I caught this fall fish last night on a small creek. i got him on a size 8 wooly bugger he weighted in at 2 lbs even the state record is 2.5lbs :shock:
what species of fish is that?
Nice catch! Care to descibe its culinary qualities? And how was the “fight”?
“Fall fish” or “Fallfish”
Semotilus corporalis
Described as “the largest minnow east of the Rockies”
A friend sparked my interest when he shared a picture of one he caught while fishing for smallies.
It is apparently closely related to the “Creek Chub,” though larger in size.
I think I recall reading that the record is over 3.5lbs, caught in Maine.
The fish fought very hard it took me like 5 min to get him in i had him on my orvis 5wt pulled alot of drag all the big rainbows are in that creek spawning now so i thought it had to be a big bow when i hooked it. The record i was talking about that is 2.5 is the vermont state record its been held since 1978. Goin back again today 
Congratulations!
Hey there VT,
So your photo is taken in the kitchen. Does that mean you ate that “minnow”???
Mark
Fall fish love dry flys
Congrats on the catch.
Arround my place it is called a white fish/creek chub.
To bad those genes are no longer swiming arround to produce more fish like that.
Have a good weekend,
chris
Congratulations, are they a good eating fish ?
The largest minnow West of the rockies is the Squawfish which is very poor eating. I caught a large one ( about 10 lbs or so ) and filleted it . The meat stunk when I put it in the frypan. so When I was sure It was cooked properly I took it outside and gave it to the cats. They refused to eat it. :shock:
chris from canada: To bad those genes are no longer swiming arround to produce more fish like that.
I think some people kill fish just so they can say" Look what I can do!"
Even though Fall Fish are usually considered a trash fish, they can put up a pretty good fight on light tackle.
Just my thoughts,
Two Weight
Congrats on a nice fish! I had the record fall fish in Pennslyvania about 32 years ago, man that was a long time ago. Usually a smallish fish but can get 2-3 pounds and as you said, a great fight.
Ever consider letting the spawners do their thing unhindered? Unless there’s no successful natural reproduction, or the natural repro is insanely good, that is.
Marty
Interesting thread,
Don’t worry about the semi negative aspect of harvesting that fish.
It is only food for thought ; for the future.
We have all done it in the past!
Now we bring a camera to the fish, instead of the fish to the camera.
All in all, it is a very impressive fish.
chris
I usually never keep fish but i thought this may have broken the record and i did not have a scale and here you have to have a warden inspect the fish. There are litterally thousands of these fall fish in that river right now.
VT,
I would not lose sleep over keeping such a fish. If you don’t keep a couple for eating each season, why bother?
Anyway, you didn’t answer the previous inquiries, did you eat the fish? Was it any good?
Thanks,
Paul
I thought that historically out East, those were placed in the garden for fertilizer for corn. Anyone heard of or done that?
Cheers,
MontanaMoose
Yep Heard of that, also know of a group of guys who Bow fish the streams and rivers around here for carp,Eel’s and whatever else is leagal to take by bow and they dump them in the mountain’s for the bear’s…
Also have a cousin who keeps Carp for the table, Depending on where he catches them…Don’t know of anyone who keeps Fallfish…Nore any idea wheather or not they’d be decent table fare… Have caught them in the 3+ lb range a lot of fun and just as welcome as any other fish that’ll smack whatever I’m tossing…
No i did not eat the fish. He was turned into trapping bait for the fall trapping season.
I think the biggest fallfish I ever caught/seen was about 6 inches long 
I have certainly heard of using fallfish for fertilizer, especially for corn planted in hills. I have also heard of catching them and killing them just to thin them out and keep them from stealing eggs from spawning bass and bream. They will readily hit on flies year 'round in Tennessee. I have also heard of using them as bait for trapping or to sun-render fish oil for trapping bait. BTW, sun-rendering fish oil isn’t as smelly as it sounds. It’s considerably worse. :shock:
Ed