Exotic Species

The 7-foot, 500-pound Salmon!

May 10, 2016 By JD Leave a Comment

Here's my artists' rendition of the sabertooth salmon!

Four to six million years ago, the Sabertooth Salmon swam up rivers of present-day California and Oregon. Though primarily a plankton feeder, the beast measured 5 to 7 feet in length and often weighed over 100 pounds!

Scientists believe it may have occasionally been able to reach the 500-pound mark!

OMG!! Think about floating into a hole full of 7-foot chrome rollers. WOW!

To read all about this massive salmon and what scientists have been learning about those huge 4-inch teeth from recent fossils discoveries in my article in the May 2016 issue of Salmon Trout Steelheader Magazine.

6 Strange Trout Varieties You Probably Haven’t Caught

November 24, 2015 By JD 8 Comments

Here are 6 varieties of trout (3 wild and 3 hybridized) that you don’t see every day…

WILD FISH

Orhid Trout

Orhid Trout (Pgoto: Rabnikpavik.com)

Native to Orhid Lake in the Republic of Macedonia, which used to be part of Yugoslavia, these brown trout relatives were brought to the US by the Fish & Wildlife Service because of their ability to spawn in lakes (not tributary streams). They were planted in Tennessee, Colorado, Wyoming and Minnesota and there are few if any Orchids left anywhere these days.

In Lake Orhid, these trout are on the brink of extinction due to sewage, silt and pollution flowing into the lake.

Aurora Trout

These interesting trout are a relative to brook trout (char) but lack the spots of the brookie. They originally concurred in only two lakes in Ontario…but disappeared from both in the 1960. Acid rain is presumed to be the cause of their demise.

Fish & Game managers have been raising them and releasing them into a few lakes throughout the Province. In 2003, Aurora’s were listed as Endangered in Canada.

Sevan Trout

Sevan Trout (Photo: Intechopen.com)

Native to only Lake Sevan in Armenia, the Sevan Trout is a relative of the brown trout. Unfortunately their numbers in the lake have dwindled to dangerously low levels.

According to www.fishbase.org, Two spawning stocks are known in Lake Sevan: one spawns in the northwestern corner of the lake from the beginning of November till the end of December; the other spawns at the southeastern corner, from the middle or the end of January till the end of March.

This fish approaches the lakes shorelines twice a year: from April till July and from October till December. In mid winter and at the end of summer, it leaves the shores to stay at greater depth. Adults feed heavily on sand hoppers.

HATCHERY FISH

Palomino Trout

Palomino Trout Photo: www.fishhound.com

These odd looking critters, from what I can ascertain, are a hybridized rainbow.

In 1954, a golden looking rainbow female showed up in a West Virginia hatchery that was bred with a “normal” rainbow and the offspring ended up looking like this.

By 1963 the West Virginia hatcheries had developed the strain into the “West Virginia Centennial Golden Trout,” which are planted to this day.

Blue Trout

Blue Trout (Photo: PennLive.com)

Another West Virginian oddity is the “Blue Trout,” another genetic mutation found in hatchery-reared rainbow trout.

It’s very rare, but a few are raised each year. These rainbows look much like standard rainbows, only the sport a blueish hue.

It’s thought that the blue shade comes from a mutation that causes a deficiency in the fish’s thyroid, which produces hormones that affect the fish’s coloring.

Lightning Trout

Corona Lake Lightning Trout. (Photo: www.fishinglakes.com)

Very similar to the Palomino Trout of West Virginia, “Lightning Trout” is a hybridized rainbow that originated in California’s Mount Lassen Trout facility.

Apparently, a gold-colored rainbow male was bred with standard hatchery ‘bows to create these bright yellow trout that are popular in many put-and-take lakes in the West.

The Top 5 Most Dangerous Fish!

May 29, 2014 By JD 8 Comments

Dangerfish The GLoomis rod company’s slogan is “Fear no Fish,” which is fine when you’re dealing with species like salmon, trout, steelhead and bass. But, there are truly some fish out there you should fear. Some will eat you; others will sting or bite you to death. And one will even swim up inside your very sensitive body parts!

Here are some of the fish you need to stay away from…

Stone Fish

So, the next time you’re out wandering around the Great Barrier Reef at low tide and you step on what appears to be a sharp rock…look again. You’ve probably just accidentally impaled yourself on the extremely venomous spines of one of the world’s most deadly fish — the stonefish.

By the way, I\’m not a rock…oops…too late for you!

These ambush predators look a lot like rocks and use that camouflage to help them catch prey. If you still have your wits about you, take a closer look and you’ll notice a row of 13 spines along the fish’s back. Of course, by now the excruciating pain and tremendous swelling is probably all you can think about…

Depending on how well you stuck yourself, you may experience weakness, temporary paralysis and shock….and, oh yea, maybe even death. Our best advice: get to the doc immediately!

Candirú

Reason #1 not to swim in the Amazon (as if you really needed one): The Candirú. While he’s only a few inches long, this little relative of the catfish can bring a world of hurt.

