i came across some really fantastic pics of "panfish" as they call them on my OTHER forum and thought i would share a couple here. CA waters can raise some amazing fish....i'll let you guys argue on the ID's......we can compare notes later.

JHAP, this entire sequence of pics (except the last one) came from a fella lives in San Diego and fishes the following lakes: El Capitan, San Vicente, Lake Jennings, Lake Murray and Lake Hodges....take notice before you move up here for good.....me thinks yer missin some good fishin.....

the pics speak for themselves.....



san vicente 3.5 pounder!!!!!!!!!!!










this last shot from a lake near me.....the guy wuz fishin for the cutbow trout that i've caught and shown here before...he landed this trolling



enjoy and happy fishin in 08....

Those pictures are spectacular!!!!

I see that there are some huge redears (probably dangerous, too).

And I also see, if I'm not mistaken, some big coppernose bluegill. How cool!

Thanks, Dave.

Thanks DIED. The No. 4 & 5 fish (same fish) is a CNBG . Pic 4 - you can see the copper bar starting above the eye and wide bars and in pic 5 you can see the yellow/orange in the fins and the white fin edge piping.

Panfish? A lot of these wouldn't fit into any of the pans in my house.

There is some fantastic fishing around San Diego. As a kid I used to fish El Capitan, Lake Hodges and two lakes not mentioned above, Lake Henshaw and Miramar Lake (there are HUGE bass in Miramar Lake).

I am missing some great fishing around here, but ya know there is just something about walking down to your own pond (well at least after a 500 mile drive) and throwing a line in the water and fishing for as long or as little as you want and not having to worry about zillions of other fisherman and boats going willie nillie around the lake. I am spoiled by my little slice of paradise in El Dorado.

Oh and as an also and besides my folks live very near (less than a mile) from Lake Hodges, I've been on that lake many times.

Oh and spill the beans what fishing forum are you participating in?

JHAP, oops....i never saw yer question....sorry..its the fishsniffer forum...its where i found mtalley and told him about PB.

and from the fishsniffer comes this news for shadow cliffs lake....."On 2/29, a record breaker for large mouth bass was caught by John Barker from Livermore, who broke the (lake) record when he reeled in an 18lb., 1oz. large mouth bass using huddleston swim bait while on his boat"



geesh..

for the smallie enthusiasts.......following the news of the 18 lb lmb above (granted not a panfish) here is a real interesting article about a lake i like to fish near me called pardee.....many folks feel the next world record record small mouth will come from this lake, the state record is from this lake at 9.8 lbs. in the article, there's a nice pic of a 9.2 lb smallie caught in late january this year...

http://www.fishsniffer.com/dbacher/080229pardeesmallmouth.html

i'll be out there sunday or monday (wind permitting..) targeting trout and kokanee, but if the trout bite is slow i'm gonna make sure i have a couple rods rigged w/ either a swimbait, senko, or jig and get after some centrachids! ...i cant wait!

It says Pardee is 2,257 acres and 37 miles of shoreline. Isn't 2257 a typo then? Seems to me with 37 miles of shoreline it should be more like 22,570 acres. Maybe I'm wrong?

Smithville Lake by me in Missouri is said to be 7,190 acres with 175 miles of shoreline, so 2,257 acres with 37 miles of shoreline doesn't seem out of line to me.

weissguy yer right, cecil, its definitely the 2,257 acreage, it has a convuluted shoreline...

O.K. I stand corrected. I'm aware of convoluted shorelines and how much they can add up but 37 miles seemed like a lot for a body of water that size.

conVOluted.....thanks cecil, i'm surrounded by bozone tonight...

cecil, if i'm in the right place at the right time with the right lure and hook one of those 9 lb smallies, please tell me how to best protect and preserve it so i can ship it to you for mounting...seriously....

