# What was it??



## just me (May 15, 2005)

Last weekend my stepson caught an 18" what I thought was a bullhead...at first. Its mouth was similar to a catfish with one straight dorsal fin that ran from just behind the head to the tailfin. It also had two nubs above the mouth that looked like they were supposed to be barbs. It was also dark in color with a light belly.
I searched the 'net trying to find a picture of it, but was unsuccessful.
Any ideas what it may have been?

Brian


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## WALLEYE MIKE (Jan 7, 2001)

Bowfin or also commonly known as a dogfish.


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## icefishermanmark (Mar 2, 2005)

An 18 inch bullhead is really unheard of


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## wally-eye (Oct 27, 2004)

Its a tackle busting ugly dogfish. Fun to catch but ugly to handle. I caught one last week on Hamlin lake that was almost 12 pounds. It was huge and totally trashed a brand new spinnerbait........bent it all to hell. 

I don't know anyone that has anything good to say about a dogfish besides the fight they put up.......


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## Sprytle (Jan 8, 2005)

Mr. Dogfish ...Yuk


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## icefishermanmark (Mar 2, 2005)

wally-eye said:


> Its a tackle busting ugly dogfish. Fun to catch but ugly to handle. I caught one last week on Hamlin lake that was almost 12 pounds. It was huge and totally trashed a brand new spinnerbait........bent it all to hell.
> 
> I don't know anyone that has anything good to say about a dogfish besides the fight they put up.......


If it was close to 12 lbs. then it's close to a record.


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## quest32a (Sep 25, 2001)

icefishermanmark said:


> If it was close to 12 lbs. then it's close to a record.


Yup, the state record is right around 12lbs. I wonder how many times that has been broken though. We got one when I was a kid out spearing that was over 10, and we saw one that night that dwarfed it. The fish was well over 35 inches. I think most people just want the fish off the hook, and could care less how big it is. Even if it could be a state record.


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## archie holst (Aug 18, 2003)

I'm fairly confident I have a couple state records buried under the tomatoe plants.


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## dtg (Jun 5, 2003)

That picture above makes the dogfish look good. When you see them in person, it's as though you just pulled up some fish that is from the paliozoic age. I caught one on a minnow a few years ago in Wabasis. When I got it in the boat, my girlfreind(at the time) freaked out, she ran to the front of the boat yelling "GET THAT THING AWAY FROM ME". I didn't know what it was at the time. It had swallowed the hook and I ended up killing it to get my hook back. I put it in the livewell until i could have another fisherman identify it for me. Some guy told me it was a dog fish, I told him i accidently killed it and he said GOOD, if you catch anymmore, cut their heads off and throw them back. They decimate the game fish in a lake. The only thing they seem good for is a REALLY good fight.

I think I latched onto one in a lake over in Clarksville, just east of Lowell. I could not bring that thing up and it ended up snapping my 12#test.


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## Jr.BowmanMI (Jun 27, 2005)

And if you throw them on the hot cement.... they'll bark 

Also, They are HUGE at lake nepessing


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## icefishermanmark (Mar 2, 2005)

The fight in those things is amazing. I've only gotten them on tip=ups, but even on a tip-up they put pike to shame. My friend got one last year off of his dock, and it easily took him 10 minutes to get in. And it was only a #6.


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## wally-eye (Oct 27, 2004)

If the state record is 12 lbs then I probably broke it with that nasty fish. When I flopped it onto the "nice carpet" on the floor of the boat it reached more than half way across, and then slimed my nice looking carpet..worse than a catfish would. 

I actually thought about taking it with me but really didn't want it in my livewell and having to handle it twice. 

We used to catch them around Jackson back in the 60s from Wilbur lake that were well over 12 lbs. Huge, we would slit the belly with a knife, drag them with a rope for a few hours and then when we would leave a lot of them would swim away. We caught a big one back then that had a 12 in bass in its mouth that was half swallowed AND it still bit on a crawler harness......just plain nasty fish that I don't know have any use in life.....but maybe thats just me........


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## dajumboman (Feb 29, 2004)

i caught one in spring lake a few years back that was well over 12 lbs.. (hook and line) and i bow fish quite often and 10 pounders are almost a regular target out on the area lakes... that state record is easily breakable, and has been broke many times by people without even knowing it ... 


have a fun and safe weekend


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## icefishermanmark (Mar 2, 2005)

hopefully this thread will help someone get a new record certified


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## dajumboman (Feb 29, 2004)

o yea i also found that they eat anything and everything.. they eat when there full. one had a bluegill in its mouth and it spit it out and ate my bait. also have had them engulf a bare hook just because it was near them.. i think they just like to kill things.. ..

I've caught a few that have almost antifreeze green tint to and around all there fins, has anyone else seen this, and explain why?

thanks guys


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## wally-eye (Oct 27, 2004)

You weren't fishing Mona Lake were ya? Glowing in the dark.............


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## quest32a (Sep 25, 2001)

I think during the spring the males will take on that color. I have also heard that dogfish are great for a lake with stunted bluegill as they kill the small ones w/ regularity. I used to kill everyone I caught, now I let them go. I may have to go out after dark and try to catch me a state record


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## icefishermanmark (Mar 2, 2005)

They haven't helped the stunted blue gill issue in the other lake in my neighborhood.


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## Lance73 (May 9, 2004)

I really don't understand why everyone loves to kill dogfish. I really don't think it is normal to kill something you are not going to eat. I have read articles about dogfish where fisherman have said they are an important fish in water systems because they will eat the stunted bluegill and other fish so the lake will have more of a balance.

To me it is kind of ignorant to go around killing things with no reason. IE-bowfishing for carp, does it make you feel bigger to know that you are killing wildlife for no purpose?!


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## just me (May 15, 2005)

My stepson caught it in Cranberry Lake on a punpkin green color tube. He was casting into the weeds and said "I don't know what it is, but it feels huge". 
He was pretty excited about it, but no way in Hades was I gonna' eat that "butt ugly" thing........
Well at least he got the biggest fish. I could only bring in a couple of bluegill and they were small at that!
Hey...it was a fun day though.

Brian


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