metalhack Posted July 20, 2013 Posted July 20, 2013 and where did it come from?I think this is really interesting. Fishing a friends family owned farm pond. The farm is not a working farm anymore but in the past was used for hay and had cows. Story is 60+ years ago friends grandfather dammed up a stream that came from a slow spring and made a 1/2 acre pond. The dam is built out of cement and drops into a stream that is usually dry. It was stocked over the years with bass and bluegill that he caught in a local lake. Also brought in a bunch of craws. The bass in this pond don't get that big. Biggest I caught was a 3 or so pounder and the largest was a 4 pounder. Its mostly used for kids to have some fun with but we still fish it for fun.Anyways in the 20 years he and I have fished it we have never seen any fish other than the suns and LM. All off a sudden a bunch of these little fish fry show up about 1-2 feet from the shore and appear to have a very sudden but healthy population. No one else fishes it as its in his back yard and its not visable from streets. He hasnt brought anything in either and hes not really happy about it. The bass and sun population is still good and no other fish have ever been caught here or been found dead. I cant see anyway this fish could have come up that stream, climbed a 6 foot concrete wall and jumped into the pond.Any ideas on how this fish suddenly appeared in this pond and what it is? It has tiny whisker like barbs above its upper lip too. I was thinking it may be a carp of some sort. Also..FWIW this pond is in Massachusetts. Quote
wngan9447 Posted July 21, 2013 Posted July 21, 2013 Looks like a type of catfish. Very young catfish. Quote
Mccallister25 Posted July 21, 2013 Posted July 21, 2013 I was thinking the same thing. Im no professional, and catfish could be very wrong, but that was my answer. Quote
BassAssassin726 Posted July 21, 2013 Posted July 21, 2013 Don't know what it is. But I do know that fish eggs can be carried on birds feet and such. 1 Quote
Super User MarkH024 Posted July 21, 2013 Super User Posted July 21, 2013 Not sure myself but I think you scared the poop out of it. Quote
Super User Scott F Posted July 21, 2013 Super User Posted July 21, 2013 Catfish don't have scales and have whiskers or barbells. The coloration and fin location suggest a hog nose sucker but the mouth does not look right for a sucker. 1 Quote
Super User Solution 00 mod Posted July 21, 2013 Super User Solution Posted July 21, 2013 Looks like it could be a fathead minnow ?? Very good for pond stocking supplementation if that is what it is! Jeff 2 Quote
metalhack Posted July 21, 2013 Author Posted July 21, 2013 The nose was really blunt. Underwater the coloration was almost an orange/yellowish and brown stripe pattern. Interesting about the birds feet suggestion. Quote
metalhack Posted July 21, 2013 Author Posted July 21, 2013 Looks like it could be a fathead minnow ?? Very good for pond stocking supplementation if that is what it is! Jeff Thats it...Thanks a lot!!!I looked up images and it appears that my pic is a male fathead minnow. The bristles on the nose(breeding tubercles) give it away. In fact I now know there's also females in the pond. We tossed a minnow trap in there the other day and caught the fish pictured in my op and another unknown species(actually its a female fathead). I was coming here to post another pic(the female fathead) of another unknown fish was and now thanks to you guys solved part of this mystery. Now to figure out how they got there. It appears that these minnow are for sale all over the place dirt cheap. The can be used as bait or as ornamental fish in ponds.. Quote
Super User 00 mod Posted July 21, 2013 Super User Posted July 21, 2013 They are very good forage for the predator fish in your pond. Keep them there! Jeff 1 Quote
metalhack Posted July 21, 2013 Author Posted July 21, 2013 They are very good forage for the predator fish in your pond. Keep them there! Jeff Will do thanks! Quote
Brian Needham Posted July 21, 2013 Posted July 21, 2013 yeap..........any body of water can have fish in it. many folks have caught huge fish out of "puddle ponds" that were never stocked..... nature(birds, wind, ect.ect) working at its best. same way stocked ponds get gar/rough fish..... they were never put there except by nature. Quote
Brian Needham Posted July 21, 2013 Posted July 21, 2013 and be sure to use gold blades on your spinnerbaits now too......... Quote
Hyrule Bass Posted July 21, 2013 Posted July 21, 2013 this could be a good thing. those not so big bass could start to grow if the minnow population is able to sustain... Quote
zachb34 Posted July 21, 2013 Posted July 21, 2013 Now you just have to match your cranks to its color Quote
Megastink Posted July 21, 2013 Posted July 21, 2013 I would have said either a mature fathead minnow or a creek chub. Quote
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