Help with Fish ID

DJ Wooly Bugger · Post by **DJ Wooly Bugger** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 9:18 pm

Is this a baby tarpon?

Caught by my wife last night in the Colorado River a mile above the intercoastal. We were fishing for trout under a light using H&H glow grubs on a speck rig.

Wishin' I Was Fishin' · Sat Feb 14, 2009 9:36 pm

Sure looks like one to me. The dark fins are a pretty good tell.

smellyhands · Post by **smellyhands** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 9:42 pm

I bet that tasted great! I love the taste of tarpon!!

SCREAMINREELS · Post by **SCREAMINREELS** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 9:49 pm

lady fish? not sure

Gofish! · Post by **Gofish!** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 10:06 pm

I have never seen one before, but you would have a hard time convincing me that it's not a baby Tarpon. The jaw structure is just like a Tarpon.

Reel Blessed · Post by **Reel Blessed** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 10:51 pm

I caught the same thing in Port O'Connor a while back...we don't know what the heck they are, so we called them "bullet fish"...haha. Those little dudes fight like crazy. I hooked one and thought it was a big trout...got excited, reeled it in, and was then disappointed. I too was fishing under lights with a glow spec rig.

Seriously, what kind of fish is this??

Kitsune · Post by **Kitsune** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 11:13 pm

I would have to say baby tarpon, unless proven different. The mouth structure is just to convincing

Barnacle Bill · Post by **Barnacle Bill** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 12:45 am

tww1313 wrote:I would have to say baby tarpon, unless proven different. The mouth structure is just to convincing

Yep, I agree.

Ladyfish:

Really good fish Identification website:

http://www.hookedondestin.com/KnowYourFish.aspx

DelSol · Post by **DelSol** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:10 am

Tarpon

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/gallery/D ... arpon.html

LDL · Post by **LDL** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 8:35 am

The "Gill plate" is almost a dead give away, that's a young Tarpon .

davesnothere · Post by **davesnothere** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 8:50 am

Skipjack Herring

Fish Tales · Post by **Fish Tales** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 8:54 am

Its a skipjack/tarpon hybrid. That explains the tarpon fins with the skipjack head

fishin phantom · Post by **fishin phantom** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 9:01 am

I say Tarpon.

dcbz · Post by **dcbz** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 9:38 am

Fish Tales wrote:Its a skipjack/tarpon hybrid. That explains the tarpon fins with the skipjack head

Maybe I'm slow, but surely you jest Fish Tales; I believe that the two fish are probably too far apart on the evolutionary tree to hybridize. The tarpon is from the Megalopidae family and the Megalops genus. The skipjack is from the Elopidae family and is a member of the genus Elops. By the way, you bear a striking resemblance to Val Kilmer. LOL

AyJay · Post by **AyJay** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 10:12 am

Your wife can now claim she's caught a Tarpon!!!

TexasSurfFisherman · Post by **TexasSurfFisherman** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 11:40 am

That is a Juvie Tarpon..........It has a very distinct spot or dorsal fin in this stage. Elopiformes
Megalopidae (Elopidae)
AKA
GIANT ASS MINNOW

Handle with care and release it soon. We are catching them in cast nets this last year. LOCATION CLASSIFIED!!

davesnothere · Post by **davesnothere** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 12:22 pm

http://www.nativefish.org/articles/SkipjackHerring.php
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/gallery/D ... gess.2.jpg

SAFD~TKF · Post by **SAFD~TKF** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 12:27 pm

Thats a baby Tarpon. No doubt about it. Gill structure, color, and rear dorsal fin shape.

Reel Blessed · Post by **Reel Blessed** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 12:30 pm

Is a skipjack the same thing as a ladyfish?

Jolly Roger · Post by **Jolly Roger** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 12:36 pm

nice little baby poon

Tx Angler 22 wrote:Is a skipjack the same thing as a ladyfish?

yes

DJ Wooly Bugger · Post by **DJ Wooly Bugger** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 1:45 pm

I think davesnothere has it right. This looks like a skipjack herring. I found a couple of links that confirm that they inhabit the GOM and specifically can be found in the Colorado River.

I was suspect about it being a tarpon since the scales were smaller than I thought they should be. The mouth seemed distinctive but not definitive.

I also saw a school of fish swimming up river one night that I thought were mullet but now believe could have been these as well.

I think the fact that it hit a tiny glow grub nails it down as I read about the diet of the skipjack herring.

I have caught several ladyfish and they fight in a similar fashion - violent jumps - and are a blast to catch.

I'll do a better job of photographing the next one.

Thanks
DJWB

Big Kahuna · Post by **Big Kahuna** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 2:00 pm

Caught one like that under the harbor bridge about two weeks ago only had my camera phone in the truck so let it go quickly because if it was i didn't want to kill it. Glad to see somebody else catchin tarpon for the new year.

Kahuna

Jolly Roger · Post by **Jolly Roger** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 2:52 pm

DJ Wooly Bugger wrote:I think davesnothere has it right. This looks like a skipjack herring. I found a couple of links that confirm that they inhabit the GOM and specifically can be found in the Colorado River.

I was suspect about it being a tarpon since the scales were smaller than I thought they should be. The mouth seemed distinctive but not definitive.

I also saw a school of fish swimming up river one night that I thought were mullet but now believe could have been these as well.

I think the fact that it hit a tiny glow grub nails it down as I read about the diet of the skipjack herring.

I have caught several ladyfish and they fight in a similar fashion - violent jumps - and are a blast to catch.

I'll do a better job of photographing the next one.

Thanks
DJWB

It is a baby tarpon.

Skipjack are all over the gulf, we catch thousands of them each year. That ain't no skipjack.

If you want some experts to ID it for ya, post the pic or link on here

http://2coolfishing.com/ttmbforum/forumdisplay.php?f=18

snookdude · Post by **snookdude** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 3:52 pm

Can you say Poonage. It's a juvenile Tarpon.

davesnothere · Post by **davesnothere** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 5:32 pm

Jolly Roger wrote:
DJ Wooly Bugger wrote:I think davesnothere has it right. This looks like a skipjack herring. I found a couple of links that confirm that they inhabit the GOM and specifically can be found in the Colorado River.

I was suspect about it being a tarpon since the scales were smaller than I thought they should be. The mouth seemed distinctive but not definitive.

I also saw a school of fish swimming up river one night that I thought were mullet but now believe could have been these as well.

I think the fact that it hit a tiny glow grub nails it down as I read about the diet of the skipjack herring.

I have caught several ladyfish and they fight in a similar fashion - violent jumps - and are a blast to catch.

I'll do a better job of photographing the next one.

Thanks
DJWB

It is a baby tarpon.

Skipjack are all over the gulf, we catch thousands of them each year. That ain't no skipjack.

If you want some experts to ID it for ya, post the pic or link on here

http://2coolfishing.com/ttmbforum/forumdisplay.php?f=18

Skipjack or ladyfish (Elops saurus) and skipjack herring (Alosa chrysochloris) are different species.