Dave,

Wrap it in a soaked towel and then slide that into a garbage bag. Push all the air out, roll it up, and tape the bag shut with Duck tape. The wet towel will freeze solid and create an armor plating which will keep the fins from getting busted up and the fish from drying out. (I've kept my own fish up to 15 years this way because I never got time to get to them. (My fish don't pay the bills.)

thanks cecil, i keep towels on boat...great advice and tips, i never would have thought of something so simple.

i ended up going out to pardee a week ago monday and never fished for bass..all trout...and for any enjoying the "nice day on water" thread i'll post up a couple pics of our efforts.

wanted to share this pic though following the smallie talk above. its a guy who posts on my other forum, caught this 6.8 lb beauty a couple days after i was out there. he was trolling for trout at the time, caught on a small plastic grub.

wow:



sunil, see what ya got to look forward to?...lets see some spring smallie pics dude.

Can I post that on another forum? That smallie is crazee-big.

Wow that smallie is tubbee! Must be good forage in that lake!

OK, I'm on it.

i dont see why not bruce, it was posted on several boards on the other forum, .....its a famous little fish now.

cecil, those big pardee smallies love 8-12 inch freshly stocked and confused rainbow trout in hindsight, i should have stayed near the marina during the DFG stocking with swimbait rod ready to go.

can't wait sunil.

Yeah I hear they are a great forage for the largemouths out their too. In my area the biggest northerns come from the lakes that are stocked with rainbow trout. The eventual state record spit up a 24 inch rainbow in a DNR tank when they brought it back for observation. They think it was the same fish that eventually became the state record as it has a damaged maxilary bone and it seemed to be the same fish when I mounted it.

Of course the northerns also ge bigger in the deeper colder lakes as they become coldwater fish apparently when they get large.

spotted bass lovers (and to add on to cecil's comments above) this nice 9lb 8oz spot was caught at collins lake on a swimbait (8-inch hud, RT pattern). a new lake record and only 10 oz below the world record.



lake managers have been experimenting w/ RT growout pens and are releasing out of the pens for the first time this year, plus the lake receives regular DFG stockings of 8-12" RT.

Ga-jeeze Dave. I've caught quite a few spots, but that one could swallow most of them. I had no idea they got that big.

I had no idea they got that big either.

That's a beautiful fish and a beautiful photo. I didn't know that spots ate rainbow trout, but evidently that's the way to grow huge bass.

Do smallies ever eat RT?

I wish Spotted Bass were a good pond fish because they are my favorite fish to catch.

amazing fish huh?

bruce, yes. that pardee 6+ lb smallie's bellie pictured above is undoubtedly full of DFG planters (RT).

chris, i'm not so sure spotted bass are a bad pond fish, in fact i may be able to tell you all about it if i dont feel like seining my pond in a year

Dave, not to discourage you from introducing spotted bass (isn't that the fish that the guy in Elk Grove had?) but we should definately seine your pond this summer (wait for the water to get warmer and lower). I think we could have you and I seine, Ricki and Jean taking photos and recording sein results (between bouts of histerical laughter).

As the great and powerful Lusk said I think that you are the only person managing for trophy GSF. We gotta start collecting data for your upcoming Pond Boss article, best selling book, and Oprah Book of the Month club interview.

I will be ready this summer with seine in one had and an appropriate beverage in the other.

There was a rumor that Oprah wanted to give a Green Sunfish to everyone on her "Give Away" show.

Have her people been in contact with you D.I.E.D.?

Cool pictures. Can I come fishing Please, Please?

heybud, thats exactly how i feel each of the all too few times i get to go fishing.

JHAP, for bass, elk grove guy had northerns and spotteds. he also had stripers.

assuming we conduct a seining (is that correct english?) i would like to try and be prepared to move the culls to either/both yer pond and/or the downstream ranch pond. maybe some 55-gallon drums, or large coolers or?? with some form of oxygen supply? let's talk more on this.

sunil, after i talked to oprah's people, i got a follow up letter from obama's campaign stipulating that if i give one person a GSF, i have to give everybody a GSF, it would only be fair. since i dont have that many GSF, i am not giving any away.

