[Any Sturgeon fishing tips for a newbie?]

macfish here. Andy, it's been a long time since I've been around. Never caught or fished for lake sturgeon but I did catch a shovelnose sturgeon on the Mississippi on a spinner many years ago. They are one of the strangest looking fish I've ever seen - kind of like a Klingon version of fish. They are quite a bit smaller and legal to keep while pallid and lake sturgeon are protected in Missouri and must be released immediately. Sturgeon are definitely on my bucket list with alligator gar and a few others. Good luck! Jonathan

[Bamboo Tart]

macfish here. Horace, you got me. I thought you were going to be using bamboo as your rod, not your pod. It does looks great! Jonathan

[Types of carp fishing]

macfish here. Barbelfloat, you have instigated a very interesting thread and discussion. I was a little confused at first by your distinctions but you have written your piece very well and concisely. I guess I would fit into the numbers group because I have not yet been bitten by a bug to catch any particular size fish (or numbers either for that matter) more than a bug just to catch carp. Really my reasons for fishing for carp have more to do with meditation time, contemplating life, etc. It doesn't have so much to do with fish in particular as it does with achieving and maintaining a certain level of good mental health, spiritual health, appreciation of life. I'm probably doing a very poor job of explaining it, but it is why a blank can be at least as beneficial and sometimes even more so than catching. Jonathan

[New PB Blue Cat]

macfish here. Pat, congratulations on your new PB blue! That's a very nice looking fish. Is it around the 40-50lb. range? I've been fishing a lot this summer specifically to get a big blue. I've gotten one small blue to shore but it was only about a 5lber. We have some nice blues in Missouri and more than our share of good sized flatheads as well. Big cats are a blast! Jonathan

[Weird thing happened today...]

I suppose it could have possibly been a turtle since I never got a good look at it. It just really felt like a carp taking off when it sees a net. I suppose that I'll never know...

macfish here. Several folks have said it sounded like a turtle to them. I have been battling turtles this summer for the first time in a long time. I've been fishing for blue catfish using cut bait and have caught and also lost several large softshell turtles. I don't now how they react where you're at, but once I got them close to shore the way they were swimming was decidedly different than any fish. I could clearly feel them "paddling" meaning they were using their front legs to try to swim away from the direction they were being pulled. It was a sensation unlike any I have felt with any fish I have caught, sort of an alternating pull one way then the other way. When I first hooked them I was unsure for awhile what was on the line but once I got them closer it was clear that it was not a fish. As far as something biting tentatively then no action and then something being "on the line" when it was retrieved - that describes exactly what happened to me maybe three weeks ago and it was a softshell on the line. Apparently they can swallow a hook without even knowing what they've done. Maybe that's because I was using circle hooks so they probably were not pricked by the hook point. Jonathan

[Finally got to go]

macfish here. Charlie D, nice pictures, especially the last one with the swans in flight. Jonathan

[carpin ultra light]

macfish here. Nice catch! How big was the fish? Since the tippet was so light did it take you much longer than a "normal" fight to get it in? Thanks, Jonathan

[Snake heads]

macfish here. I did not see the article on the snakeheads but invasive species are a fact that we cannot ignore. Sometimes it seems like when invasive species are spoken about it is in reference to the coming end of the world. I am not trying to make light of something that can be quite problematic. Two current examples which come to mind are the emerald ash borer which is a very serious pest in my state of Missouri (and many other states as well) and mountain pine beetles which are currently destroying many trees in the West. About six miles from where I live there is a river which is infested with Asian carp. I've seen enough of them that I cannot see how they can possibly be controlled or removed. I don't remember ever hearing of any invasive species that were stopped. Can anyone else? Once they are loose it seems nigh impossible to get them back in the box. On the other hand I know that sea lamprey used to be a very severe problem for the lake trout and other fish in the Great Lakes but evidently they figured out to control them though they are still around. Already they seem to have something which can treat trees to protect them against the emerald ash borer. Maybe there is some type of control mechanism out there. Complete removal, in my opinion, is probably a pipe dream. Jonathan

mountain pine beetle

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/enviro...le-threat_N.htm

emerald ash borer

http://www.emeraldashborer.info/

[Georgia Jewel : a PB, a Lump, and a snake!!!!]

