First Four Fish

Just made another run over to the Snake River Canyon, mainly for catfish. These were the first 4 fish I caught. You all know the western warm-water species? What are they?



To give you a hint on sizes, the upper left-hand fish was 13", just barely legal.

Jack

Clockwise from top left
Largemouth bass,crappie,catfish,whitefish.

Boco, Boco, Boco...

We have 4 species of catfish in Spudaho. Which one is it, man? Oh, and you're incorrect on the other three species.

Clockwise from top left
Smallmouth,bluegill,channel cat,yellow perch

smallmouth bass, bluegill, channel cat and squawfish(aka northern pikeminnow)

What did I win?

Not a perch I should have looked closer. I was thinking game fish.

The smallmouth bass and bluegill are both males. Do I get extra credit?

Keith

Gulo
Is the pike minnow considered a warm water species? It is native and I didn't think there was any native warm water fish, up here it is in the coldest of water

What are they ???? Eatin fishes !!!

10bands has it correct. What do you do with those bony squawfish Jack?

Smallmouth Bass, Bluegill, Channel Catfish, and Small Buffalo.

So far they look very much like sashimi .... stop babbling and get some butter into a skillet.

10bands is the clear winner, but Sundance gets an A as well. KeithC gets an A+. Also, Sundance, I suspect you are correct in that the northern pikeminnow (I still prefer squawfish), should not be considered a warm-water fish. They are a cyprinid (minnow family) so they are bony, but growing up, I ate plenty of them. Yes, the general populace considers them a trashfish, but filleted and run through a meat grinder, they make some of the best fish cakes you can imagine. A couple hours into the gig, I had a tussle with a bugle-mouthed bass as well (photo soon), and an 11-pound flathead cat (no photos, sorry). Usually, my trips over there result in crappie, rainbows, bullheads, and a metric bucket-load of mud-bugs. Not so, this trip with the warmer water.

Here's the bugle-mouthed bass (aka Cyprinus carpio).

Winner

Looks like a carp.

Come on, Idaho doesn't have fish as common as carp. We only have high quality/cold water trophy fish. You obviously haven't watched many fishing shows.

Sundance - Well spoken, Sir!

That's a pretty sweet mixed bag, there. I'm going to have to try the meat grinder, fish cake thing. The one I tried eating as a teenage was so bony I finally gave up.

My brothers father in law used to can anything to bony to fry,add enough garlic and pickling spices and everything is edible. He made some mean sandwiches.

My grandpa never threw back a squawfish but he grew up in South Dakota on a farm during the Depression and dust bowl so turning down something edible just wasn't a thing for him. He didn't throw out an apple core either he ate it seeds and all.

reminds me of my chicken eating in Trinidad years ago......they chopped up whole chickens and ate them.......bones and all........even ate the feet, I passed on those

My grandma made fried chicken feet, not much there but we kids fought over them.

Chicken feet are a big treat here in a farmhouse. They boil them to peel off the outer skin and then go at it.


A lot of whitefish have been eaten by folks, such as me, but they were also a common pig food for farmers in the west who could net them easily on the big rivers during the fall spawning runs. Maybe in the lakes too, but I don't know.

Nice smallie by the way, and the bluegill is a good one too.


Pete

Gulo, your last pic shows the makings for my favorite grilled carp recipe - Carp(you can use these letters to spell something else) on a plank. Slit the carp every one inch and wash with a smoke marinade as you dry smoke it to perfection. Then throw away the fish and eat the plank, lol. Actually smoked carp is delicious, I'm just too spoiled on MN walleyes.