Actually, the correct noun you are looking for is seince. For ideal results, one should conduct a seince by the light of a full moon with the assistance of a dozen close friends and/or associates. A ouija board (or, considering you'll be working with JHAP, a Magic 8-Ball) is used to interpret the results.

Sounds good. I saved the large coolers the fish farm gave me, so we could put quite a few in there. A battery powered aerator should be fine between your place and mine.

Oh and I want a turtle, where can I get a turtle, I think I need a turtle, I'm fairly certain I need a turtle, if you have a turtle why can't I have a turtle, did you ever notice that turtle is fun to say?




Theo don't be ridiculous. I never fool around with my Magic 8 Ball. I reserve its use solely for tax research. The answers never fail and I'm fairly certain they would hold up during an IRS audit.

● As I see it, yes
● Ask again later
● Better not tell you now
● Cannot predict now
● Concentrate and ask again
● Don't count on it
● It is certain
● It is decidedly so
● Most likely
● My reply is no
● My sources say no
● Outlook good
● Outlook not so good
● Reply hazy, try again
● Signs point to yes
● Very doubtful
● Without a doubt
● Yes
● Yes - definitely
● You may rely on it

jhap, you must not care about being accepted socially. First, you promote trash fish, and now you want TO ADD TURTLES TO YOUR POND.

me too

Turtles , turtles everywhere , but not a one to spare.

They like their home and don't travel well.

http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/fishing/news/story?id=2931118

Great story. Didn't know where to put it.

of course you did... i hadnt seen that article, great find! i will be there hopefully next saturday, should be prime smb spawning time if i can tear myself away from the joys of trout fishing.

bruce, the rocks they mentioned at the mouth of the river arm is the exact place i've caught several nice fish (both smb and lmb) on topwater baits....although unfortunately none in the giant class discussed in that article.....but i am young.

this thread obviously expanded to include micropterus...rightfully so, i should ask theo to change the name to "CA panfish (and green carp)".

Great article Bruce.

Get to it Dave, catch an award winning smallie!

I like the phrase in the article "a perfect storm of forage."

Dang there is some big fish in Pardee.

That's all from the peanut gallery.

Nice article Bruce.
Has anyone else noticed that even though its tax time and we all know JHAP is working 25 hrs a day to get all those returns done he forgos sleep to post on PB.Man,thats dedication.

It's all about priorities.

The light at the end of the tunnel is getting so bright I gotta wear sun glasses.

JHAP
Are you sure that light at the end of the tunnel isn't a train?

JHAP got through the tunnel with flying colors, but now he's stuck - still eating fried chicken

here is a new one for all you "panfish" lovers.

Archoplites interruptus

i wish i could say i caught it, but i didnt. a fella on my OTHER forum recently caught this beautiful fish in lake crowley on the east side of the sierras.....



JHAP learned of a fish farm that had these, south of me a ways, but the guy wanted $$$$ to supply them. its an outstanding example, the only indigenous "perch" on the left coast, and judging by the mouth size, looks like it would nicely fill a niche between BG and bass.....kinda like big GSF, although they are reported to grow to 28-inches.

Archoplites interruptus
Sacramento perch

http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/speciesS...ame=interruptus


73.0 cm TL (male/unsexed; Ref. 5723); max. published weight: 1,440 g (Ref. 40637); max. reported age: 9 years

Anyone want to guess what this means "High vulnerability " ?

sadly i think it means extinction doesnt it?

they are also present in pyramid lake (nevada) one of the true wonders of the world.

my math is fuzzy, but doesnt 1440 grams translate into something like 3 to 3.5 pounds?

Nope / close. It means they are highly vulnerable to capture (fishing) as in aggressive.

3.171 lbs

Yep, that guy wanted something like $3 bucks a piece for 4 inchers.

28 inches and 3 lbs with a mouth similar to a GSF?

DIED are you sure you don't want a GSF/BG/RES/Sacramento Perch pond????

Wow. Those sound like fantastic fish! That sounds expensive, but if I lived there I'd have to think about getting 20 or 30 for breeding stock.

