Has anybody ever seen a sucker like this? I caught it a month or so ago out of the snake river near blackfoot. We floated a nice stretch of river for a few hours. Attached is a picture..
If you know exactly what kind of sucker it is would help me a lot...(common name or scientific name would be great).
I've just been wondering about it and it's just one of those things that's bugged me and I can't find anything online via Google..
[signature]
Not sure if that is a different type of sucker, but I have caught many of them in the the Rose/Blackfoot area before. Those type seem to fight a lot more than the regular gold sucker. I have also caught some in that area that are white and black. Hope some one answer's because I have wondered the same thing for years.
[signature]
I've seen them before but never gave it a lot of thought.
See [url "http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://filaman.ifm-geomar.de/images/thumbnails/gif/tn_Baans_u0.gif&imgrefurl=http://filaman.ifm-geomar.de/identification/specieslist.cfm%3Ffamcode%3D122%26areacode%3D&usg=__L_rDrU_1dnCjCUitr2c3v_OkEGc=&h=158&w=211&sz=11&hl=en&start=209&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=a7hHkkAOoQXMIM:&tbnh=79&tbnw=106&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsucker%2Bfish%2Bidentification%26start%3D200%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26sa%3DN%26rlz%3D1T4ADFA_enUS353US355%26ndsp%3D20%26tbs%3Disch:1"]http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://filaman.ifm-geomar.de/images/thumbnails/gif/tn_Baans_u0.gif&imgrefurl=http://filaman.ifm-geomar.de/identification/specieslist.cfm%3Ffamcode%3D122%26areacode%3D&usg=__L_rDrU_1dnCjCUitr2c3v_OkEGc=&h=158&w=211&sz=11&hl=en&start=209&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=a7hHkkAOoQXMIM:&tbnh=79&tbnw=106&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsucker%2Bfish%2Bidentification%26start%3D200%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26sa%3DN%26rlz%3D1T4ADFA_enUS353US355%26ndsp%3D20%26tbs%3Disch:1[/url].
Looks a lot like the river chub to me.
[signature]
That is the spawning coloration of the small scale sucker. Nicely colored up. I would guess that fish was caught in April, because that is the peak of the spawn for them. They typically start in March here (lower elevation) and finish the first part of May. Fishing sucker spawn fly patterns can be money for fat trout that time of year, especially when you find a bunch of fish flopping around on a gravel bar.
[signature]
I'm pretty sure it's called a Utah Sucker. Why else would it be so ugly?
Seriously though, I think it's called a Utah Sucker. I caught one in the Teton River. Here's a link I found:
[url "http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.briancardall.com/images/Slide1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.briancardall.com/education.htm&usg=__xJ9TQMqPqslelF1Hb45vqD6FKjQ=&h=324&w=432&sz=176&hl=en&start=11&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=nBMJN6Z0hRu3SM:&tbnh=95&tbnw=126&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dutah%2Bsucker%2Bfish%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26sa%3DN%26tbs%3Disch:1"]http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.briancardall.com/images/Slide1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.briancardall.com/education.htm&usg=__xJ9TQMqPqslelF1Hb45vqD6FKjQ=&h=324&w=432&sz=176&hl=en&start=11&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=nBMJN6Z0hRu3SM:&tbnh=95&tbnw=126&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dutah%2Bsucker%2Bfish%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26sa%3DN%26tbs%3Disch:1[/url]
[signature]
Not sure what you mean by Small Scale Sucker. I'm certainly sucker expert, so if you are feel free to correct me as I'm always up for learning something new. But I can't find any Small Scale Sucker in Idaho. There's a Klamath
small scale sucker (Catostomas rimiculus).
As for my vote on what the fish is, it looks to me like a Longnose Sucker (
Catostomus catostomus) Here's a link to a site with a picture:
http://www.nanfa.org/checklist.shtml
Here's a link to a pretty inclusive list of Idaho's fishes native and non native.
http://www.idahoafs.org/fishes.php
[signature]
Yup, it does look like that. I'm changing my vote.[
]
[signature]
if i can figure how to transfer pics from my phone to here ill do it, early may a frien and i caught 23 suckers in 8 hours of fishing!! ended up being an awesome trip evem though was just suckers and yes we caught them in blkft and yes they are spawners. caught one 27" long. ha think ill mont em[cool]
[signature]
oh and 12 of the suckers we caught had that dark stripe down the side
[signature]
I'm sure there's a better way, but I've always just sent my cell phone pictures in a picture message to my email address, and that works fine.
Hope this helps
[signature]
its just what the males do when they spawn ive caught a ton like that.
[signature]
Have to agree with Utah Sucker. That area of the Snake River is part of the Utah Sucker range. I believe that the longnose sucker's mouth is a little further back and completely under, which makes the snout look sharper. And the longnose sucker is a more northern fish.
The real difference is in the anal fin. The Utah Sucker anal fin is extra long and will frequently touch the tail.
Very nice fish. They may be ugly, but they can be fun to catch.
[signature]
Thanks everybody for the replies. I think it may be a utah sucker as well now..
[signature]
Yep, that's what it is. As was mentioned, it is extremely colored up for the springtime spawn. It's not surprising to run into a little difficulty identifying it because they sure don't look that way later on. Even though they aren't much of a game-fish, they're still fun to catch, especially during the spawn. There's lots of feistiness in them in the early spring. Nice pic!
[quote iliketofish]Not sure what you mean by Small Scale Sucker. I'm certainly sucker expert, so if you are feel free to correct me as I'm always up for learning something new. But I can't find any Small Scale Sucker in Idaho. There's a Klamath small scale sucker (Catostomas rimiculus).
As for my vote on what the fish is, it looks to me like a Longnose Sucker (Catostomus catostomus) Here's a link to a site with a picture:
[url "http://www.nanfa.org/checklist.shtml"]http://www.nanfa.org/checklist.shtml[/url]
Here's a link to a pretty inclusive list of Idaho's fishes native and non native. [url "http://www.idahoafs.org/fishes.php[/quote]"]http://www.idahoafs.org/fishes.php[/quote][/url]
Small Scale Sucker as Family, not Geunus or Species. I've seen Redhorse that were colored up similarly, but with different shades...
[signature]
Cool, I'll check those out. I'm always fascinated with the wide diversity of fishes even "ugly" ones like suckers.
[signature]
My wife has caught a bunch of these on the Henrys Fork. She just drags a worm across the bottom and pulls in 3lbs all day. I get mad because if i am lucky i catch a trout to match the size and weight.
[signature]
looks like a June sucker in spawning colors to me, but supposedly they only live in Utah-
click on the thumbnail on this site and see what you think-
[url "https://www.hoglezoo.org/meet_our_animals/animal_finder/June_Sucker"]https://www.hoglezoo.org/meet_our_animals/animal_finder/June_Sucker[/url]
[signature]
I agree just in spawning colors caught a lot of them below minadoka dam [fishin]
[signature]