macfish here. Congratulations on your new PB! Fine looking fish! Jonathan

[Life Time Carp Angler]

macfish here. JD, welcome to the forum and to the U.S. (belatedly) and to a gathering of mostly catch and release carpers. You might be correct that there are few or no catch and release carpers where you are, or at least none that you have met yet. I am in an area where I've met no catch and release carpers but there are carpers here who catch and keep and probably others who use alternative methods as well. Eventually I will probably meet some catch and release carping folks as I have with other species. I may have a pretty broad and optimistic view of anglers in general in the U.S. but I think more folks are moving in the catch and release direction. Jonathan

[17 Fish and.......]

macfish here. Horace, I have been reading your posts for a long time now and have gotten pretty used to your wonderful renditions of how the time passed. Overall this has been one of the better ones except I found one thing seriously lacking. I was really disappointed that you had nothing at all in it about food. How could four, fully grown men manage to catch all of those fish without a single bit of nutrition? (Unless I just missed it?) Great job guys, congrats to the winners (all ya all)! Jonathan

[What kind of cat is this?]

That IS an odd-lookig Channel Cat. Most of the Channels around here that are still that small are still silver-and-spotty.

I suppose I'd have to get picky and start counting fin rays to positively ID the little brown guy. We have Flatheads in Michigan, so I'd expect them to be in your area, too, and I have never seen a really juvenile Flathead. It still looks more like a Bullhead to me; the head doesn't look Flathead-ish enough to me.

macfish here. I have only seen two flatheads less than five pounds. One I caught myself and one was caught by a friend and offered to me when he had to leave. (It was released to get bigger. ) They were both around three pounds and both were quite different than adult flatheads. By different I mean in color. I don't know what juvenile or smaller flats look like in other waters but here they are very dark, almost black in color with distinctive white stomachs. One other characteristic of the flathead that I forgot to mention that is unique to the flathead is that the lower jaws juts out beyond the upper jaw. That characteristic by itself will tell you if you have a flathead and no other catfish has that. Jonathan

Here's a good up close look at a flathead's head:

Same net with a larger flathead - notice the bottom jaw extending beyond the top

[addition to an old topic]

macfish here. Anna, that rod looks really nice. I have a very old bamboo fly rod that was given to me that is almost worn out but is the nicest feeling fly rod I've ever held and used. It's slower and softer than anything else I have tried but it plays fish so nicely. Your rod is probably faster and heavier action since it is not a fly rod. What was the reel you paired with it, something like a Mitchell 300? Thanks, Jonathan

[What kind of cat is this?]

macfish here. One thing about lipping a fish is that is generally it gives better control of the fish. When you've got one that has three sets of sharp, nasty pincushions (pectoral and dorsal fins) it isn't such a bad hold, at least with a fish that small. When they're larger and say a flathead I keep my hands out of their mouths unless I have gloves on. They have very small but sharp teeth and can tear up fingers and skin quickly. When I'm holding larger cats shy of 10lb. I'll often actually hold them upside down, that is I have my palm spread across their stomach (instead of my palm across their back) and then finger and thumb straddling their pectoral fins with their tail facing down toward my elbow. That gives me more control and they're not as able to fin me. Jonathan

[What kind of cat is this?]

