40-Pound Black Bass

[Sam]

Just got home from running errands and turned on the TV to enjoy River Monsters when I noticed that Jeremy Wade was fishing for black bass in New Guinea. 

 

He said the black bass were responsible for some attacks on the population over a 60-year span which got my attention. I mean, I have never been attacked nor heard of anyone being attacked by a sunfish or a largemouth bass so what in the world is Jeremy talking about?

 

Well guys and gals, he caught one at the end of the show (as usual) and it looked like a black drum or sheepshead with some nasty teeth. The fish can live in both fresh and saltwater and grow to 70-pounds. 

 

Can you imagine catching one of these creatures for fun, or even better, bringing it in to a tournament weigh-in?

 

Here is what our black bass cousins are like from a description on the Internet.  Nothing like we go after, at least for now!!!

 

"Lutjanus goldiei, the Papuan black bass, New Guinea bass, Papuan black snapper, or known locally as mogillo, is a large snapper species native to the Pacific Ocean from New Guinea all the way to Malaysia.

 

Very little is known about this species behavior, but they are known to inhabit thick, jungle rivers and brackish river mouths, although they have been found in recent years to be able to enter saltwater.

 

Papuan black bass are known to be aggressive hunters, and they are thought to be responsible for a series of vicious attacks around New Britain.

 

Black bass are sight-relying, ambush hunters that often aggressively strike fishing lures, and also use snags and vegetation as cover for when they ambush their prey.

 

This species is known to grow up to 40-inches in length or more, and can weigh over 44 pounds and sometimes up to 70 pounds at the largest.

 

It is a darkly colored fish with a similar body plan to the mangrove red snapper (Lutjanus argentimaculatus) and Cubera snapper (Lutjanus cyanopterus), with large, widely spaced canines, large eyes, a deep, muscular body, and a big head."

 

Look for the show on Animal Planet as it will be rerun and enjoy the beautiful river and what this black bass looks like.

 

Happy New Year!

 

[J Francho]

6 minutes ago, Sam said:

Here is what our black bass cousins

I wouldn't call them cousins at all.  They are not even closely related to Centrarchids (sunfish).  There are big fish that bite lures and tug lines in every corner of the globe.  You could spend a lifetime searching the internet finding interesting catches.  That Wade refers to them as "40 lb. black bass" is sensationalism in an American market.

[MN Fisher]

2 minutes ago, J Francho said:

I wouldn't call them cousins at all.  They are not even closely related to Centrarchids (sunfish).  There are big fish that bite lures and tug lines in every corner of the globe.  You could spend a lifetime searching the internet finding interesting catches.  That Wade refers to them as "40 lb. black bass" is sensationalism in an American market.

Distant cousins - as they and 'our' black bass are both of the Order: Perciformes - but the Family of the Lutjanus  species is Lutjanidea where-as the Family of LMB and SMB are Centrarchidae

[J Francho]

6 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

Perciformes

So, they're both bony, ray finned perch, which describes 41% of all fishes, lol.  ORDER is a LOOOOOOOOOOOONG way up the taxonomic classification tree.  Cousins are generally referred to two species of the same family.  Saying the two are cousins is like saying that butterfly fishes, barracuda, and the lowly common carp are cousins our black basses. 

 

It's also like saying we're cousins to lemurs.

[MN Fisher]

12 minutes ago, J Francho said:

ORDER is a LOOOOOOOOOOOONG way up the taxonomic classification tree.

Three steps - Order, Suborder, Family, Genus (LMB and SMB are the same Genus)

 

So 3rd cousins

 

Same thing with Lemurs and Humans - same Order: Primate - so 3rd cousins again

[J._Bricker]

The two species seem to be similar as far as being a sport fish, and this guy is skilled in working tight waters. In watching the video, I get the feeling he’s in the Amazon fishing for peacock bass as opposed to fishing for North American black bass. 

 

[J Francho]

26 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

Three steps - Order, Suborder, Family, Genus (LMB and SMB are the same Genus)

 

So 3rd cousins

 

Same thing with Lemurs and Humans - same Order: Primate - so 3rd cousins again

It doesn't work that way.  Lemurs and humans diverge at the suborder level.  We are not 3rd cousins.  Using genetic terms in this way is psuedo science, and also sensationalism.  At the point where lemurs and humans share a common ancestor is not "three steps" away. Third cousins share a great great grandparent.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primate

[frogflogger]

Read about them for years - would love to catch one but the aren't a black bass.

