Loooks Like a Pike but....

[shwatec]

I was at Orchard lake all day saturday, looking for anything to bite and seen something 3 foot long swimming toward the boat. I thought It was a pike but as it got closer I noticed its head was flat. I threw a spinner at it a few times . I had it turned around and chasing the lure, he even took a bite but not enough to get hooked. What is it?

Are there Carp in Orchard lake, I seen some larger fish swimming around but could not get them to take the bait figured they were carp.

Sean

[Huntin Horseman]

Bowfin a.k.a Dogfish.

[jigworm]

What you probably saw was a gar. There a bunch of them in there and they will often follow your bait.

How did you do? I was there till about 11:30 yesterday. Caught 22 bass, but only 5 were 14" or better. Most came on a senko, a few on a jigworm and one on a x-rap.

[Sprytle]

I agree.....Gar
Did it have a long skinny nose??

http://floridafisheries.com/images/raverart/Spotted-Gar.jpg

[shwatec]

gar pike....must be...

[shwatec]

Caught a few bass....Not very familiar with the lake...Tried to fish drop offs and weed lines with not much luck. I was trying white spinners baits and texas rigged power bait 7.5 inch worms.


Were you catching smallies or Bucktmouths.>>??

I have been out to orchard 4 times in the past week and dont do very well until the sun goes down....

[jigworm]

I've been fishing in the morning. Isolated weedbeds on the flats and boat docks have both been producing. Later in the day check out the sunken islands with a jigworm or roadrunner fished deep (20-28 ft) around the perimeter. Mostly largemouths with 2 or 3 smallies thrown in. The bigger smallies are supended this time of year and are tough to find.

[ZobZob]

I was there Saturday also. It's funny, there weren't that many boats fishing and three must have been from this site. I was in a 14 foot aluminum w/ my buddy. I caught 20-something fish (mostly panfish) with a couple of small smallies mixed in... I don't think I had one over 12". That was my first time there. I like that lake, it has character; one huge island in the middle and a smaller one on the north side. Water was really clear. One thing that surprised us is how we would be trolling in 50ft and all of the sudden there were huge weedbeds with less than 10 ft. in the middle of the lake. Needless to say, we had a lot of problems with lures fouling up with weeds. After getting frustrated, we did the old bobber and crawler routine and that's how we caught most of our fish.

Zob