Looking for a little help on this fella from yesterday; he's about 8" long. Some kind of shiner, maybe? Never caught one of these before; thanks for any help...
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...psssepjvyi.jpg
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Looking for a little help on this fella from yesterday; he's about 8" long. Some kind of shiner, maybe? Never caught one of these before; thanks for any help...
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...psssepjvyi.jpg
Looks like what we used to call a Roach or Shiner back in my younger days in New Jersey. We periodically would catch big ones like that while trying to catch smaller ones to use as live bait.
Dennis
I was curious as to what part of the country "that" came out of ....
Looks like some version of a Whitefish??
It' a Shad
Looks like a shiner to me. Though not native to CA some lakes have populations that developed from shiners acquired for bait that escaped or were released. The fish we have are Golden Shiners but the color varies and they can appear more silver or bronze or slightly olive. I have caught several that look very much like the one in the photo.
Holy Crap!...Yeah, I reckon it could be. Never caught a shiner that big personally. But it does look like one. I've caught shad though that look just like it as well.
We always called them Dace when I was a kid. https://www.maggotdrowning.com/fish/dace.htm
Jim Smith
Yes looks like it could be a Shad or a Dace.
At first glance, I considered it might be what we call in these parts, a small white bass, but I can't see clearly enough of the dorsal fin. Now that would be a BIG shiner for what we have around here, at least for what I've seen. But thanks for posting it.
It was the coloration of the fins that lead me to think Golden Shiner. Note the tint to the tail and fins. Shad tails have that tint, at least in any image or fish that I have seen. Dace also have darker tails. Anal fin is different too but that is obstructed in the photo.
The goldens that I have caught have ranged from 5 to 9 inches. Caught on nymphs and also tiny dries during a midge hatch. They have had a wide range of body color but all have that tint to the fine and tail.
But it could be something else too I suppose.
That is not a Shad. I've netted enough Shad for bait when I lived in OK to know. I'm going with Golden Shiner as well. It has the body shape for one. I caught a Golden Shiner about that big on a Betts popper a few years ago down in OK. Really threw me for a loop when I pulled it into my kayak.
I agreed on a 2nd look that it probably was a shiner. Larger than any shiner ive ever personaly seen, but does appear to be a shiner. First glance though i was thinking a small gizzard shad.
Sure looks like a golden shiner to me.
I'd say Golden Shiner as well.
For comparison, here's a Striped Shiner (or maybe Common Shiner?) I've caught:
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...psjglcw78h.jpg
And here's a Gizzard Shad:
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...ps9563cf34.jpg
I'm going with golden shiner also. It looks like the lateral line goes strongly downward and it's appearance, from what I can see, is a better match for a golden than any of the other species mentioned.
Dave, where did you catch your shiner? I looked in the Peterson Field Guide to Fresnwater Fishes and the shown range for the striped shiner abuts but doesn't go into Iowa. But the easiest way to tell the two apart is to look at the back. If the stripes join behind the dorsal fin forming a V, it's a striped, if they continue to run parallel to the body, it's a common.
Here's another one from another river:
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...psiy8qlk5y.jpg
I caught them this past summer in the Volga River in NE Iowa, and in the Skunk river near Ames (central) Iowa. Both are smallmouth bass streams.
I didn't know what they were the first time I caught them. A buddy on Instagram suggested it was a Striped Shiner. I Googled for pictures of Striped Shiners and Common Shiners for comparison. They DO seem to be a better match for the Striped Shiners than the Common Shiners. The DNR lists Common Shiners as populating many of our streams. Could be misidentification on their part...wouldn't be the first time I've corrected them. But in this case, its entirely possible I could be wrong. :)
Why guess?
Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism Operations Office
512 SE 25th Ave., Pratt, KS 67124
(620) 672-5911
I am sure a biologist with the department would know for sure?
Good suggestion; I should have thought of it myself. Here's the reply I received this morning after sending them the pic...
Based on the photo, I believe that is a golden shiner. They are one of the larger shiners in Kansas and do offer a bit of a sport fishing opportunity as they can be caught on flies, jigs, insects and worms. Thanks for the photo,
--
David Breth
Fisheries Program Specialist
Dace. Have caught them that size.
Definitely a golden shiner. Being a retired fisheries biologist with TVA for 35.5 years, I've seen thousands of these fish throughout the U.S. They are a very popular baitfish and many folks release unused shiners from their bait buckets at the end of the day. Golden shiners get pretty large; the larger ones are used for bass fishing in Florida to catch monster Florida largemouths.
Gary J.
Gary,
First off, i's great to see you post again.
Secondly, about 40 years ago Field & Stream did an article on fishing for 10-12" golden shiners to use as bait for very big largemouth bass. Your comment brings that back. In fact, as I sit here staring at my screen, the cover photo and quite a bit of the article comes back to me. Thanks for that. :)
Regards,
Ed
I remember a friend who grew up on the banks of the Pascagoula River, just about the Gulf, telling me that golden shiners were illegal down there and a local warden could hear one being dropped in the water a 1/2 mile away. I check the regulation and found nothing about the use of shiner in the Magnolia State back then. I know people will get very upset with you if you have a few left over and dump them in their lake or pond thinking the bass will have a good snack. A few always survive and create a problem later on.