STATE RECORD QUILLBACK?

[LEECH21]

ON SUNDAY I CAUGHT 2 FISH THAT I'VE NEVER CAUGHT BEFORE. THEY WERE SOME SORT OF CARPSUCKER. I'VE BEEN LOOKING ON THE WEB TRYING TO FIND GOOD POCTURES OF A QUILLBACK, RIVER CARPSUCKER, AND A HIGHFIN CARPSUCKER. UNDER THE MN RECORDS I DIDN'T SEE THE HIGHFIN. THEY DON'T EXIST IN MN? I CAUGHT THESE FISH IN THE COTTONWOOD RIVER IN NEW ULM. ONE WAS 21" AND THE OTHER 22 1/2". THE 22 1/2 INCHER WAS EXTREMLY FAT. I SEE UNDER THE MN RECORDS THE QUILLBACK RECORD IS: (James Loude 6 lb. 14.4 oz. 23" 4/6/91 Mississippi River Ramsey). MINE WAS EASILY THIS BIG. I'M ALMOST POSITIVE IT WAS NOT A RIVER CARPSUCKER AND I POSITIVLY KNOW IT WASN'T A CARP. IT WAS STRANGE IN COLOR. KINDA WHITE/SLIVER/BLUEISH SIDES, NO BARBELS, DORSEL LIKE A QUILLBACK, NOT SURE ABOUT A CARPSUCKER, I HAVEN'T SEEN A GOOD DORSEL PICTURE. I DON'T HAVE THE PICTURE YET BUT I CAN REMEMBER THE CHARACTERISTICS PERFECTLY. I READ ABOUT THIS BALL THING ON A CARPSUCKERS LIP, BUT I DON'T RECALL SEEING ANYTHING LIKE THIS. CAN ANYONE HELP ME OUT? ROUGHFISHER, YOU GOTTA KNOW, RIGHT?

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[LEECH21]

ROUGHFISHER...ONE LAST THING. I LOOKED AT YOUR SITE ROUGHFISH.COM, AND LOOKED AT THE RIVER CARPSUCKER & QUILLBACK PHOTOS. THE COLOR OF THE FISH LOOKED JUST LIKE THE QUILLBACK, BUT THE DORSEL FINS WEREN'T QUITE THAT POINTED. ANY SUGGESTIONS?

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[ricqik]

Don't exclude the smallmouth buffalo. They are flat and have a tall body like the quillback and also has a longer than normal dorsal fin but not as long. The coloration you discribed sound like the smallmouth buffalo especially the blue hue.

[Roughfisher]

The river carpsucker has a nipple-like knob on the lower lip. The quillback doesn't have this knob. It's not a highfin carpsucker; they live in this state in many different areas but nobody has ever reported catching one on hook and line. Plus, they only get to about 2 pounds in size. Color is never a good identifier; quillbacks and rivers may vary somewhat.

Most likely you caught a river carpsucker, but without a picture of course it is tough to say for sure. Congrats on a great fish!

[Roughfisher]

Yep, the buffalos all have very black eyes.

[LEECH21]

DOESN'T THE SMALLMOUTH BUFFALO HAVE JET BLACK EYES? THAT'S JUST WHAT I'VE READ AND SEEN, ALTHOUGH I'VE NEVER ACTUALLY CAUGHT ONE. JUST WONDERING. I REMEMBER THE FISH I CAUGHT WERE ALMOST WHITE IN COLOR, THEIR HEADS ECSPECIALLY. THEIR BODIES WERE KIND OF WHITE/SILVER/BLUE COLOR. REALLY HARD TO EXPLAIN. I DON'T REMEMBER SEEING A NIPPLE-LIKE THING ON THEIR MOUTHS.

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[LEECH21]

ROUGHFISHER...I'VE BEEN LOOKING ON THE WEB FOR A GOOD PICTURE OF A RIVER CARPSUCKERS DORSEL FIN, BUT I CAN'T SEEM TO FIND ONE. IT'S WIERD ALSO BECAUSE I HAVE LIKE A THOUSAND FISHING BOOKS HERE AT HOME, BUT NOTHING WITH ROUGHFISH IN IT.

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[Fat Joe]

I see u stole big fishes singature

[LEECH21]

LOOK "BIg Fishes,Fat Joe,Rapapla Fisher, and Big Jim" AND WHOEVER ELSE YOU ARE, WHY DO YOU HAVE TO USE THIS SITE JUST TO **** PEOPLE OFF? I HOPE, IF THEY CAN, A PRO STAFF MEMBER CAN FORBID YOU FROM ENTERING TREADS ONTO THIS SITE! THIS SITE IS FOR FUN AND TO PASS ALONG INFORMATION ABOUT THIS GREAT SPORT. NOT TO BE NEGATIVE AND MAKE TREATS TO FELLOW ANGLERS! GOOD FISHING....LOVE LEECH21 <*))))))))><{

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[LEECH21]

SORRY ABOUT THAT...BACK TO YOU ROUGHFISHER!

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[Roughfisher]

There you go!

[LEECH21]

what would you think it would be if the dorsel fin looked like that of a carpsucker, but the color looked like that of the quillback on your site? is it just me or does the quillback have a higher profile body than the carpsucker? the picture above almost resembles a small carp with a different kind of mouth. either way, carpsucker or quillback, the fish would have probably been a state record. which kinda leads me to another question that my cousin and i were talking about. how hard do you think it is to go after a roughfish record and beat it? not a whole lot of people target these fish and if a state record was caught it was probably on accident and they have no clue what it is so they just throw it back. sorry about all the questions, but what do think?...LEECH

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[Roughfisher]

Sorry I didn't reply right away LEECH - I've been fishing.

