Other Species Latest Catch Pics Thread

[TnRiver46]

Went for a paddle this evening and caught some gizzard shad in my net but couldn’t get any bites on those. Tried a straight tail soft plastic and got 3 crappie, two keepers. Yum 

[Peacedivision]

First fish of 2025

2 Leopards on Saturday soaking anchovies

3 trout Sunday bottom bouncing a gold kastmaster.

[Fishlegs]

That's a pretty cool way to start the year @Peacedivision!

[Peacedivision]

8 minutes ago, Fishlegs said:

That's a pretty cool way to start the year @Peacedivision!

Feels pretty good after skunking like 5 times in a row to start out. The bass wouldn't play yesterday but that's ok.

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Those Leopard Sharks are awesome!

 

My buddy who did saltwater aquariums for businesses back in the early 2000s put those Leopard Sharks in the big money tanks.   Back then I think I remember him paying $5k for a pair of them.    

 

Now I don't really agree with the practice, but it was really cool watching those Sharks in the tank.  

[gim]

1 hour ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

but it was really cool watching those Sharks in the tank.  

 

The Minnesota Zoo has a portion dedicated to fish and other aquarium creatures.  One of the popular areas in the middle of this exhibit is an open-air saltwater tank that has rays and leopard sharks swimming around in it.  It's only a couple feed deep and surrounded by a rocky outcropping.  You can stand around it and reach in and touch them when they slowly swim by - if you can reach.  Luckily, I'm pretty tall with long arms so there is an advantage here with this guy.  Their skin feels like wet leather.

[Peacedivision]

5 hours ago, gim said:

 

The Minnesota Zoo has a portion dedicated to fish and other aquarium creatures.  One of the popular areas in the middle of this exhibit is an open-air saltwater tank that has rays and leopard sharks swimming around in it.  It's only a couple feed deep and surrounded by a rocky outcropping.  You can stand around it and reach in and touch them when they slowly swim by - if you can reach.  Luckily, I'm pretty tall with long arms so there is an advantage here with this guy.  Their skin feels like wet leather.

I've pulled some big rays in from the bay as well, hard fighting underwater sails. They do have a weird leather feel, the sharks are more like wet worn sandpaper.

[Team9nine]

Been a while since I’ve posted some crappie pics, but it was the best bite going today, so…these were all 1.5-1.9 lb. fish.

 

 

 

 

[gim]

Uh oh. The purge of gargantuan crappie photos from @Team9nine is about to start.

 

Dude posts photos of crappies bigger than the majority of bass on this forum. How humiliating.

[MN Fisher]

34 minutes ago, gim said:

Dude posts photos of crappies bigger than the majority of bass on this forum. How humiliating.

I think it's inspirational, man....just think if we could catch ones like that out of Tonka.

[MonsterZero]

On 2/10/2025 at 4:59 PM, Peacedivision said:

I've pulled some big rays in from the bay as well, hard fighting underwater sails. They do have a weird leather feel, the sharks are more like wet worn sandpaper.

Hooking into a cownose is like having your line tied to a truck speeding away from you. No real fight, but so much muscle.

[gim]

14 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

I think it's inspirational, man....just think if we could catch ones like that out of Tonka.

Absolutely!

[TnRiver46]

[Swamp Girl]

I have no reactions left, so I squeezed all my reactions into one and here it is:

 

[MassBass]

[gim]

Pile of rock bass through the ice??  That's a new one.

[Swamp Girl]

Are rock bass as tasty as bluegills and crappie?

[MassBass]

7 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

Are rock bass as tasty as bluegills and crappie?

Probably more like smallmouth. Am going to use them for Rock Bass Ramen

[Swamp Girl]

2 minutes ago, MassBass said:

Probably more like smallmouth. Am going to use them for Rock Bass Ramen

 

[herder]

56 minutes ago, gim said:

Pile of rock bass through the ice??  That's a new one.

I heard him got em on a drop shot too 

[TnRiver46]

3 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

Are rock bass as tasty as bluegills and crappie?

Yep 

[Swamp Girl]

9 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Yep 

 

Then they should be loved like bluegills and crappie. Targeted. Treasured. At least by anglers who love to eat them as much as bluegills and crappie.

[TnRiver46]

Only problem I have encountered with eating rock bass is the black spot disease, sometimes they are eat up with is so bad they are crunchy like you battered them in sand 

[J Francho]

Big "Adrians" are definitely on the menu.  Clean, prespawn fish from cool water are delish.

 

[gim]

On 2/16/2025 at 7:40 AM, Swamp Girl said:

Then they should be loved like bluegills and crappie. Targeted. Treasured. At least by anglers who love to eat them as much as bluegills and crappie.

 

That's the thing, they aren't.  At least here they aren't.  I've literally never heard anyone say they were going "rock bass fishing" in 25 years here.

 

There is no closed season on rock bass here and the bag limit is very liberal.  As opposed to sunfish and crappie, which are generally highly desirable by most anglers here, and have specific limits.

 

The filet of rock bass is softer and mushier to my palate.  But, if you lather them up in a batter and deep fry them anyways, you'd be hard pressed to notice a difference between ANY type of fish.