Look what I caught today!

[Covey]

I went fishing on the Mississippi River today at Sylan Slough. I caught 6 drum and one of these.
http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=2596

You know you caught a rare fish when it take a 1/2 hour to find it on fishbase.

I was about two feet long and of course I didn't bring a camera.

23 years of fishing that only the second I ever caught!

Since it is red-listed its a good thing I threw it back.

 

[got2lb]

You must be like me, NO CAMERAS ON THE BOAT!!! (BAD LUCK)

Pretty wicked looking fish.

Were the drum you caught very big? I know they get pretty big! I've always wanted to do some fishing on the sippi but never got that way yet.

 

[ipiniowa]

Even though most people think the Drum is a junk fish, you can fillet them and cut off the bottom belly fat (the rib cage) and they taste just as good as a striper or white bass does.

Back to the pic.

Cool fish!

 

[got2lb]

I didn't realize that, I've heard of people smoking them or pickling them (kind of like carp) but I've always heard of them being junk fish. But I've also heard they're fun to catch because they get HUGE!!

 

[wenszoo]

sturgeon are always fun. I used to catch them when I lived in CA. I have seen them as big as six feet. they are good to eat.

 

[waverz]

We used to catch all kinds of sturgeon up in Guttenburg, i heard they were almost extinct nowadays. Funny how that works...

 

[jvonthun]

Freshwater Drum

Freshwater Drum

I grew up on the river and fished it a lot, but the only places I ever saw sturgeon were in aquariums.

Freshwater Drum do get big, but they have no fight in them. When you hook one it is pretty hard to tell if you are bringing in a fish or a log.

We used to eat the small ones, I wouldn't eat any large fish out of the river, they have too many toxins in them after they have been in there a while.

 

[Covey]

There are TONS of drum down there but jvons right they don't fight for anything. A couple head shakes and there done.

They varied in size up to about 14". Nothing crazy.