, actually I haven't targeted them (yet)

[roughfish29]

[Scott M]

This thing might have went 40#s. DEADhead knows my spring time set up , it's super effective on large carp.

[Stick500]

da-chise what a fish!

you gotta post it where it's supposed to be on the 2011 rough fish pics thread so it can go down in history

I totally understand fishermen on the forums choosing not to give out any locations, but can you give us any hints on your early spring carp rig/bait- you done good!!!

[Stick500]

note to moderator; you should take the sticky off this 2010 topic and replace it with the 2011 Rough Fish pics thread that is already started so it's at the top

thanks!!

[Gordie]

Looks like a Golden Redhorse maybe?

I would agree with that but Dtro tell us what you really think it is

BTW congrats on your first

[DTro]

Well it has scales doesn't it?

If it has scales well then it must be bait.

[Slabasaurus]

Thanks again, they sure are a blast.

Managed to get out again last thurs for some more action, did alright.

About 45 mins before sunset I rested my rod gently on a stick and reached into my backpack for a soda. A tree had fallen across the bower that I chose to cast from in such a way that it made a perfect chair to rest on. I Took a seat on the fallen tree and proceeded to unscrew the cap from the soda. Almost in unison with the "pffffft" of the pressure equalizing in the bottle, my rod gently falls to the left of the stick. Thinking there's a fish on I should probably do something, I take a sip of my soda and before I can put the cap back on my rod starts to make its way into the river. In one motion i put the bottle between my legs and grab my rod with my free hand and set the hook... as i held the rod in the air with my left hand, screwed the cap onto the soda with my rt, the fish started running and taking drag at a decent clip. I hucked the bottle back to the pack and after 3 or 4 good runs, I landed the fish.

Not the greatest pic, but it was the first carp I've caught in about 20 years... and the first one north of the NC/VA border line.

Might try to head out again this evening... we'll see what the spot looks like after the miss has gone up another foot or two...

[DEVILD0G]

[DEVILD0G]

I love carp fishin.

[DEADhead]

that thing would be a beast on rod and reel!

[Stick500]

I was traveling up from Dubuque Tues. and stopped at the Turkey River just below Guttenberg to try and catch some suckers. Tossed in a half a crawler with my ultra-lite and 4 lb. test and saw a tiny nibble pretty quick. Looked like it was a chub or a little bullhead biting so I jerked the rod and hooked something big. A few minutes later I landed a 26" sheepshead! Two hours later I had 5 more sheep (all smaller but still good size), one sucker and one carp. A few of the sheep were gut-hooked so I kept 'em as I heard they are good eating. I figure it being early spring would help with taste too.

An old-timer came along and gave me tips on how to cut the fat off 'em so they aren't so greasy. I did and they tasted great, kinda like trout or tilapia. If you ever get into some sheepshead like that, switch to circle hooks as they bite real light and are notorious hook swallowers. I read these fish can live real long and become monsters too. Great fighters.

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