I suppose they could have some of the same management implications of having LMB for small ponds, but at least they're natives where you are.

Morning GW. I debated back and forth, side to side, with myself over this fish (my wife is use to listening to me having arguments/debates with myself, it doesn't bother her too much unless it turns physical) but I figured between the LMB and adding Sacramento Perch my GSF population would be decimated.

They are an interesting fish to consider though.

The fish supplier was really, really pushing them, I don't really know why.

Archoplites interruptus is not closely related to GSF , BG or LMB. More closely related to the Ambloplites like Rock bass. So JHAP may be on to something. Note of all the Centrarchidae, Sunfishes , Ambloplites (closely related to Archoplites) does not have hardly any reproductive compatibly with the lepomis and Micropterus . That would be an interesting test to see if Archoplites will cross with any of DIED's fish - my guess is no.

its fun time again........what kind of lepomis is this?

i'm pretty sure i know but will wait to throw out my answer, it came from iron gate reservoir which is near the CA/OR border (caught by a fella on my OTHER forum). he thought it was a RES, i dont think so.

Pumpkinseed?

I know it's one that I've never caught or seen before.

Gorgeous.

Not a RES - not even close except in feeding behavior.

Dave did you check for pharyngeal teeth before you stuck your finger in its mouth ? Is that a spot of blood on your thumb ?

Pumpkinseeds consume a wide variety of invertebrates, although they show general preference for snails. In fact, this species has pharyngeal teeth that are well adapted for crushing snail shells.

pumpkinseed is what i was thinking. its not common in CA. it was caught from a reservoir up near oregon border that was also stocked w/ yellow perch (which is also not common out here).

eric, not my blood a guy on my OTHER forum caught the fish. i'll tell him to check for the "extra" teeth next he goes up there.

i agree bruce, beautiful fish.

Great news people!!!!! I have a turtle. I saw this little feller basking in the sun on my pond. Cute ain't he?



Some of you may be asking what does this have to do with the subject matter of this thread, CA panfish???? Well nothing, but if'n DIED is gonna neglect this thread then I'm a gonna hijack it for my own dimented purposes.

That is a fine specimen of a turtle you have there sir! I still like you.

Here's the way I see that cute turtle

Eastland you're going to get it when jhap sees what you've done.

Oh, that's just not right!

May your tighty whities shink two sizes and ride up on you in church.

this fish was caught by a fella on my OTHER forum in a northern CA private pond. it may have been properly identified on the OTHER forum, but i'll throw it out to you guys as he asked me what i thought.........what the heck is it???.........good luck......FYI, i had no clue...




dave

Well, it's some kind of Cichlid.

I've just consulted my Ramchandran Aquatic Animal and Vegetation Reference Book. It's a freak.

The book or the fish?

DIED, that fish wouldn't happen to have been caught in the lake that is next to the chemical factory would it?

I wonder if it had a slightly mango flavor.

good job theo.....i thought this was fairly interesting. following is the quote from the fella (shadbuster) that ID'd it on the OTHER forum:

"It's a red blood parrot cichlid, this is a man-made hybrid cichlid breed for the aquarium trade and it can be pretty expensive running anywhere from 30 to 50 dollars a piece. These fish are a relatively new "species" and are in high demand among aquarium enthusiasts, originally they only came in orange but can now be found in all sorts of colors, they will eat any tropical fish food. A pretty cool catch that you might be able to sell on craigslist since most pet shops will not take fish back and if they do only for store credit. If there are anymore out there they will not pose a treat to the environment since they are tropical fish and will die come winter."


www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_parrotn.php

i thought you might be interested in this, an incredible example of ptychocheilus grandis (aka sacramento squawfish), the largest of the north american minnow species.

this was caught by a fella on my other forum while trolling for trout at a lake near me:



it weighed about 9 pounds and went ~30-inches.

Nice minnow!!!!

How'd you like to use that as bait!