[Sam]

Great replies, thanks guys.

 

[newriverfisherman1953]

I don’t have ANY animal cousins. Only cousins that sometimes act like animals.  

[Bluebasser86]

I've watched several videos of people fishing for them, enough to know I'd be down to try for them.

 

[Sam]

4 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I've watched several videos of people fishing for them, enough to know I'd be down to try for them.

 

Just don't fall out of the boat if you go!!!! 

[N Florida Mike]

17 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

Three steps - Order, Suborder, Family, Genus (LMB and SMB are the same Genus)

 

So 3rd cousins

 

Same thing with Lemurs and Humans - same Order: Primate - so 3rd cousins again

In some scientists opinion. Not buying the relation to monkeys thing. 

[OCdockskipper]

So if I understand this thread correctly, there exist 40lb black bass.  However, they are related to monkeys, making them too smart to ever be caught...

[.ghoti.]

Don’t care whose cousin they are. I would like to catch one.

[Sam]

4 hours ago, .ghoti. said:

Don’t care whose cousin they are. I would like to catch one.

X2

[bostonsox2904]

On 1/2/2020 at 2:32 PM, J Francho said:

lowly common carp

Ohh man the disrespect!! lol 

[J Francho]

17 hours ago, bostonsox2904 said:

Ohh man the disrespect!! lol 

Nah, I like carp.  I've done a little Euro style carp fishing with boilies on Lake Ontario, and they're fun.  They fight like a freight train.  What I don't like about them is when they make all the commotion in the shallows during spawn.

[Finessegenics]

3 hours ago, J Francho said:

Nah, I like carp.  I've done a little Euro style carp fishing with boilies on Lake Ontario, and they're fun.  They fight like a freight train.  What I don't like about them is when they make all the commotion in the shallows during spawn.

Carp are the only other species I intentionally target besides bass. They’re such an underrated fish, it’s exhilarating when you hear the bait runner stripping drag and the alarms ringing. I know theres some carp out  there on the Saint Lawrence pushing 40lbs.

 

i just hate the bad rap they get, mostly from ignorant people. The common carp is not invasive, it has been here for almost 250 years and has become naturalized. Our ecosystems have balanced to include them. They’re no different in supposedly “ruining water quality” than the native redhorses and suckers. I have nothing against bowfishing but it makes me sick seeing carp just dead in garbage bins. If you’re gonna kill them, eat them or use them as fertilizer or bear bait. Just felt like I needed to vent a bit.

 

edit: this wasn’t directed at anyone on this thread, just wanted to add some stuff since people were talking about carp. 

 

Edited January 8, 2020 by Finessegenics

[TnRiver46]

Throw me into the carp hater category haha. Non-native fish that doesn't attack a lure? Not for me 

[J Francho]

1 hour ago, Finessegenics said:

The common carp is not invasive, it has been here for almost 250 years and has become naturalized.

What you say about naturalization is true, but they are still invasive.  Same goes for round gobies, Eurasian milfoil, curly leaf pond weed, alewife, zebra/quagga mussels, and a host of other non endemic plants and animals.  We're lucky in that for the short term, some invasives have actually improved the fishery.  In some ways Giant hogweed hasn't been the scourge as was predicted, but it still isn't what you want to run into on a hike.  Same goes for carp most days.  That some of us (as anglers) have adapted and decided to fish for them is more about making the best out of the situation - much like the snakeheads down south.  Turns out fishzilla isn't ruining the bass populations as was once feared.  Interesting to note that salmon (king, coho) and trout (brown, rainbow/steelhead) are non endemic and intentionally introduced to control invasive alewife populations in the Great Lakes.  In the overall fisheries picture from a management perspective, bureaucracies place greater value on these salmonoid species than our native bass.  This probably is due to the economic influence trout fishing has over bass and panfish.

[jaimeastin]

On 1/2/2020 at 11:53 AM, J Francho said:

It doesn't work that way.  Lemurs and humans diverge at the suborder level.  We are not 3rd cousins.  Using genetic terms in this way is psuedo science, and also sensationalism.  At the point where lemurs and humans share a common ancestor is not "three steps" away. Third cousins share a great great grandparent.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primate

Keep on preaching @J Francho