fivesixone Posted January 29, 2009 Posted January 29, 2009 So as I was out fishing on my lunch break in some canal today, I see this pretty nice sized fish leaping out of the water a couple of times, a couple feet outta the water. The only thing I can find that looks similar to them are Sturgeon(sp?). I saw that it had a forked tail, and a long slender body, that was about all I could make out of it. I've only seen them in Broward county, never in Palm Beach... Haven't seen em in Miami, but they're probably there... Anyone know what kind of fish these are? And what to use to catch em? Seems if they can jump like that, they'd put up a nice fight! Quote
Still a Bigbuckifan Posted January 29, 2009 Posted January 29, 2009 Were they jumping or just rolling. If they were just rolling it could have been armored cat or plecco.( I think thats how you spell it ) . Here a pic of my friend with a plecco did it look like this. Quote
Super User SirSnookalot Posted January 29, 2009 Super User Posted January 29, 2009 Sure is wasn't grass carp, they roll. I only see the plecostamos (sailfin catfish , armored cat) lay on the bottom. I looked at the FWC list of freshwater native and non native species and see nothing to resemble that description, except a remote chance of a freshwater tarpon. Quote
Still a Bigbuckifan Posted January 29, 2009 Posted January 29, 2009 Sure is wasn't grass carp, they roll. I only see the plecostamos (sailfin catfish , armored cat) lay on the bottom. I forgot about grass carp. But armored cat and pleco do come up to gulp air. Grass carp dont jump do they :-? maybe common carp Quote
Super User SirSnookalot Posted January 29, 2009 Super User Posted January 29, 2009 I have never seen a grass carp jump, but they kinda roll in deeper water sometimes. When one does others seem to be doing it all over the lake as well. They are vegatarians and maybe once in 50,000 casts you may catch one. I caught on a xrap last year. I still think that jumper could have been a freshwater tarpon, many of them in Broward canals. Quote
fivesixone Posted January 29, 2009 Author Posted January 29, 2009 It definitely jumped clear out of the water, like 3 times, and it probably got about 2-3 feet in the air. I've seen it happen a few times in different locations, as well. Definitely didn't look like a catfish. I guess it could've been a carp, but I definitely saw a split, forked tail. After a little more research, could quite well have been a sturgeon. http://aquat1.ifas.ufl.edu/guide/fish.html Scroll down to Anadromous Fish and they have a nice description of them there... I'm not sure that that's it though. Guess I'm just gonna have to try and catch one! Quote
fivesixone Posted January 29, 2009 Author Posted January 29, 2009 I still think that jumper could have been a freshwater tarpon, many of them in Broward canals. It looked darker in color than most tarpon, but it could be. Are tarpon darker in color when they're younger? It wasn't tooo big, probably 3-4 pounds. Quote
Still a Bigbuckifan Posted January 29, 2009 Posted January 29, 2009 Tarpon aren't normally darker when they are younger they look exactly the same as the big ones. Quote
Super User SirSnookalot Posted January 29, 2009 Super User Posted January 29, 2009 I have never seen a tarpon that was not a silver color. I had no idea there were sturgeon down here. Back in Michigan we caught a few in the St Mary's river. As far as I know they feed on or near the bottom. They get enormous. Quote
SoFl-native Posted January 29, 2009 Posted January 29, 2009 yeah......mullet. They are everywhere in S. FL canals. Quote
fivesixone Posted January 29, 2009 Author Posted January 29, 2009 Ahh, okay, that's most likely what it was! Didn't know they grew that big... Thanks a lot guys! Quote
Still a Bigbuckifan Posted January 29, 2009 Posted January 29, 2009 I cant believe I didn't think of mullet. Quote
NYfishwow Posted January 30, 2009 Posted January 30, 2009 Still a Bigbuckifan i've seen that fish in fish tanks, real nice catch, what bait works on those fish? Quote
Still a Bigbuckifan Posted January 30, 2009 Posted January 30, 2009 Thats not me thats my friend . But that fish was snaged with a crappie jig. As far as I know they dont hit any kind of lure or bait. Ive cought armoed catfish on chicken liver but never one of these. There also really fun to gig and shot with .22's : Quote
bocabasser Posted January 30, 2009 Posted January 30, 2009 last week i fished the hillsboro canal and i saw soo many mullet jumping. they were huge! around 5 pounds. i saw schools of them swimming in packs of a dozen. i didn't see any tarpon, but know they are in there. i caught 2 big bass and left. that is a very dirty canal. Quote
I.rar Posted January 30, 2009 Posted January 30, 2009 def sounds like a mullet. everytime i go by the canals leading to the local marina , i always see them jumping. Quote
Super User SirSnookalot Posted January 30, 2009 Super User Posted January 30, 2009 One of my sources has mentioned lots of jumping mullet in Broward. When you see singles just jumping they are "playing" and no game fish around, when entire pods "scatter", that's when there is a preditor there. Hillsboro canal produces decent snook, but I here not much is going on as the gates are close. Need rain for spillway snook. Quote
bocabasser Posted January 30, 2009 Posted January 30, 2009 One of my sources has mentioned lots of jumping mullet in Broward. When you see singles just jumping they are "playing" and no game fish around, when entire pods "scatter", that's when there is a preditor there. Hillsboro canal produces decent snook, but I here not much is going on as the gates are close. Need rain for spillway snook. i was fishing the west side. i have fished the east side and caught both snook and tarpon. i have also caught tarpon on the west side. Question sirsnook---any truth to the reason that mullet jump is to rid themselves of parasites? not when they scatter from an attack but solo jumps. Quote
Krzkev Posted January 31, 2009 Posted January 31, 2009 I have heard that a larger black mullet will jump and land on its side to promote digestion of food. Just heard that from several knowledgable people in the past don't know if it holds water or not. Quote
LCpointerKILLA Posted January 31, 2009 Posted January 31, 2009 mullet can probably reach 5 pounds, I have seen some large ones. That must be what you saw. Quote
Super User SirSnookalot Posted January 31, 2009 Super User Posted January 31, 2009 any truth to the reason that mullet jump is to rid themselves of parasites? Your guess is good as mine on this one..... I hear people smoke them and they're good to eat. Quote
Super User Bassn Blvd Posted January 31, 2009 Super User Posted January 31, 2009 mullet. BINGO. Quote
Super User Bassn Blvd Posted January 31, 2009 Super User Posted January 31, 2009 One of my sources has mentioned lots of jumping mullet in Broward. When you see singles just jumping they are "playing" and no game fish around, when entire pods "scatter", that's when there is a preditor there. Hillsboro canal produces decent snook, but I here not much is going on as the gates are close. Need rain for spillway snook. i was fishing the west side. i have fished the east side and caught both snook and tarpon. i have also caught tarpon on the west side. Question sirsnook---any truth to the reason that mullet jump is to rid themselves of parasites? not when they scatter from an attack but solo jumps. Not true. Quote
Speed Worm Posted February 10, 2009 Posted February 10, 2009 Those mullets can grow pretty big in the canals. I've seen some that could have easily reached 4 lbs. No joke. Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.