View Full Version : Fish ID
Master Baiter1
11-04-2013, 05:50 PM
Never seen this before today. I have no idea what it is so here's my description. Saw a 16" blueish/grayish fish with like 3-4 dark vertical bars. It had the shape of a carp with large scales but the color and definitely the bars have me scratching my head. Probably someone's pet at one time? Anyone have a clue what it might be? Post a pic if you know and I will ID it if it was what I saw.
Master Baiter1
11-04-2013, 08:21 PM
Probably just high from the DD striper lol. Seriously, there was someone else that saw it too. We both looked at each other like WTF???? That was a strange one. Just thought I would share. Someone's aquarium pet that got released and grew?
DarkShadow
11-04-2013, 08:35 PM
Barred Squawfish
MikesOcean
11-04-2013, 08:40 PM
http://fishingnetwork.net/forum4/showthread.php?34070-Can-you-identify-this-mystery-fish
Master Baiter1
11-04-2013, 08:48 PM
Barred Squawfish
Haha
http://fishingnetwork.net/forum4/showthread.php?34070-Can-you-identify-this-mystery-fish
I'm very well aware of the tule perch. It was not a tule perch.
It looked the closest to this yellow perch but no the right color. The shape and dark bars were similar.
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk313/delfanilou1/yellowperch_zpsfe8fb5a3.jpg
koifish
11-04-2013, 08:51 PM
Haha
I'm very well aware of the tule perch. It was not a tule perch.
It looked the closest to this yellow perch but no the right color. The shape and dark bars were similar.
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk313/delfanilou1/yellowperch_zpsfe8fb5a3.jpg
Mixed lady tule perch and junior greencarp.
ZipperWurm
11-05-2013, 09:38 AM
Someones pet frontosa?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v709/whitedevilTA/c-frontosa1-1_zps9a44f78b.jpg
Master Baiter1
11-05-2013, 11:53 AM
Looked nothing like that ugly thing lol
Master Baiter1
11-15-2013, 05:36 PM
Well in my never ending quest for all duct knowledge I finally found what I saw in the duct that brought about this topic. It's a black drum. Problem is it's a saltwater fish from what I can tell. There are freshwater drum but they don't look exactly like what I saw and what these following pics exactly depict as a saltwater one. This is what I saw exactly. They supposedly grow to like 90 lbs
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk313/delfanilou1/Black-drum_zps7d9d48bb.jpg
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk313/delfanilou1/ja-j07-blackdrum-p1_fb_zps9573f81e.jpg
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk313/delfanilou1/drum_fish_zpsd3dc0155.jpg
fishmounter
11-15-2013, 05:56 PM
MB1.. Where exactly did you see this fish? Was it still alive?
Bassnman Mike
11-15-2013, 06:14 PM
Are you sure you didnt see a monster shad? HA!
Master Baiter1
11-15-2013, 06:15 PM
MB1.. Where exactly did you see this fish? Was it still alive?
I saw it in the California Aqueduct in Palmdale. Yes it was very alive LOL. It was hanging on the edge in about 12" of crystal clear water and as I saw it I had to do a double take and then it immediately got spooked (probably by my shadow) and hauled butt down into the depths. It was about 16" long. I sent the online pic I found to one of my Florida buddys who has caught them in Florida and he said they can survive in brackish water. Does the Pacific ocean or the Delta have them? It sure made a long journey if so? There are lots of obstacles along the way to survive the journey. If not, then it's a huge mystery?
BASSCATCH
11-15-2013, 06:40 PM
That is very intersting if it is a black drum, I was thinking of maybe a cichlid, but at 16 inches I doubt it, never seen a fresh water cichlid in that size.
Master Baiter1
11-15-2013, 06:58 PM
That is very intersting if it is a black drum, I was thinking of maybe a cichlid, but at 16 inches I doubt it, never seen a fresh water cichlid in that size.
Yes it's crazy. I just talked to one of my OG duct friends that has been fishing it even longer than I. Actually since it first got filled with the first drop of water and didn't even have a fish or many fish in it. Anyway, he said one of his buddies caught one a couple of years ago out of the duct. He knew exactly what I saw when I described it to him as he is from the south originally and used to catch them there all the time. I will reiterate that what I saw is 100% the same as the picture I found and posted. Look back at my initial post when I didn't know what it was an my description was spot on and matches the black drum pic I found today. It was in open water with no flow that day and visibility was close to 8' down in the duct. Water was super clear and this thing was right at the edge. Crazy chit huh?
