What kind of fish is this?

[jcrewguy]

My friend caught this last weekend in a local pond here in MA but we have no clue what species it is. It has the same kind of purple tint on the side like a rainbow trout but it also has sucker lips. Could it possibly be a carpsucker?

[nofearengineer]

Looks like a Chub to me, but I'm not sure if they live in Massachusetts.

[Captmikestarrett]

I am thinking a sideways fish. It seems to defy gravity...

Chub maybe or sometimes referred to as a fallfish.

Capt Mike

[AUFred]

looks like a white amur.

[nofearengineer]

I think the dorsal fin is all wrong for it to be a White Amur. Amur have a convex shaped dorsal, while chub have the concave shape in the picture. Also, the tail looks a little skinny to be an Amur. They usually have very "tall" tails.

[MississippiBoy]

Originally Posted by nofearengineer

I think the dorsal fin is all wrong for it to be a White Amur. Amur have a convex shaped dorsal, while chub have the convex shape in the picture. Also, the tail looks a little skinny to be an Amur. They usually have very "tall" tails.

Ummm, you wanna try that one again?

[jcrewguy]

It was caught using a plastic lure (if that helps), don't white amur primarily feed on on real bait like doughballs, cereal, corn & such?

[nofearengineer]

Originally Posted by MississippiBoy

Ummm, you wanna try that one again?

Haha....ooops. I'll fix it.

[nofearengineer]

Originally Posted by jcrewguy

It was caught using a plastic lure (if that helps), don't white amur primarily feed on on real bait like doughballs, cereal, corn & such?

Yes...grass carp do eat a lot of detritus and vegetable material, but they also eat their fair share of water insects and things like that. So finesse type plastics can catch them. Now that is some fishing skills, catching carp with artificials.

[Fishnngolfn]

Originally Posted by nofearengineer

Yes...grass carp do eat a lot of detritus and vegetable material, but they also eat their fair share of water insects and things like that. So finesse type plastics can catch them. Now that is some fishing skills, catching carp with artificials.

You can easily catch a carp on artificial lures. You just need to texpose a 5/0 hook and try not to spook the carp as you drag your line across their backs before setting the hook.

[nofearengineer]

Okay...let me amend my position ROFL. Catching carp with artificials somewhere in the gum region shows true fishing skills.

You ain't kidding though about snagging carp. Man...we used to do that at Hovey Lake here in Southern Indiana, and boy was it a blast.

[AUFred]

Grass Carp are a blast to catch. They fight like a deep sea fish. They get airborne & the bulldog away from you.

[MallenManson]

Originally Posted by nofearengineer

Okay...let me amend my position ROFL. Catching carp with artificials somewhere in the gum region shows true fishing skills.

You ain't kidding though about snagging carp. Man...we used to do that at Hovey Lake here in Southern Indiana, and boy was it a blast.

Around here, the DNR call it Force Feeding.
Why do Government officials work hard to come up with stupid names for junk?
Snagging is 100% accurate and self explanatory. It even has less syllables!
Force feeding could be aptly applied to Mallen being fed a bar of soap as a kid though!

[Fishnngolfn]

Originally Posted by MallenManson

Around here, the DNR call it Force Feeding.
Why do Government officials work hard to come up with stupid names for junk?
Snagging is 100% accurate and self explanatory. It even has less syllables!
Force feeding could be aptly applied to Mallen being fed a bar of soap as a kid though!

Only if you swallowed the soap.

[jcrewguy]

Thanks for all the info guys! Turns out there isn't any state record posted for a fallfish here in MA so my friend could have been the record holder had we not released it. Oh well, now he wants to go back and fish the same area until we land another

[Abbeysdad]

Originally Posted by AUFred

Grass Carp are a blast to catch. They fight like a deep sea fish. They get airborne & the bulldog away from you.

I agree...I remember some of the best fun I ever had fishing the East branch of the Tioughnioga river was catching large carp. You could catch a trout and just reel it in, but these monster carp had real muscle and fight in them. They would dig in and make runs back 'n forth and you had to play them to get them in without them breaking the line or dragging you in the water!

As fer the fish, it's definitely an Ugly fish.

[BigBassin144]

Originally Posted by nofearengineer

Okay...let me amend my position ROFL. Catching carp with artificials somewhere in the gum region shows true fishing skills.

I agree Although every time a break out my white fat free shad, my dad calls it my Carp Crank, lol.

BB

[AUFred]

Originally Posted by Abbeysdad

I agree...I remember some of the best fun I ever had fishing the East branch of the Tioughnioga river was catching large carp. You could catch a trout and just reel it in, but these monster carp had real muscle and fight in them. They would dig in and make runs back 'n forth and you had to play them to get them in without them breaking the line or dragging you in the water!

As fer the fish, it's definitely an Ugly fish.

My kids built some memories catching grass carp when they were young. Taught them how to fight a fish until it was tired.
This is a long time ago because my son is 19 now:

[Abbeysdad]

My kids built some memories catching grass carp when they were young. Taught them how to fight a fish until it was tired. This is a long time ago because my son is 19 now

Those fish are almost as big as those youngins! Bet they had a time getting them to shore!

[AUFred]

Originally Posted by Abbeysdad

Those fish are almost as big as those youngins! Bet they had a time getting them to shore!

You can't tell from that picture how muddy I got helping them land them. They each landed one. They were using 10 pound test on a Berkeley spincast outfit.