strange fish in the bay today

[ch312]

a few hundred yards south of bait island today i saw a dead fish drifting so i decided to check it out. it was about 18-20" long and dark gray along the back and a touch light down the sides with large scales like a carp. the head was small for the size of fish and had teeth similar to a row like piranha. almost like a mooneye, but much larger and different colors.

i wanted a pic of it and tried to grab it, but i passed by it i attempted to reverse to try again, but ran it over. the fish was never seen again.

 

[G.Mech]

Hopefully it isn't one of these Northern Snakeheads...???....

 

[ch312]

definitely not a snakehead.

after looking at a bunch of pics online, i can't find a picture of this fish. it had the scales and colors of a dark fallfish, but with a more football shape front end/head with teeth in a row like just like this ^^^^^^

 

[G.Mech]

Well that's good news!!

 

[Fly Flinger]

google a "Tiger Fish" it has a body shape similar to a Moon eye, and the teeth are pretty significant.... but it should not be able to survive in Ontario.....way to cold for a native of the Zambezi river but some pet stores may sell them ?

You can get some pretty good size Pirranha if you have large aquarium but again they like warmer water

if it was one of these it was an release by an irrisponsible pet owner and nature took care of it and the temperature killed it.




CARPE DIEM

 

[Dicker]

Google bowfin, there are quite a few of those in the bay
Usually there us a large round spot near the tail and they have lots of teeth
I believe everyone calls them dog fish

 

[G.Mech]

Here's a bowfin, I've seen them before but never really realized they had huge teeth but apparently they do. No wonder people confuse them with snakeheads because they are fairly similar. The official word on snakeheads is that there are none in the great lakes although some folks would argue otherwise...

 

[elevatorman]

Tons of bowfin in the bay. Most that I have caught were 18-20 inches. My buddy caught one around 27"

Dan B.

www.Fish-A-Thon.com

 

[Rapala-Man]

one time i had one on that was atleast 35 inches, on a spinnerbait thought it was a pike >.

 

[Helmut]

Yup dogfish(bowfin) Wife actually caught one last spring at Dunville when we were cat fishing. They have a real bad attitude and very agressive teeth. I swear the thing was actually trying to attack me while i took it off the hook. Her catch looked like the lower lighter colored one

 

[yalleye1]

That is a snake head fish its called a "northern snake head"! Look it up I just did and its Identical!

Chris yalowica

 

[yalleye1]

you can tell the diff. from a snakehead to a bowfin because the snakeheads back fin is continuous on the top and on the bottom the bofins rear fin is continuous just on the top!

Chris yalowica

 

[dropshot]

Definitely not a Bowfin. I've caught several. The head on a Bowfin looks identical to that of a lake trout. The Bowfins I've caught were not striped. The pattern and coloration on these look much like a Norther Pike. Never seen anything like it. At least, not until now!

 

[ch312]

im 110% sure it wasnt a bowfin or snakehead as ive seen them both before and they have nothing in common with the fish i saw.

the body was deep like a carp, but the front end tapered down like a football to a head that looked too small for its body. i still havent found a pic of a similar species...

 

[suckmywake]

Could it be fresh water drum?? they dont have teeth though.

 

[Jwalsh]

I hope it wasn't a Asian Carp!

 

[yalleye1]

Sorry guys I thought the fish you were talking about the ones in the tray! those are 100% Northern snakehead, if you don't have a pic of the fish you saw then I don't know what they are! could be some sort of a carp! they come in all shapes and sizes and colours too!



Chris yalowica

 

[Landlocked]

A few Summers ago we were trying to catch a fish in our channel that looked like a large solid black Crappie with teeth like a piranha or pacu. We threw everything at it but were unsuccessful. Sure makes a guy go hmmm...

 

[Three Bouys]

quote:
Originally posted by Landlocked

A few Summers ago we were trying to catch a fish in our channel that looked like a large solid black Crappie with teeth like a piranha or pacu. We threw everything at it but were unsuccessful. Sure makes a guy go hmmm...



What time of day was that Andy!!! Everytime I've been up your channel, you made us stop for a beer

Last week I went for walk in the marsh across from your channel to see what Jim Granger was doing with the bulldozer. Without getting into a long explanation, he is opening up the marsh to allow more water in. He has opened quite an area and as you can see how deep he is on his first clearing and then he will go over it again to get 3-4' deepth of water. I never realized how invasive that Phragmites has choked the march.

Jim

 

[fishstalker]

Did you think to take it to the MNR and have their fish biologist ID it for you? There's a fish biologist at the MNR in Port Dover, you can freeze it and take it in when you're in the area.