Took the dog for a walk this evening and found this at the pond up the road. I think someone stocked these because I've not seen them before. Anyone know what they are?

I nailed the Cougar footprint in another post today, so I'm pressing my luck, doubling down and saying...Is that a Carp?

They look like Grass Carp. Sorry.

anal fin is wrong for grass carp. They look like Mooneye to me.

110% certain those are large Shad, hard to tell if they are gizzards or threadfin or another shad species. Definitely not a carp species or mooneye.

Crap. No pun intended. I was on a roll.

quote schollmeier: "110% certain those are large Shad, hard to tell if they are gizzards or threadfin or another shad species. Definitely not a carp species or mooneye."

I think you're correct....I see the long thread on the dorsal fin on the right fish.

quote schollmeier: "110% certain those are large Shad, hard to tell if they are gizzards or threadfin or another shad species. Definitely not a carp species or mooneye."

According to Texas Parks and Wildlife, the Gizzard's anal fin usually has 29-35 rays, as opposed to 20-25 rays found in Threadfin. The Gizzard grows 9-14 inches, the Threadfin rarely more than 6 inches

Threadfin shad, large ones evidently! Good cut bait, or whole if smaller.
Changed my mind after looking closer, too big for threadfin, must be Gizzard.

Bruce

are these considered invasive or are they a species you'd specifically target? why would they be left on the shore? can you eat them or are considered to be similar to suckers, eelpout and other icky fish?

Drum Perch

quote cowdoc: "anal fin is wrong for grass carp. They look like Mooneye to me."

+1

Shad

I agree with the threadfin or gizzard shad ID. I remember a field trip for an ichthyology class where we netted some threadfin to see how they'd do in a tank. Out of about 100 fish, there was only one survivor at the 24 hour mark. They are not hearty.
More specifically, I believe it is gizzard shad because it lives in the north, is heartier (for any stocking that may be attempted) and tolerates cold water. It is actually found in the Great Lakes Region.
Threadfin start dying when water temperatures sink to the low 40s and are found in more southern states (and twenty miles from where I live now, in Calif).
I am assuming that these specimens were found in Indiana where blutofish1 indicates his home is located. Indiana gets ice, doesn't it?

Answer: American Gizzard Shad (not to be confused with American shad)

Another indication, in separating gizzard from theadfin shad, is relative size. The oak leaf (although I can't be sure it isn't a midget) leads me to believe that these fish may be outside the size range for threadfin shad.

quote Mocha: "are these considered invasive or are they a species you'd specifically target? why would they be left on the shore? can you eat them or are considered to be similar to suckers, eelpout and other icky fish?"

I would say no, they would not be considered invasive, no, you would not target them, no, you would not eat them (unless in survival mode) and no, to similarity to eelpout. They are a forage fish for larger species.....a preferred food for largemouth bass.

I thought they may be shad. The ice just went off the lake on the 12th and there must be 100 or so floaters along the shoreline. The lake holds some really big L.M. bass for its size. Thanks for your help. Now I just wonder how they got in there.

quote Mocha: "are these considered invasive or are they a species you'd specifically target? why would they be left on the shore? can you eat them or are considered to be similar to suckers, eelpout and other icky fish?"

Shads are native baitfishes, important forage in the waters they exist in. Most Shad are small, though in the Mississippi we come across big (like 16"+) Gizzard Shad at times. No shad in the BWCA, Shad don't make it much farther north than the Twin Cities.


Some people eat shad... pretty darn greasy though, I'll stick to using them as cutbait - catfish and sturgeon candy.


BTW - Eelpout are delicious (though ugly), very similar to any of the other cod-fishes - white, flakey and boneless. Suckers are tasty too - white and flakey - though bony as hell. Kinda like small pike, easiest to either pickle them or grind them into fish-patties. I would eat either long before bass or stocked trout. They are probably among the fish I eat most commonly with Pike, Walleye, and Salmon.

Good eye on the oak leaf. I agree that they are too big to be threadfins then, especially since you live in a place with ice. Up here (western WI) Gizzard Shad die by the thousands every winter, we see them all over the shorelines each spring as they die and wash ashore.

quote blutofish1: "I thought they may be shad. The ice just went off the lake on the 12th and there must be 100 or so floaters along the shoreline. The lake holds some really big L.M. bass for its size. Thanks for your help. Now I just wonder how they got in there. "

They are not usually found in small lakes and ponds. Someone may have purposely stocked them as forage for game fish, or was using live ones for bait and dumped the leftovers. Both are common practices in central Illinois.

quote schollmeier: "Good eye on the oak leaf. I agree that they are too big to be threadfins then, especially since you live in a place with ice. Up here (western WI) Gizzard Shad die by the thousands every winter, we see them all over the shorelines each spring as they die and wash ashore. "

....and gizzard shad is the heartier one.

The only shad I have attempted to eat is the American shad. In addition to marginal edibility, they can get from 3 to 8 pounds and fight like smallies, only harder.
Wikipedia speaks of its delicate flavor. I don't know where that comes from. American shad is oily and bony. Smoking was the best means of preparation I tried.
American shad is not closely related to threadfin or gizzard shad and I have never spoken to anyone who had attempted to eat either of those two fish. Their small size would lead a person to think of them as bait and not as a food possibility.

I believe the items in the picture are fish. ;)

Coycougars.

quote missmolly: "Coycougars."

Perhaps you meant "Koicougars."

quote Jeriatric: "

quote missmolly: "Coycougars."

Perhaps you meant "Koicougars."
"

Touche! I won't nitpick wit one bit.

Indiana?

Wonder if it's one of the dreaded Asian Carp?

If you ask me, they don't look like the same species. One has a fin on the underside near the tail, the other does not. Or does not appear to. Am I wrong?

quote analyzer: "If you ask me, they don't look like the same species. One has a fin on the underside near the tail, the other does not. Or does not appear to. Am I wrong?"

Both definitely Gizzard Shad. You can't see the anal fin on the other one due to the camera angle. I actually can't think of a fish in that region without an anal fin

Gizzard Shad. I used to catch hundreds of them with a salmon rod and a very large weighted treble hook ripping through the water. Freeze them (if your better half will let you) and you will have cutbait for large catfish all year long. "They do smell quite a bit."
FISHONFISHOFF

Gizzard shad, use them for bait all the time.

quote schollmeier: "

quote analyzer: "If you ask me, they don't look like the same species. One has a fin on the underside near the tail, the other does not. Or does not appear to. Am I wrong?"

Both definitely Gizzard Shad. You can't see the anal fin on the other one due to the camera angle. I actually can't think of a fish in that region without an anal fin
"

I can just make out the edge of the anal fin. Same species.

Walleyes...A truly invasive species wiping out great smallmouth fishing everywhere....:-)

I think I was at a bait shop in Ely once where this attitude is shared......or do I have it backwards?

While working on a way to eliminate Bubonic Plague and Diphtheria, they should have continued the research until they discovered a way to wipe out the Small Mouth Bass at the same time!!! :)

Yup, that's the guy! I will introduce myself as Dead Fish when I come your way again! LOL!

P.S. I noticed you served US Army in the 173rd, Airborne! I served peacetime as a paratrooper from 84-88. I know this is a long shot, but my old Top, Herbert Rivers, also had served in the 173rd during the same time frame as you during Vietnam. Someone you ever came across? Big man, with a bullhorn of a voice.