Bait Fish

[marknsaw]

I know... sounds crazy doesn't it.

Everybody has put so much into the game fish catalog that this seems CrAzY. Honestly, look it up? There is not much information on the bait/prey/forage fish of Beaver Lake. I am only doing this because it has been really weird this year. Everyone knows that gizzard and threadfin shad are predominant on this lake. Well.....guess what? They are not dominant yet this year. My main goal is to document ALL known species of bait fish.... so if you see/know one.... POST IT!

There are so many more types of bait fish..........I have caught these in my nets and traps through the years.

Let me introduce you to a few.

- brook silverside(skinny minnow)

-blueback herring

-rudd

-rainbow smelt (OMG)

-emerald shiner (and gold/silver)

I'm only going off pictures that I have taken and tried to match. I Ask the forums help here.....Try to complete/update this list.

[Feathers and Fins]

Bluebacks and Smelt? was this positively IDed by a biologist? Don't get me wrong it would be interesting but on species Blubacks are often confused with is Alewife and a positive ID needs to be done, Same with the smelt because if they are in the lake people could fish for them and they are tasty.

Perch are a baitfish and gamefish so suppose you could add them

Suckers are a bait as well

Goldfish / Carp

[nathanhooper]

I looked this topic up a while back and I too am curious about the blueback actually being in the lake. I thought they weren't. I'd love to see some pictures of your fish, would help us all identify what we see from time to time.

[J-Doc]

Interesting....

I like the idea.

[1969Larson]

Please share these pics. Not sure I believe the smelt and herring. Add creek chubs to the list. (Not sure of the scientific name, but they are in War Eagle and the White River.). I think the key word here is "predominant". I would bet gizzard and thread fin shad are 95% of the diet.

[marknsaw]

Well...it's not exactly "scientific", but I look at the fish and then try to find pictures that match or resemble them on the internet. If you guys are interested I'll start saving the pictures and post them here and we'll go from there. No biologist FnF, just Dr. Google and Mr. Wiki Never thought too much of it until a couple weeks ago when I started night fishing. Usually I get a huge ball of shad ( easy to ID ) under the light, but it's been a mix of all different sorts of bait. It just got me thinking about colors and styles of crankbaits to use while trolling or plugging. The fish I think was a smelt was shiny silver with a bluish green highlight ( depended on how the light hit it ) on it's back.... it also had a 1/8 inch wide perfectly silver stripe from gill to tail and was about 7 inches long. The herring may have been an alewife they are hard to tell apart and I couldn't pick between them ( it had a slight bluish highlight along it's back ). I realize that coloration varies from one system to another... and frankly there is just not a bunch of information or pictures of forage fish. That's why I posted... figured somebody would know more or help point me in the right direction.

[1969Larson]

Yes, Sir. Snap some pics and post them. I bet someone on here can id them.

[Luckyj]

Great topic!!!!!