My question is did you happen to open this large minnow up and see what he had been eating? Just wondering if maybe he would eat other minnows and shiners being so big?

lovelace, i think squawfish are opportunists like many other fish and eat anything they can get their mouths around. this guy probably developed a taste for planted rainbow trout.


i'm on a roll this morning, you have to check this out.
i cant believe my eyes on this one, largest i've caught is 27 pounds from the american river which joins the sacramento river in sacramento. a ways up stream off the sacramento river is battle creek, another well known spawning grounds for chinook.



incredible.

here is a cut and paste of the dept. of fish and game (DFG) story:

"Wildlife officials in northern California last week came across one of the biggest Chinook salmon ever found in the state — a monster more than 4 feet long and weighing 85 pounds.

"We see lots of big ones," Doug Killam, a biologist in the California Department of Fish and Game's Red Bluff office, told the Redding Record Searchlight, "but this one was just bigger than most big ones — it was just spectacular."

The big fish had recently spawned and died, Killam said, and probably weighed about 90 pounds when it began its 100-mile swim upstream from the Pacific to the spot where it died on Battle Creek, a tributary of the Sacramento River near the town of Anderson.

The California sport-fishing record for a Chinook salmon is 88 pounds. In Alaska, where they're called king salmon, they get even bigger — the record sport catch is 97 pounds, while the largest commercial catch was a truly phenomenal 126 pounds.

"If someone would have caught this one, it probably would have been a state record," Killam told the Record Searchlight.

Ironically, the sad state of salmon spawning in the Pacific Northwest probably helped this one live a full life. Ocean commercial catches were canceled this year, and the river sport season on the Sacramento drastically shortened."

here's another mind blower........a fella by the name of cherry on my OTHER forum caught this a while back in the CA delta while fly fishing for stripers......it went just over 18 pounds.....



I believe he released it but it was likely a record setting fish.
dang.......

That is a truly remarkable bluegill management device.

That bass is so healthy looking, its scary!

I'm telling ya DIED, someday we need to plan a holiday to the Delta.

Did anyone see the show on National Graphics TV about bass.
They talked about the 25#er that the 3 guys in CA foul hooked,
and had some good shots of bass and interesting info........

mr. medgar, i heard about it and (hopefully) have it set to (properly) record. suffice it to say i have some issues w/ technology.

my info on it is that the fish was called "dottie" and many people wasted spent alot of time trying to "legally" catch her before she died.

jhap, a week on the delta w/ houseboat and tag along fishin craft would be scrumtrillescent..

Doesn't everybody catch fish like that?

Yep good old Dottie. A 25 pound 1 ounce LMB caught at Dixon lake (foul hooked). Dixon Lake is a mere few minutes from mom's house. This guy got a ton of grief over this fish for foul hooking it. Notice the Condello Photography method was used and the patented OMGTFIH (Oh My God This Fish Is Heavy) facial expression is represented here in excellent form.

Indeed. A topic we shall have to discuss in detail.

I can envision movie rights.... DIED & JHAP's Excellent Adventure.

That would have everyone wanting to emulate you two El Dorado funsters. We'd all be saying "Why don't you just JHAP and DIED?"

There's something about that saying that just doesn't sound like a compliment. I'm going to have to think on it a day or so.

anybody want to play name that fish?


here's a nice installment for this thread. a fella on my OTHER forum caught these beauties in a small lake near me (amador):

I'm in!

#1 looks like BGxRES.

#2 = Male BG; I can't see any Coppernose-ish features.

Same species (BG) for #3; I would not want to sex this one if I needed to be sure without more knowledge of the local population's appearance. I lean towards pronouncing it female.