macfish here. It looks like some type of bullhead to me also. My guess is either black, brown or yellow bullhead with the yellow being least likely just by its color and brown bullhead being the most likely. In the black bullhead the back edge of the pectoral fins/spines have no teeth or serrations on them. (Be very careful when checking these. Bullheads are better at finning you than most cats and their fins are sharp like hypodermic needles and fin wounds feel like bee stings, commonly swell up and sometimes get infected.) Both brown and yellow bullheads have mottled patterns of color on their bodies and serrations on their pectoral fins/spines. Brown bullheads have slightly forked tails. Yellow bullheads have rounded tails which look somewhat like the tail of a flathead catfish. Bullheads are good to eat although if they come from very muddy water they may have a muddy or less appealing taste. I caught some in a lake a number of years ago in Northern Wisconsin close to Hayward where the water was clear and the bottom of the lake visible up to ten feet down. I believe they were black or brown bullheads and the largest was about a pound and a half. They were mighty fine eating! Jonathan

black bullhead: no serrations on pectoral fin/spine; dark-colored or spotted chin barbels

brown bullhead: serrations on pectoral fin/spine; dark chin barbels; anal fin 20-24 rays; tail very slightly forkd

yellow bullhead: serrations on pectoral fin/spine; light or white chin barbels; anal fin 23-27 rays; rounded tail

From A.J. McClane (editor) Field Guide to Freshwater Fishes of North America, published by Holt, Rhinehart and Winston, Inc., 1978

P.S. That is not a flathead catfish. The head is the wrong shape and not large enough in reference to the rest of the body and most important the tail shape is totally wrong. Flatheads have a rounded tail shape, not forked as in the pictured fish. Nice looking fish!

[Short outing]

macfish here. Redpeachpackbait, it was a good story though I feel for you. I agree with classiccat on your fish. I think from the outline of the anal fin that it is probably a large channel cat, not a blue. The blue's anal fin is longer and straight. The channel's anal fin is more curved or rounded like the fish in your pic. Channel cats don't have to have spots. I have caught them as small as 1/4lb. and they were blue in color and had no spots but they were definitely channels and not a blue (as determined by the shape of the anal fin). You got yourself a great looking catfish! Your sacrifices in the way of searching out good waters will eventually pay off for you. Jonathan

[seeing as zoomie stole my one fish only story lol =P]

macfish here. On the surface she may not look nice to us, but if she got that big even with her limitations and the evidence of her struggles then she's got a great heart. Tight lines! Jonathan

[Over 20 Carp, a PB Mirror and....................]

macfish here. Horace and Tim, congratulations on all of your captures and especially Horace on your new PB mirror! One thing that puzzles me a tad and maybe you said it before and I didn't see it or pay attention, but how far (high) is it above the water when you're up on your fishing platform above Wallace Dam Lake? It looks like from the video that you're up quite aways. Great video, by the way! Thanks, Jonathan

[Family fishing, picnic, and a special catch]

macfish here. Jerome, great job publishing your family and fishing successes! I too like having the viewer added all in one box instead of having to go through a series of photos 1/box in a thread. Thanks, Jonathan

[September carping]

macfish here. Beautiful pictures! It sure is nice to see crystal clear water and the fish that thrive there. Thanks, Jonathan

[UK Catfish]

macfish here. Paul, very nice looking fish. Congrats on your capture! Cats are definitely one of my favorites. Jonathan

[I DID IT 500 POSTS]

macfish here. Yup, congratulations but just don't disappear like I did for awhile after I hit the 3,000 mark. I was pretty much gone for about a year or so though it was for good reasons. Things had changed a bit during that time. I'm still not sure that I'm back up to speed. Jonathan

[more fish! - one huge carp!]

macfish here. Way to go! That last fish is a hog! Great job. Jonathan

[Eastport Puts Out]

macfish here. Congratulations on having a great session! I only got out for a little while and didn't have any bites though the carp were jumping quite a bit today. Why do you say the egg retaining fish will die? I thought I heard or read they would reabsorb the eggs if they weren't released. Jonathan

[My first Grasser!]

macfish here. Congratulations! I have never caught a grass carp though they are in one river that I've fished quite a lot. Jonathan