What kind of fish is this?

[Rockman72]

I caught this out of Lake Mac yesterday.
Not sure of what it is.
It was 14.5" long.

http://home.comcast.net/~rockman2672/fish.jpg

[Can't Touch This]

it looks like a quailback, a quailback is kind of related to the sucker and is considered kind of a trash fish.

[Lunker]

looks like a Very large shad to me.

[jeremy L]

gizzard shad?: http://sites.state.pa.us/PA_Exec/Fish_Boat/fishhtms/chap10.htm#gizzard

or maybe an American shad, scroll up on link above.

[rivrat1959]

looks like a shad to me.

[WALLEYE MIKE]

Gizzard shad. Saw alot of them this winter off Fair Haven ice fishing.

[steve ypsi]

Looks just like this one, I have no idea
http://home.comcast.net/~rockman2672/fish.jpg

[Rockman72]

It didn't have that long trailer off the dorsal fin (can't see that very well in the picture), so it shouldn't be a gizzard shad.

[ESOX]

I don't think it's a Gizzard Shad, it is lacking the long spine off the dorsal fin. My guess, with no research is a Mooneye.

[ESOX]

Were those fish very thin, with practically no shoulders?

[ESOX]

http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dfwmr/wildlife/endspec/mooneye.html

HMMM maybe not?

[ESOX]

http://www.state.ia.us/dnr/organiza/fwb/fish/iafish/mooneye/moe-card.htm

Maybe???

[MSUICEMAN]

yeah, looks like a mooneye to me also. caught quite a few, somehow they got into one of my farm ponds, fun to catch, weirded me out when i caught my first one. i haven't caught one in my ponds in years though, maybe they couldn't reproduce and died out or the snappers got em all, dunno.......

steve

[baydog2]

Mooneye, That would be my guess after looking thru a couple of books. That is the only thing that came close. Baydog

[Ruler]

Check this thread out. Looks just like something I pulled outta the saginasty river a while back.

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=18999


This is a pic of the one I got.

http://ruler.wyvernscave.us/Fish/Unknown2.jpg

[treehunter2]

gizzard shad ,there are great bait , harder then h#ll to keep alive

[Spanky]

mooneye!:cool:

[Ruler]

Actually, I think mine was a gizzard shad. I cleaned it and started cooking it, but it was so full of bones it was almost impossible to clean and smelled so bad frying that it went into the trash before it was 1/2 done. :(

I was thinking it was a big whitefish or something... another dude I was fishing with said that's what it looked like to him.

[ESOX]

I still think it's a Mooneye. Ciscos arent as deep bodied.

[gregm]

My guess would be a mooneye.

[Hotwired]

Mooneye!
Mooneye!
Mooneye!

The pelvic fin is ahead of the dorsal fin and the lip does not go past the eye.

It does on the other choices.

Later,
Hotwired

[Shoes]

Not a gizzard shad - lacks the quilled extension off the back of the dorsal fin.

Not a mooneye - front edge of the anal fin is too far back, well behind the dorsal fin.

Not a cisco nor whitefish - no adipose fin.

Actually, what you caught is a member of the herring family...a large alewife (alosa pseudoharengus). Although the American shad is closely related, the darkened area behind the top of the opercle (gill plate) is the characteristic which in this case is the difference. Also, the American shad is more costal and much less abundant in the Great Lakes area than alwives.

Cleaned many of them off the beaches at Saugatuck during their hayday of mass die-offs in the 60's. Their population explosion is the primary reason salmon were introduce into the Great Lakes, to help control them. Your right....not considered good table fare.
:) ;)

[WALLEYE MIKE]

Wheres Mike Thomas when you needed him?

[Spanky]

Sorry, I ain't buying it. A 14 inch alewife. LOL!:D

[Lunker]

Want to see some examples of fish that look identical to it ? Go to flat rock in the fall. All the stinkers you want.

[Shoes]

:D :D Yeah, it is funny to think you could catch a 14" alewife. I will point out though that Eddy's Taxonomic key on 'How to Know Freshwater Fishes' indicates the length of alwives to 15". This of course is a nominal limit, which means one could not only catch one which exceeds 14", but probably a 15 incher as well. This key was a required reference by the MSU Fisheries department for many years.

While the fish could be another member of the same family, such as an American shad, everything I see in the picture indicates it to be an alewife. I do make mistakes, however, and am certainly willing to stand corrected. Alien species are being introduced on a fairly regular basis. If you don't buy it, maybe you could just let us know which feature on the pictured fish is inconsistent with that of an alwife, and perhaps we can all learn something new. ;)

[Mike Thomas]

Based on the photo, I'm 99.9% sure that the fish is a large, adult gizzard shad. The subterminal mouth (overhanging snout) is a good indicator, as is the lack of lateral spots on the sides. The elongated posterior ray of the dorsal fin is the most distinctive feature, and it isn't visible in the photograph. In fact, on live fish it isn't really obvious unless you firmly pull the dorsal fin up and away from the body, and even then it sometimes stays plastered to the slime coating of the fish (which is generally quite copious on gizzard shad).

BTW - large gizzard shad are pretty common throughout the Great Lakes and all directly connected waters. I'm guessing that the Lake Mac that was the site of the capture of this fish is maybe Lake Macatawa, which connects to Lake Michigan?

Definitely not an American shad (no lateral spots, not a terminal mouth) and they're quite rare in the Great Lakes. Definitely not a mooneye, (not a terminal mouth, too much dark pigmentation on the fins) which are rarely seen anywhere outside Lake St. Clair/St. Clair River in Michigan.

[ESOX]

Thanks Mike.

Ill change my opinion now....LOL;)

[Shoes]

Works for me. ;)

[hypox]

I've caught a ton off the pier in st. Joe. It's a gizzard shad if I've ever seen one.

[Spanky]

I'll buy the shad! Thanks for setting us straight.:)