Blood Parrot Cichlid

theo, you were the only one to play, and i like your votes, my only difference would be pure female RES up top, i think that bottom fish is an OLD female BG, and she's a beaut...

mikeyboy, good call...

following is another installment for this thread (for your enjoyment of course).

theo, these fish are from the same BOW as those above (lake amador)...its quite the fishery:









these are from another lake somewhat close to me (lake hogan)that i have never yet fished.......i think i need to get down there...







here's the main reason i'm updating this thread.......HOLY COW MANURE....check out this pig......i'll entertain some guesses on ID before i let ya know what i think.......it weighed over 2 pounds and bruce will probably want a pic of it on bigbluegill...







it was caught by a fella on my other forum in a private community pond near my region in CA. he gave me permission to post up here. BTW, the same guy caught those amador beauties above....i reckon i need to urge him to sign up over on bigBG...

Female BG X RES. This fish is the absolutely closest thing I've ever seen to the purported "Bubba" Georgia Giant fish. The eartab, morphology...identical. You can see the little bronze dots on the lower gill plate that is usually a giveaway for BG X RES hybrid.

It could even be a backcross from male BG X RES with female purebred bluegill.

Actually my strongest bet would be 75% BG, and 25% RES.

........and a shockingly nice specimen at that!

The bottom fish posted on June 2 is also a bluegill/redear cross, as is the third fish down on 8/28.

That latest one is a hawg-momma extraordinaire.

And the one above hawg-momma is probably also a cross.

Some big and pretty fish DIED...

A very nice combo of lepomis there DIED. For sure some BG and RES genes in there. The exact mixes and crosses are challenging for sure.

i cant argue these expert opinions, thanks guys. the bronze dots appear on many of these fish, and i was thinking it may be a regional thing in the RES, but when i went back and looked at my picture archive (one of bruce's older pics), i think i understand where yer all coming from.

That latest fish is definitely another BG/RES cross. Looks like you have some California free-love shellcrackers in that there pond.

ok experts.......here's another piggy..........

perhaps another free-love shellcracker?

cant help the poor pic quality.....





it was caught by a feller on my OTHER forum (called it a bluegill) in the same general community as the 2 lb bubba above (probably a different pond though).

Nicely conditioned fish DIED . We need to get Bill on here to give us a report on some RES morphology he was doing. I helped him with some pics and thought he was writing up a story.

I have a funny feeling about those pictured.

the 2 pounder a few posts above, and the fish directly above both came from a golf course community somewhat near my area. i have a gut feeling that when these ponds were built, which was back in the 70's, they stocked RES and BG, and with time these ponds have developed viable RESxBG hybrid populations exhibiting remarkable fish.

knowing a little about the community, i dont think there is any regular fish management per se, however they have always aerated and kept the ponds full w/ either well water, or water from a nearby small river. i am not aware whether or not the ponds are stocked with bass, but something is responsible for the tremendous growth and condition of the sunfish that i've seen come out of there.

on a side note, the state record "bluegill" was reportedly caught in this community not too long ago (but i'll bet a nickel it was one of these hybrids).

ok, once again pushing the envelope of "panfish", but i had to share this pic i stole from my other forum. a fella there just reported today on a recent delta bass tourney, check out what this guy caught......a two fish bag of 20 lbs.....the big one went 14.4 pounds.....



thought you'd like to take a gander at a 14 lb bucket mouth.....

shave 3 to 4 lbs and this is what dwight is attempting...

They sure do grow some big bass in CA!

Dang DIED, one of these years we need to schedule a Delta house boat cruise.

Some really nice looking fish. What, no GSF.

Funny AP, that's EXACTLY what I was thinking.

BOO!!

Nice GSF. Yours ?

yup, a fun one caught w/ the sissy stick

Nice looking GSF Dave.

Ok Dave what is your trick to grow these large?

stupid luck

Nice Dave. Did you weigh or measure any of them?

8.696969 inches, 13.3333 ounces.....

no, am i in trouble?

Dave,

Do you happen to eat GSF or just always catch and release?

i havent eaten one in a while, but they are tasty, as good if not better than BG. mostly caught and culled this summer. i try to keep the ones that i judge have the best growth potential.

Yes, yes you are.

You are to fork over 5 or 6 penalty beers when I am up there.

Five or six beers?

Weak.

Freak.

