Mystery fish caught at Silverwood identification help needed.

[bigminnowfisher]

I am fairly certain you have rather large specimens of hitch (Lavinia exilicauda). As you noted, the peculiarly shaped and sized caudal fin coupled with the upwards pointing terminal mouth and anal fin proportion really offers a positive identification. Interesting what species can travel through the aquaduct, isn't it?

I will have to agree with others, you should never kill or keep species that you cannot identify. When you first killed the fish, did you know whether they were Sacramento splittails, Tui chubs, Arroyo chubs, or California roach? These rough fish species aren't commonly identified by sportfishers, and the awareness needs to be made that despite the lack of sportfishing status, many species of Californian roughfish are protected. It's important that fishermen do not contribute to their diminished population.

Additionally, I highly doubt whether any fish without a labyrinth organ could survive for over an hour out of water. While the fish may have swam away, it does not mean anything in terms of long term survival. I would recommend if you intend on releasing any fish, to NOT allow it to sit out of the water for over an hour. It just makes no sense.

[seal]

Yes I have caught them before, on the fly in Cleghorn. I do not know for sure the species, the tui chub made sense to me but I got no idea!

I would agree keeping fish of an unknown species is not a good idea, but I don't think he hurt the population much and basically nobody is targeting them and they probably taste like complete crap (or carp) so doubt the population is in much danger, unless of course ToadsToadsOnly frequents the lake often.

Reading more on the tui chub there has been a hybrid of the tui and arroyo chub found at the Mohave Forks dam but really that hitch looks like a pretty good match. Soooooooo many species in Silverwood that many have never seen, special place!

[Hardcor]

Speaking of which..

Remind me to show you my chub when we meet!

That little chub you keep hidden away, No thank"s

[Hardcor]

I showed it to Greg Silks he said Hitch no dought !

[BIG RED]

It's a freshwater queen fish.

[Skyler]

Midshipman.

[bigminnowfisher]

I would agree keeping fish of an unknown species is not a good idea, but I don't think he hurt the population much and basically nobody is targeting them and they probably taste like complete crap (or carp) so doubt the population is in much danger, unless of course ToadsToadsOnly frequents the lake often.

I agree that he definitely didn't do any harm, and I don't mean to come off as judgmental nor derogatory. I just meant to remind anglers that many times not being able to identify a fish means you won't know it's protection status, nor bag limits, nor size limits, so it's always best to release the fish quickly and ensure they survive, just in case. Who knows, next time it may be a Razorback Sucker that someone accidentally catches, and every single fish is important to maintain that species right now.

[GhettoBasster]

Midshipman.

Always a midshipman!!

[DockRat]

Always a midshipman!!

[Voice-of-Reason]

100% hitch. There used to be a crapload of them in Quail Lake too. That was when the Quail stripers were huge and plentiful. They gorged on the hitch. Nice to see them in Silverwood. Let em multiply so that record striper that I think Silverwood of all the local lakes holds can gorge on them.