Fish with JD » Exotic Species

Sparctic Char: Strange Nighttime Saltwater Spawners from Europe!

JD — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 05:13:28 +0000

Spawning pair of Sparctic Char in Holland's Lake Oostvoorne (Janny Bosman photo)

Okay, I though about doing this one as a “Name that Fish,” but I’m pretty sure nobody would get it (including me), so let’s just instead tell the tale of strange hybrid char that spawns in saltwater: The Sparctic Char.

Our field reporter from the Netherlands, Franklin Moquette, introduced me to these interesting critters as they spawned in a saltwater lake in western Holland.

Handsome devils aren't they? (Janny Bosman photo)

According to Moquette, the Sparctic Char is a fertile hybrid between a female American brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) and a male European Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus), called the ‘Alsacian char’. This cross is sometimes referred to as ‘Sparctic trout’ or ‘Sparctic char’ in the USA and Canada, a combination of the names of the parents (‘Speckled trout’ and Arctic char).

The scene of the action is Lake Oostvoorne, a salt water lake in the Netherlands. This artificial lake resulted from the shutting off (with three dams) of part of the Rhine estuary from the North Sea. This was done as a kind of flood protection for the Dutch Delta. This produced a lake with brackish water. After a couple of years the sea fish had all died, with the exception of some brackish water species and – interestingly – shoals of herring that had become ‘landlocked’.

Because the population of sea fish was dwindling, the regional angling federation decided to stock some rainbow trout in Lake Oostvoorne. And with great success! The rainbow trout grew very quickly in the salt water of the lake and reached ‘steelhead-sizes’. Later on also brown trout were stocked that were a great success too and they turned into ‘sea trout’. For about 20 years the fishing in Lake Oostvoorne is ‘catch and release’, mostly with a fly rod, but spinfishing with lures with a single hook is also permitted.

Either they are digging redds...or break dancing! (Janny Bosman photo)

Since 2006,large number of Sparctic char have been stocked and then, last year, a couple lady divers discovered that the sparctics were trying to reproduce in the salt water of the lake! And they started to photograph the courtship and spawning of these fish. Then November 2011, the fish again returned from the deep to the gravel beds in more shallow water and started their courting ceremonies. Among them at least one big female char that was recognizable by a deficient gill cover. The lady photographers started to wonder if the spawn was legit — or just a kind of ‘dummy spawning’. They observed no eggs and no milt.

Because there are many sharp mussel shells between the gravel, the tails of some females are torn to shreds! (Janny Bosman)

When Moquette looked at the photos of the redds, he suggested that these fish — like Arctic char — do the real ‘act’ only at night.

A husband of one of the divers then carefully start to dig in one of the clean gravel beds and found eggs! It then became apparent why the spawning of these chars can never be successful. In the salty water the eggs had not swollen normally, but had shrunk more or less and showed all kinds of ‘wrinkles.’

Successfully laid Sparctic Char eggs won't hatch in the salt (janny Bosman)

After the spawn, some of the Sparctics became crab food (Janny Bosman)

And, here’s a little video shot by Linda Engels and Karin Brussaardshot…

Mexican Salmon!?!?!?

JD — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 02:48:22 +0000

Who's up for some pink meat fish tacos?

Every once in a while, boats off San Diego will catch a salmon or two. Even less frequently, there’s one caught south of the border. Then, you’ve got Thomas D. Bryant, the great Mexican salmon slayer. He caught this hatchery coho while fishing off a jetty 72 KM south of the U.S. Border. And get this…it’s his second one!

This fish was a loooong way from home, too — especially when you consider that California uses maxillary clips — not adipose clips — on coho. Seeing that this chromer is missing his adipose fin, it was at least from an Oregon hatchery…and, who knows…maybe even further north than that! Read the entire story on BLOODY DECKS

Some love for the “Brown Turds” of the North

JD — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 08:31:04 +0000

Back in my Alaskan guiding days, we sometimes used to refer to grayling as “brown turds.” While not necessarily warranted, it’s easy to understand the reason for the unfortunate moniker: When you’re looking for big leopard-spotted rainbows or salmon-sized char, hooking a “sailfish of the north” was quite anticlimactic. After all, they don’t get very large and fight like a wet gym sock.

But in hindsight, are grayling really all that bad? I mean, really…they feature some attractive attributes that we anglers often seek: They’re numerous and bite like piranhas. What’s not to love? They’re kinda exotic, too, what with the big dorsal fin and all (the males have the really impressive sails). And the common perception that grayling are ugly is off base, too. When you take a close look at these guys, they actually have a lot of subtle but beautiful coloration to them. Obviously, they’ll never take the place of some of the glamor species, but I just figured it was time to give grayling a little love…

Name that Fish: Kooky-ass space alien fish edition

JD — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 05:31:00 +0000

Fishing, as it turns out, is good on Mars!

Okay all you wannabe ichthyologists out there, I’ve got to admit, you’re getting pretty damn tough to stump. You guys and gals have proven yourselves time and time again in recent editions of out Name that Fish game, but let’s see what you got this time around. Using the comments section below, go ahead and tell me, oh wise ones, what this fish is. But first, a couple clues…

I had to dig deep for this shy critter, which lives at depths of up to 4,300 feet by day and then moves up the water column at night to feed on tasty things like crustaceans, smaller fish and cephalopods (calamari…yum!). Interestingly, his bright color actually acts as camouflage when he’s down deep as red is the first color to drop out of the color spectrum as you go down into the water. Obviously, he’s a sitting duck, however, if he gets caught up near the surface!

