OMG... Redhorse

[frozen-fire]

MJL and myself went off to our river of choice this morning in hopes that the recent rain may have moved some fish around.

I didn't have a lot of time to work with as I had to be back by around noon, so we quickly fished our usual spots and got into a few small shakers.

 

Drifting a juicy jumbo chartreuse roe bag in this sweet looking run, my float shoots down and I set the hook into what seemed like the bottom of the river.

This snag suddenly started to move ever so slowly back and forth. At first, I thought it was just a log or branch that came off and was coming in with the current. It wasn't until it surfaced that I realized it was indeed a fish. First thought was that I had hooked into a carp as it was very thick bodied and dark in colour.

After some thrashing around at the surface, we clued in that it was a sucker. A big redhorse.

 

I know it's not a huge chrome steelhead, but this fish totally made the trip for me! Being quite familiar with the small size of the common white sucker, this redhorse was a treat! When MJL told me that they get much bigger than this, my mind was blown. Move over steelhead... it's time for carp-sized suckers

 

[Photoz]

Hm m m m . . . ? Fins & scales of a carp . . . . . face of a sucker? That makes me wonder if carp & suckers interbreed? I know that's definately a sucker of some kind . . . . and it's a helluva good one . . . . I think it could be a new species . . . . either a suckarp or a big carpsucker, eh?

[Gregoire]

Nice catch.

Edited April 22, 2012 by fishgreg

[Rod Caster]

I can see why horse is in the name! Unbeleivable!

[niagarangler89]

Wow, that's a huge one ff! Awesome catch!

 

Any idea which species of redhorse that is?

[Leecher]

Good god Look at the size of this thing

Biggest sucker I've ever seen They sure grow big in your area

Good going FF

[Nipfisher]

. . . either a suckarp or a big carpsucker, eh?

 

 

Hey wach your language. This is a family site. :rofl2:

[tb4me]

Are you 100% sure thats a redhorse? We catch them here in the Grand river and they dont look anything like that..The redhorse suckers here in the grand have red tail and fins..That one is big so it could just be an old fish that lost much of its colour suppose..Either way good job!

[misfish]

Last outing with Mike,He caught a true redhorse. Thats one big sucker.

[tb4me]

ok after some research I found that There are several species of redhorse, including the black, golden, river, shorthead, silver, and greater.. Im thinking this one pictured above is the Greater Redhorse..There I learn somthing new every day!!!

[misfish]

ok after some research I found that There are several species of redhorse, including the black, golden, river, shorthead, silver, and greater.. Im thinking this one pictured above is the Greater Redhorse..There I learn somthing new every day!!!

 

There are differnt ones,but a true redhorse has the red fins.

[Garfisher]

Not all redhorse have red fins, most do have red fins though. Nice fish

Edited April 22, 2012 by Garfisher

[misfish]

Not all redhorse have red fins, most do have red fins though. Nice fish

 

 

True redhorse, has the red fins

[Dave A]

Whateer, that's got to be fun to catch!

[azebra]

Thats a hell of a specimen! Iv had many suckers, but how would I distinguished between a redhorse(witch are a bit rare) rite? and a white regular sucker.. are the find red and the side of the head look like a horse? thats all I can come up with short of googling them.

[mikeseb]

Holy moly i had no idea they got that big! The biggest ive had so far this year was about 5 pounds

[hammercarp]

Wow! That is a huge sucker. What a surprise that must have been.

[The Urban Fisherman]

wow - awesome fish! Good job!

[frozen-fire]

An aquatic biologist contacted me and asked me some questions.

 

Without a proper look at the mouth, it's hard to tell the species, but he thinks it's a greater redhorse due to the size.

 

People have told me that it is a silver redhorse though.

 

Here's a better shot of the head and mouth.

 

[hammercarp]

Great picture, what a beast of a sucker.

[Rod Caster]

I can see where dust-buster got their design template from.

 

Did the bio say anything about these fish being rare?

[Jon]

As the aquatic biologist in question, I'm going to mostly change my mind about calling it a Greater Redhorse. I sent the link to a few other fish-heads and the majority of responses came back "probably Silver Redhorse but without having it in hand, it is tough to be 100% sure"

 

In terms of rarity, the Silver Redhorse has a pretty wide distribution in Ontario while the Greater Redhorse is found more in southern Ontario in the Great Lakes and lower Ottawa River drainage areas.

 

I always find these reports of non-sport fish to be very interesting. There are a lot more fish out there than what most people think.

 

Good luck this weekend!

 

Jon

[frozen-fire]

This is the Ontario record for the silver redhorse:

 

8.81 lbs

27.0" length

17.0" girth

 

You think it was a potential record?!

I put it between 8-10lbs.

I do think it was longer than 27.0" though... and it definitely had some thick shoulders!

[Jon]

For those you of still interested in the id of this fish, an American authority on Redhorses confirms it is a Silver Redhorse. Almost surely a female but very golden/brassy.

 

Jon

[ehg]

Pretty cool catch!

Something a little different than all those cookie cutter 'bows.