CTFishTalk.com: Snakehead - Connecticut Lake Reports ( CT Lake Reports ) - A Community Built for Connecticut Fisherman.

Basstrapper · Joined: 04 Apr 2011 Posts: 71 Location: Prospect Ct

my last post may have been misguiding. i believe it was a snakehead but to my knowledge the river has had bowfin in the past. and now that im more familiar with the fish. id have to say without seeing it again i do not know if it was a bowfin or a snakehead. my guess and prayers would be with a bowfin. how i hope it was a bowfin.

colburn · Joined: 16 Apr 2010 Posts: 125

Basstrapper · Joined: 04 Apr 2011 Posts: 71 Location: Prospect Ct

Im curious to find out all the rivers bowfins have been in. I know the quinipiac river is tidal, and has brackish sections. so im wondering if its more likely a bowfin was caught here and not the snakehead. there both unfamiliar fish to me, if i happen to see this guy again i will find out more. The dep is aware of this area being a problematic area for unsportsman fisherman. and nuisance species. We have had a Swarm of Lampreys this past two season to the point you can almost walk across the 2foot deep stream on nothing but lampreys. ugly pain in the neck parasites. I hate them. ive had them knock me off my feet, and brake lines on a daily bassis. gotta get some kinda control over our nuisance species.

as for the snakehead. im going to be keeping my eyes open on the river for any signs of them. i ask around. and hopefully this guy caught the only one if it be a snakehead. i know a guy caught a pacu out of there recently as well. people need to stop taking pets they cant care for. so pathetic.

jomonkey527 · Joined: 22 Oct 2010 Posts: 225

Ok I know lampreys are nasty, but I would love to catch one once. That weird sucker mouth, and teeth are pretty cool to catch just once.

Basstrapper · Joined: 04 Apr 2011 Posts: 71 Location: Prospect Ct

as ugly as they are, they are very intriguing for sure. Crazy holes in side of its head for breathing. its mouth is something you can stare at for a hour. The strength behind there long bodies is absolutly amazing. ive had one brake 10 pound test when i snagged its tail. i pulled as hard as i could and the only thing it was holding onto was a concrete block with its mouth, and i could not pull this thing off. eventually snapped my line and continued to sit there as if nothing happened.

ugly parasite, but interesting as well. one of those things you just cant stop looking ate but hate it at the same time. lol.

atkins · Joined: 13 Apr 2010 Posts: 220 Location: Manchester

Bowfin are in the river, dep says kill em or eat em supposed to be good, bowfin are what people are calling "snake heads"

atkins · Joined: 13 Apr 2010 Posts: 220 Location: Manchester

and bowfin are just as bad to be here, not that bowfin, or snakeheads or any fish are bad, just not suited to the enviorment

Basstrapper · Joined: 04 Apr 2011 Posts: 71 Location: Prospect Ct

good to know. I personaly have only seen that one in the bucket. could have been snakehead or bowfin i may never know. but i am going to check with the locals if they have seen or heard anything. im interested to know what it is he caught over there. big freakin fish for the area.

TurtleKiss · Joined: 09 Mar 2010 Posts: 1200 Location: central CT

PECo · Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT

Section 26-55-1(j) of the DEP Regulations states (in pertinent part):

Basstrapper · Joined: 04 Apr 2011 Posts: 71 Location: Prospect Ct

Any time i come across something unusual, i always contact dep anyways. Me and my buddy found many illegal fish traps last year. So i have a good rep with the local dep. I dont kill anything unless im told to. Im a strict catch and release fisherman, and only keep what i intend on using or am told to kill. So if i come across one of these prehistoric looking fish, you can be sure i will get as much info on it as soon as possible. and it will either live to fight another day, or it will be disposed of properly.

therieldeal · Joined: 20 Oct 2010 Posts: 245 Location: Thompson, CT

never heard of snakehead before... anyone know where in MA or RI they can be caught?

setterman · Joined: 10 Dec 2009 Posts: 28

Bowfin are native to ct waters. It was reported a few years ago some were caught in Scoville Resevoir, CT River. I know Lake Champlain has a good population and landing one in the 7 pound range is quite a batlle!

PECo · Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT

settlerman

Not that it really matters, but according to the late Walter R. "Doc" Whitworth, who is often credited with writing the definitive work on Connecticut fish, Freshwater Fishes of Connecticut, bowfin are an introduced species in Connecticut.

While bowfin are sometimes described as voracious piscivores, they don't appear to have spread throughout Connecticut's waters as widely or as rapidly as the alarmists would have you believe. I consider them to be like northern pike; there seems to be room for them in Connecticut's sportfishing ecosystem.

Phil
_________________
Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!

setterman · Joined: 10 Dec 2009 Posts: 28

I understand what you are refering to but in other articles i have read they haven't changed sin " prehistoric times" and have been found in lakes and rivers but since considered a " trash fish" kind of ignored or unreported. If you get lucky enough t hook one it will out fight anything you have experienced. Makes a northern pike seem like a guppy!