Not all of us have Pale Ale coursing through our veins Sunil.

Would it make you feel any better if I made Dave promise not to Cozy my beer?

Ok Dave, don't cozy in Jeffs beer while he's watching.

here's one i've never seen......caught by a fella on my other forum.

i think the ID is complete, but thought i'd throw it yer guy's way.....what do you think?

it was caught in the CA delta.



Hysterocarpus traski?

I'd guess you really have to live way out in the tules to ever catch a fish that looks like that.

Actually, I'm surprised at the coloration. The ones I've seen come out of the Sacramento River have always been very pale and small (4-5 inches, maximum). How big is that thing? Do they get that kind of coloration when they get big?

P.S. I just turned down a trip to Tule land. My new boss wanted me to come out for "off-site" meetings over the weekend before Thanksgiving!

That thing has many Cichlidae features...

Almost looks like a Sea Kitten to me with those Kissee, Kissee lips

Sea Kitten:

good descriptions ken.

i thought it was huge too, a trophy for the species if it is a tule perch.....and VERY RARE......thought to be brought to the verge of extinction in the delta by the introduction of all the eastern species 100+ yrs ago (bg, gsf, res, warmouth, smb, lmb, etc. etc...)

i'm guessing between 5 and 6-inches long, hard to tell from that pic, but another pic showed his hand near fish, i'll see if i can get that up here.

here i found it....



he said the fish was floating, near death, and had been attacked up around dorsal fin which you can clearly see in this pic, he plucked it from water just to see what kind of fish it was.

Geez, how obvious can you make it? That's clearly one of those fancy and rare Zebra Crappies that you hear about all the time.

Neat looking fish!

Interesting, I'd never heard of a Tule Perch until you mentioned it. I was going to guess Sacramento Perch but the fish above doesn't quite look like a Sacramento Perch (the pronounced bump between the head and the dorsal fin).

i recently learned the largest tule perch on record is 8.7-inches. the fish above turns out is 7.25-inches. the books say a max of 6-inches, and the average sizes are between 4 and 6-inches....so its a pretty nice one, what i would call trophy for the species.

They are livebearers as well... Pretty unique fish! It would be interesting to try to produce a native Cali fish pond. Sacremento perch, tule perch and maybe some Sacremento pikeminnows(squawfish)...

i didnt pick up on the fact they are livebearers....cool cj...

the squaws would be top predator for sure. i dont know, you'd have to really love native fish to do a pond like that. to me, squawfish are smelly strange creatures. i've caught them here and there, they are aggressive and fight well tho..but they stink and are poor boney table fare.

i think i posted a pic of one earlier here....they get huge....


edit post....here it is again:

this was caught by a fella on my other forum while trolling for trout at a lake near me:



it weighed about 9 pounds and went ~30-inches.

I still want Sacramento Perch in my pond.





And a Manatee. I've always wanted a Manatee.

jhap, you ever seen one of these?



crazy

story here

I've never seen one live, but I have encountered them in the video game "Endless Ocean" for the Wii! Pretty lame, I know, but stuff like that doesn't seem to come to the surface often!

Nope Dave, over the years I've seen some fairly strange stuff at the ocean but never an Oar Fish.

Nasty!

Throw it back in!

The saltwater version of a GSF? Bigmouthed and just about worthless...

JHAP and his evil twin DIED have been mutating GSF to send to a certain NY State pond.

That fish is not the result of a top secret breeding experiment as far as you know.








Dave, I think we have too much Alligator and not enough GSF in him, but it's getting close.

Hmmmm, so many possible replies are ricocheting around my balding cranium.. yet I like posting here too much to be banned at this point in time.

Good tasting, but watch out for the spines in the dorsal fin!

Yea, it's hard to dispute the truth sometimes.


Jeff, take advantage of the cranium...shave (or pluck) the last couple hairs and sell advertising space on ebay. The PB Bass would look great!!!!

And I thought all of the GSF dues money was secretly going for beer. I rescind my motion for a financial audit.

Carry on Commander.