Yes it's crazy. I just talked to one of my OG duct friends that has been fishing it even longer than I. Actually since it first got filled with the first drop of water and didn't even have a fish or many fish in it. Anyway, he said one of his buddies caught one a couple of years ago out of the duct. He knew exactly what I saw when I described it to him as he is from the south originally and used to catch them there all the time. I will reiterate that what I saw is 100% the same as the picture I found and posted. Look back at my initial post when I didn't know what it was an my description was spot on and matches the black drum pic I found today. It was in open water with no flow that day and visibility was close to 8' down in the duct. Water was super clear and this thing was right at the edge. Crazy chit huh?
I bet it was one of those colored carps. I've seen all colors of carp in the duct. Maybe it was a carp going to a masquerade party as a drum. That makes the most sense.
flytyingreloader
11-15-2013, 10:42 PM
When it comes to aquatic life......never say "never", never say "always".
Master Baiter1
11-16-2013, 05:08 AM
I bet it was one of those colored carps. I've seen all colors of carp in the duct. Maybe it was a carp going to a masquerade party as a drum. That makes the most sense.
Carp don't have evenly spaced straight bars like what I saw. It was a drum. That or a carp in drum costume cause it was around Halloween lol.
Carp don't have evenly spaced straight bars like what I saw. It was a drum. That or a carp in drum costume cause it was around Halloween lol.
Now we are getting somewhere. Btw, I hit old river siphon last night on my way home from work. Two vicious hits but another skunk. That was the only place I fished. Sucks working 70 hrs a week lately.
Brewdog
11-16-2013, 10:36 AM
Black & red drum can stand fairly fresh water. Spotted sea trout seem to need a little more salt than the rest of the nearshore/inshore fish. The really fat old black drum tend to not have the distinct black stripes of the younger samples. In NC I have caught red drum swimming alongside crappie, blue gill, LMB, & stripers. The part that makes me doubt it is that I have not seen black drum listed as populating the pacific coast. The gulf coast of TX is the western limit of their range from what I could find in a quick search.
Master Baiter1
11-16-2013, 10:55 AM
Now we are getting somewhere. Btw, I hit old river siphon last night on my way home from work. Two vicious hits but another skunk. That was the only place I fished. Sucks working 70 hrs a week lately.
I feel your pain. I finally skunked this morning. Did have a fish swipe at my KPN but missed it. That's all the action I had. Gonna try to save the day maybe later after the Saturday family plans.
Black & red drum can stand fairly fresh water. Spotted sea trout seem to need a little more salt than the rest of the nearshore/inshore fish. The really fat old black drum tend to not have the distinct black stripes of the younger samples. In NC I have caught red drum swimming alongside crappie, blue gill, LMB, & stripers. The part that makes me doubt it is that I have not seen black drum listed as populating the pacific coast. The gulf coast of TX is the western limit of their range from what I could find in a quick search.
Yes I read too that the younger ones have the bars and as they age they disappear. The fish I saw was only 16" long. If it was a drum it was young enough to have the bars. My short research too points to no drum in the pacific. I really don't know what else to say until I see another fish that looks like this black drum that happens to look exactly like what I saw in the duct, in my mind it was a black drum. My search will continue for another possible fish that looks similar. With nothing else, I have to conclude it's what we are talking about here.
GhettoBasster
11-16-2013, 02:25 PM
http://www.mnf-fish.com/barb/puntius-tetrazona
Is it a barb?
fishmounter
11-16-2013, 06:59 PM
MB1- Check with Dr. Lisa Thompson. She's an ichthyologist at UC Davis, and has a website just for California fish and the waterways they are found in. If they don't know, nobody will! I'm sure they would be more than happy to help you with that mystery fish. The website strangely enough is called "California Fish Website". Dr. Thompson's contact address is:
lcthompson@ucdavis.edu
Good luck and let all of us know what that fish is. There are no drum or croakers that I know of in California that will survive for for long in freshwater, but I'm no expert..
Master Baiter1
11-16-2013, 07:43 PM
http://www.mnf-fish.com/barb/puntius-tetrazona
Is it a barb?
No it's not a barb.
MB1- Check with Dr. Lisa Thompson. She's an ichthyologist at UC Davis, and has a website just for California fish and the waterways they are found in. If they don't know, nobody will! I'm sure they would be more than happy to help you with that mystery fish. The website strangely enough is called "California Fish Website". Dr. Thompson's contact address is:
lcthompson@ucdavis.edu
Good luck and let all of us know what that fish is. There are no drum or croakers that I know of in California that will survive for for long in freshwater, but I'm no expert..
I looked on that website and found nothing close on all the fish pics they have up. It won't hurt to email them and see what they think. I can tell them it looked exactly like a black drum and see what they say it could have been if not a black drum?