Corpusfishing.com

[dion1282]

Ok at the risk of sounding insane id like to find out if there have been efforts to stock pike or chain pickerel in texas....south texas...more specifically...(about to sound crazier) the nueces river. the one i caught with a cast nest was even on the salt water side of the dam. i dont have a picture and i REALLY wish i did. i may as well say i saw big foot with out it. it was about 4 or 5 inches long and its had me going nuts figuring out how it got there.If any one has any guesses im all ears.

[bd0202]

http://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/species/cpk/

According to this, they sound pretty rare this far south AND aren't stocked by TPWD. At 4-5 inches and the location you found it, are you sure you didn't see an alligator gar or something of that nature? I think they're pretty similar looking other than the gar having a longer snout.

But even so, that would be cool to see more of them here!
_________________
All things will pass. Have a Blessed day.

[landlocked beachbum]

My guess is that you saw a Redfin Pickerel, as their range does indeed extend to the Gulf Coast. We have Chain Pickerel here in central Arkansas, but they aren't super common or large for the species as they are in places like Virginia, etc.

I've lived and fished here for going on 45 years, and never have caught or seen one larger than 2', and only one at that. They are ueually closer to a foot. Up in Virginia they averaged twice that size, and I had a MONSTER rise under a surface bait once, only to sink back into the abyss, that was easily 3' and 5 pounds!!!!!!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_pickerel
_________________
Dave


"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has it's limits". Albert Einstein

[dion1282]

im certain it wasnt a gar. it was from the pike / musky family. ive caught some crazy fish in that river every thing from flounder to jellyfish but this fish is the most unexpected. and i looked up that red fin pickerel, that looks like the culprit.

[deputydawg]

I've caught a few pickerel in Texas but never that far south. Interesting possibility

[Rxfire]

Maybe a small lizardfish?

http://txmarspecies.tamug.edu/fishdetails.cfm?scinameID=Synodus%20foetens

[Tyler]

Or how about big mouth sleeper?
_________________
Like Corpusfishing.com on Facebook!

[Central Scrutinizer]

I recently took a Freshwater Fish ID class up in San Marcos, and one of the keys that were provided (which is really nice) has each species broken out by 'drainage basin'. Both species of pickerel (Family Esocidae) are only found as far south as the Colorado River basin. It's highly unlikely you got one in the Nueces, especially below the saltwater barrier. A few of the guesses provided are much more likely candidates, but a picture would make this really easy to nail down.

(Dr. Tim Bonner of Texas State University ran the class, and breaking things out by drainage basin makes ID'ing fish so much quicker. Even if you have little idea what an unknown fish is, you can eliminate many different possibilities, so long as you know the collection location).

[Donnie]

[dion1282]

That big mouth sleeper looks close. now im not sure what i saw lol . Donnie i think you are talking about the lizardfish. its got those wild teeth and torpedo. shape. some real bait thieves. thats a good dam to fish though, sometimes you get small bass sometimes redfish. Anyway this has bothered me so much i went to walmart last night around midnight and bought a go pro camera and every thing that comes with it. i read pickerel have been known to move to brackish water , in winter though. but next time i catch that fish i wont be short a picture. i dont use my cell phone while i fish. ive lost/wet to many phones while fishing.

[Donnie]

[Rxfire]

Bowfin have front teeth like a sheepshead. Other names are"Choupique" which is cajun (not sure on that spelling), and "grindle". They are pretty far back into pre-historic lineage, and can breath air from the surface, so can handle pretty stagnant water. Caught many when I was a kid in East Texas, and got a good laugh when a fellow near Huntsville tried to lip one like a bass.

[DawnPatrolVeteran]

I had a similar experience on the San Marcos River- Go Bobcats!
I was using a yellow Rebel Crickhopper at Sewell Park- this was back in 2004. I thought I caught a Rio Grande Perch which fight hard on light tackle and are delicious.

When I landed the fish it was about 8 inches long and looked like a pirahna.
I called TPWD and spoke to a Game Warden and I told him what it was, he said it was a Paku- a fruit eating tropical fish- that one of the students probably dumped.

I told him I know what a Paku and an Oscar look like because my friend had them in an aquarium and their teeth are flat. This fish had razor sharp teeth. He dismissed it and I gave it to T.T. our cat at the time.

People dump fish but where would they get the pickerel and take the time and trouble to transport to the Nueces? Im not sure about the Nueces but going towards Martindale on the San Marcos River its full of Spotted Gar, just a guess and with no picture myself -your correct- I might have well as seen the Dogman of Michigan.
_________________
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it. - G.K. Chesterton

[landlocked beachbum]

CS. Only playing devil's advocate here. Using the drainage basin system doesn't take human interference into account. May sound way offbase, but take a look at the non native freshwater fish species known to exist in Florida.... including Texas's own Rio Grande Perch/Cichlid!!!

Yes, I know that south Texas and south Florida are a tad different, but it's still quite possible. Also, tornados have picked up fish and dropped them way off from their home waters. As unlikely as it may seem, I fall back on a quote
from Dr. Malcom in Jurassic Park: "Life finds a way".

http://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/nonnatives/freshwater-fish/
_________________
Dave


"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has it's limits". Albert Einstein

[Central Scrutinizer]