Attracted to urine and blood, the candirú can find its way into your bathing suit and then, um…how shall we say this…uh, swims “upstream” through any opening in the body (and I’m not talking anything above the waist here!). Once in “there,” he erects his spine to hold himself in place and goes about his business — which just happens to be feeding on blood and tissue. YEEEEEOOOOOWWWW!

You don\’t want me swimming where the sun don\’t shine!

In most cases, you’ll have to have this little bugger removed surgically…which can’t be a whole lot of fun, either.

And speaking of no fun…

Escolar

The escolar may look harmless enough…and indeed, he can’t do much to you in the water. It’s what happens when you eat one, however, that makes the escolar truly a fish to fear! You see, eating the flesh of these fish can cause explosive, oily yellow or orange diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, headache and last but certainly not least, anal leakage. Yikes!!

Don’t worry, I don’t bite!

The escolar is a type of snake mackerel that cannot metabolize the wax esters naturally found in its diet. These esters are called gempylotoxin, and are very similar to castor or mineral oil. This is what gives the flesh of escolar its oily texture — and it’s nickname “Ex-Lax Fish.”

Supposedly, you can eat small portions of the fish (and it’s said to be very tasty) without gastronomical disaster, but I think I’m gonna pass!

Be careful out there…escolar is often called “butterfish,” “oilfish,” or “waloo/walu” in markets and some sushi restaurants will serve it as “super white tuna” or “king tuna.”

Bull Shark

After hearing about the Candirú and Escolar, dealing with a bull shark almost sounds like a better option…until you consider that these toothy monsters are one of nature’s most perfect predators, and are highly unpredictable. What makes them super creepy is their ability to swim in both fresh and salt water.

Got any floss??

In fact, Bulls have been caught in the Mississippi River as far upstream as Illinois!! Growing to nearly 12 feet in length, these grumpy buggers are responsible for more unprovoked attacks on humans than just about any other shark on the planet.

Blue-Ringed Octopus

You’re starting to have a difficult time seeing and it feels like you’re going to puke. Then, you can’t see a thing and speaking becomes a chore. In a matter of moments, you’re paralized and taking a breath is next to impossible. And the really bad news is you may be dead in a few minutes.

I may look like a harmless laval lamp, but…

What the heck happened?

Technically speaking, Tetrodotoxin is coursing through your blood stream, causing motor paralysis and, sometimes, respiratory arrest…which, of course, can lead to a heart attack.

In layman’s terms, you’ve just been bitten by a blue-ringed octopus and, hate to bring this up but, there’s no known antidote.

Obviously it’s a good idea know where all your appendages are when you’re messing around in shallow reefs and tide pools from northern Australia to Japan!

California’s Exotic Fish Species

March 20, 2014 By JD 4 Comments

Chances are, your favorite California sportfish is probably a foreigner. An outsider. An import. Yep, the fact is the majority of the freshwater fish we enjoy chasing here aren’t native to the state.

Some exotics were experiments, others illegal introductions. People who had moved West and missed fishing for their favorite species brought in many varieties of gamefish from the East Coast or Great Lakes. Others still were moved into California to provide new fishing opportunities or to control baitfish populations.

It’s all pretty interesting stuff, so let’s take a look at some of our most beloved fish and trace their origins.

Largemouth Bass

Per capita, probably the most popular fish in California, largemouth bass didn’t swim in the state’s waters until 1891. According to California Department of Fish & Game records, the initial largemouth were Northern strain fish that originated from Quincy, Illinois and were released into Lake Cuyamaca in San Diego County.

The more popular and larger Florida strain largemouth made their first appearance in 1959 and the rest, as they say is history. Nobody could have imagined 50 years ago what an industry would spring up around those Floridas!Click here to read more…

Know Your Fish: The Sacramento Splittail

June 5, 2012 By JD 7 Comments

Here’s an interesting critter that most folks have never encountered: The Sacramento Splittail. Even if you live in its home range of Nor Cal’s Central Valley and Delta regions, it’s not a fish commonly encountered. Part of that is due to the fact that Splittail aren’t considered a gamefish and their relative obscurity is also a function of them not being present in large numbers anymore. Sure, there are isolated populations of these guys but they’re nowhere near as abundant as they were before the valley’s rivers were dammed.

These cyprinids prefer to spawn on flood plains, but with reservoirs controlling the flow of the Sacramento and her tributaries, the flooded spawning habitat they prefer occurs only intermittently these days.

While they kinda look like a mountain whitefish crossed with a pike minnow, Splittail are actually kinda cool looking beasts when you get ’em up close. The oversized upper lobe of the caudal fin for which they’re named give’s them a bit of a “brown bonefish” vibe. Unfortunately, splitties can’t burn line like the bones of the flats, but they can actually put up a decent scrap on light gear.

Splittail once ranged from San Francisco Bay to Redding but now are most commonly found in the Delta and the Sacramento’s lower reaches…up to about the town of Verona, at the confluence of the Feather and Sacramento rivers. He’s a greedy little bugger that mainly feeds on the bottom on clams, crustaceans, and insect larvae, though I’ve seen them take insects off the surface in the early mornings and I’m pretty sure they also eat small fish.

In the winter, they’ll migrate upstream and look for flooded areas in which to spawn (typically in March).