This particular one is a pending all-tackle IGFA world record taken by Kevin Wong, of Virginia Beach, VA off the Virginia coastline. Can you Name that Fish? If you want to know the answer, scroll up the page and hit our Facebook Page.

The Black Kokanee: Not extinct after all!

JD — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 16:00:09 +0000

(AP Photo)

Black kokanee salmon supposedly went extinct 70 years ago, but a Japanese scientist has just found a population of the rare salmon still living in a lake near Mount Fuji.

Tetsuji Nakabo, a professor at Kyoto University, said his team of researchers found the species in Lake Saiko recently and there appears to be enough black kokes or “kunimasu” still hanging around to make up a viable population.

Read the whole story at the JAPAN TIMES

Name that Fish: Big-ass shaddy-looking thing Edition

JD — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 07:17:39 +0000

IGFA Photo

As evidenced by how easily you guys have been getting the past few Name that Fish game answers so quickly and easily, I decided to dig a little deeper this time around. See if you can spot this one…

This fish, a pending IGFA 20-lb. line class record, came from Africa and weighed an impressive 100 pounds, 1-ounce. Apparently, they’re pretty bad-ass too, because it took angler James Hodgson, of Western Cape, South Africa 2 hours to subdue the beast.

What is it? Use the comments section below to give us your best guess. If you want to know the answer, click the Facebook button up and to the right…I’ll post it there.

Big Fred’s Freshwater Red

JD — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 00:26:49 +0000

Big Fred & Big Red

Kinda like a salmon…that’s what our pal Big Fred Contaoi wrote in the subject line of the email when he sent me this pic of him with a big freshwater drum from Oolagah Lake, Oklahoma.

Big Boy caught this estimated 12-14 pounder while pre-fishing for a bass tourney and says they fight like crazy. Some of the lakes he fishes back there are are stuffed with these guys while they’re more of an incidental catch on others. Also known in the south as “Gaspergou,” (gas-per-goo), freshwater drum can get to over 50 pounds. I don’t know, there’s just something about these guys that intrigues me and I’m gonna have to go catch one someday…

As far as table fare goes, drum are close relatives to saltwater redfish, which are very good to eat. According to Wiki, “The freshwater drum is known for its succulent flesh, but many fishermen are put off by its mucus lining and dank smell…” Hmm…maybe I’ll hold off on the sashimi!

Globetrotting angler Steve Wozniak closing in on catching his 1000th species

JD — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 04:01:32 +0000

Woz and a surgeonfish (Photo: IGFA)

California angler Steve Wozniak would be the world’s greatest player of our little Name that Fish Game. “Woz” has fished in 61 different countries across the globe in pursuit of catching and documenting 1,000 different species of fish. And he’s getting close. A few exotics on a trip to Hawaii in June got him to 990 and he figures that he should achieve his goal sometime in the not-so-distant future.

“A couple of trips should put me in shouting distance,” said Wozniak. “I’m hoping to get to Norway, Egypt and to the Andaman Islands near India in the Indian Ocean in the next several months, so I have a pretty good shot in 2010. If not, 2011 is the year. It’s getting close.”

In addition to being perhaps the world’s most prolific catcher of different species, Woz is also looking at several of his latest catches maybe getting considered as new IGFA World Records.

To see some of the strange and unusual fish he’s been catching lately, read on…

A face only a mother could love...the monkfish, not Woz!

Steve and an Apache Trout

Masheer from India

Bluegill on steriods: A Sicklefish

A small convict: When you're going for 1,000...they're not all going to be big.

Nope...not a giant burned marshmallow...but a burrfish instead!

Chasing White Bass on the West Coast!

JD — Sun, 02 May 2010 23:05:24 +0000

In the South, White Bass are extremely common — and popular sportfish. Here on the West Coast, however, they only exist in a couple lakes…Having never fished these exotics in their native lands, Reilly and I decided to see what all the hype was about, so we put the super secret, under-the-radar FishWithJD skiff in the water and went on a little fact-finding mission. Bottom line: while not huge, these little critters that look like mutant striper x crappie hybrids are a blast to catch…

That’s a Bad Fish: The 10-foot long Sabertooth Salmon

JD — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 03:20:28 +0000

Artwork: Dmitry Bogdanov

Okay, so here’s yet another reason I need that time machine jet sled: So I can go back to the late Miocene epoch, (about 20 plus million years ago) and fish for oncorhynchus rastrosus, otherwise known as the “Sabertooth Salmon.”

This big boy was up to 10 feet long and weighed 300 to 400 pounds. As if that weren’t bad ass enough, ol’ rastrosus rocked some huge 4-inch fangs that extended down from the top of his jaw (bust out the wire leaders and titanium Kwikfish!).

Apparently the Sabertooth Salmon was anadramous, as fossilized remains have been found in central Oregon and in coastal rivers in California. Oddly enough, scientists think that this monster may have actually been a plankton feeder when at sea, suggesting that it was a relative to modern day chum or sockeye. Plankton feeder or not, I’m thinking Kevlar waders may have been in order back in the day!

Here’s what wacky and wonderful wildlife artist Ray Troll thinks it might have looked like (notice the “chummy” resemblance)…