There are three species of fish found in the state which have a state record of ZERO POUNDS! All you have to do is catch one and you have the record.

I have been pursuing these fish for twenty years and all I can say is that these records are completely breakable. But these fish are very hard to catch. If you catch one (without snagging it) you are a very lucky angler, or a very very good angler. I have fished over a school of 2000 carpsuckers for 36 hours straight, with three rods (in wisconsin) and never had a bite. They do not respond to typical fishing tactics. If you can crack the code and find a bait they will take you will break many, many records. But I have been trying for 20 years. People catch them occasionally on a fluke but most of the time they aren't people who know how to identify the fish they catch, so they don't keep it and get the record verified. I can tell a quillback from a river carpsucker in the water at 20 yards range with polaroids. Both of them are harder to catch than the spookiest trout. You are better off fishing for them when you cannot see them, because their eyesight is better than a human's or a trout's or a bass or anything else on the water.

But anyway, here is some advice if you want to catch a record. The Northern Hog Sucker record is under two pounds, the Black Redhorse is ZERO POUNDS, the Highfin Carpsucker is ZERO POUNDS, the Spotted Sucker is ZERO POUNDS, the River Carpsucker is under 4 pounds, the Smallmouth Buffalo is just over 13 pounds, the Bigmouth 41 pounds. All of these records were set by pretty small fish for the species. I have seen plenty of fish over that size of each of those species. Except the spotted sucker and the black redhorse, which I have not found yet. But I am still looking for them.

The problem is not with identifying the fish. The problem is that NOBODY KNOWS HOW TO CATCH THEM. They are very difficult. 99% of the ones people catch are snagged. It is easy to snag them. Fishermen in today's world are not willing to take the time to figure out the mystery of these fish. Meanwhile they are being poisoned to death or netted.

I'm not saying you won't be able to do it; if you know how to identify ALL the fish you catch you will break a record. It's that simple. I also broke several records before I started studying "rough" fish and now that I know how to identify every fish in the state all I can catch is a bunch of stinking walleyes and bass when I am out on the river trying to catch a Blue Sucker.

But if you tell me where you caught your carpsucker maybe I can show up and try for them with you. I surely know what DOESN'T WORK LOL!!!!

Roughfisher
[email protected]

[LEECH21]

Thanks for all the info roughfisher! It seems like the records may be easy yet hard to break at the same time. The couriousity of what I caught is driving me nuts, so I think I'm going to get my film developed with only twelve pictures on the roll today. I will try to e-mail you both pictures so you can look at them, quillback vs. rivercarpsucker and mooneye vs. goldeye. As for where I caught them is a funny story. I was fishing in New Ulm trying to hook up with my first shovelnose, but couldn't get one to bite. The water was extremely high in the cottonwood river. Then these two fish hit and that was all we caught that day. Hey, if you go fishing there and catch one maybe you could point me in the right direction, or hook up with me on a fishin' trip, to catch something I've never caught before. Let me know if you interested in the New Ulm thing, because I will give you more details...Thanks, LEECH

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[This message has been edited by LEECH21 (edited 06-23-2004).]

[Riverfishin]

Last week I was fishing on the mississippi and caught what I thought was a carp but after I through it back i realized it didn't have wiskers, and was about 3 to 4 pounds. I also saw someone catch a buffalo but I don't know what kind. I was blueish and had no wiskers.

[LEECH21]

roughfisher,
i sent you an email of the scanned pictures. if the pictures did not work thru the email, let me know. i am a computer retard. if you could let me know how to send them thru my email.

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[Roughfisher]

LEECH21 here's your pic:

Smallmouth buffalo. Awesome catch!

[LEECH21]

I forgot to thank Roughfisher for posting my pics. Thanks!!!!!.....LEECH

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[Roughfisher]

No problem. Awesome fish!!!

[Roughfisher]

Hey Leech, if you're willing I'd love to know where you fish the Cottonwood ... sounds like a great multi-species river!

[riverrat56]

hey roughfisher if u would want to come down and fish the cottonwood someday and wouldnt mind fishing with me and my buddy we could show you around to a few spots but i havent fished it much i just know where ppl do fish and how to get there. i live in new ulm and i should be availible to go fishing most days next week

[LEECH21]

You should hook up with riverrat56 on the cottonwood. I'm actually from Willmar, about 2 hours away from New Ulm/Cottonwood River. A buddy and me drove down to New Ulm because we heard the sturgeon were biting like mad. So I made my quest to catch my first shovelnose. I didn't catch any sturg but caught 2 "smallmouth buffalo"?

Roughfisher are you 100% sure that it is a smallmouth from the picture? I know the eyes weren't black and it's not camera glare. But, I was also thinking that we made our trip when the river was flooded last month and the water was extremly dirty. Do you think because of the dark, dirty water the eye color of a fishes eye can lighten, much like the pigment in the fishes body color?....LEECH

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[This message has been edited by LEECH21 (edited 07-12-2004).]

[LEECH21]

Bump

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[LEECH21]

Bump again.....Roughfisher you out there?

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[Roughfisher]

Sorry haven't had a chance to check this board lately. Yeah the eyes aren't totally black but the river carpsucker and the quillback will have pinkish fins. And the eyes will have bright metallic irises. The scale pattern of the buffalo is unique as well. Plus the overall grayish blue cast just screams buffalo to me.