Does anyone know what this is?

[YumDinger]

http://qualityjunkyard.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/strange-fish-2.jpg

[Striperfishin]

Yes, It is some weird fish. Where was the picture taken?

[jackson]

I saw something like this years ago below Cordell Hull dam where the Caney Fork meets the Cumberland but I was more than halfway through a case of budweiser when I saw it.

[YumDinger]

Jackson,

I didn't take this picture, but I found this online after much research. I saw something nearly identical to this last week. Because you just made me feel like I wasn't insane anymore, I'll tell you what I saw, but I wasn't going to when I posted this, just wanted to see if anyone knew what it was. Last Wednesday I was below Cordell Hull Dam, about 3/4 of a mile away from where the Caney meets the Cumberland (almost crapped a brick when you stated your location. If you are just messing around, then it was a damn good guess) opposite the dam side. A long eel like thing with some red tufts of hair surfaced about 12 feet from my boat and swam the surface for 5 seconds and then submerged. I saw about 12 feet of it before it disappeared, but I think it may have been longer. It looked very similar to the picture that I originally put on there but not exact. The red spines or hairs where not nearly as long as the picture and was gray, not a flashy silver like the picture. Are there any large eels in TN waters?

[tjustin]

Wow I wanna know what this is .

[Travis C.]

We do have eels here in TN. They are rare to come by though here. I am not sure on the length they grow to but anything is possible.

Once I was fishing on lake Seminole and we were idling through a canal when dad nearly jumped into my seat. An eel (I guess) came up to the surface blew like a whale or dolphin does then scurried back to the bottom. We seen it only a brief time and it looked like a snake heading straight down.

[tnridgerunner]

http://www.tnfish.org/SpeciesFishInformation_TWRA/AmericanEelTennessee_AnguillaRostrata_TWRA.htm

[Striperfishin]

It is an Oarfish. They live in deep ocean waters, but also can be seen in the Cumberland river when enough whiskey has been consumed.;)

Good fishing,
Brian

[jackson]

On second thought it may have just been a duck. Like I said, I was well on my way to a good time.

[TNtransplant08]

That is certainly an odd looking fish, especially with the red "tuff" coming off its head. Doesn't look like an eel to me. Have you thought about contacting TWRA and show them the picture? Maybe you've discovered a new species or our own version of "Loch Ness Monster?:cool:

[Striperfishin]

Google Oarfish and you will see lots of pictures like that. They are a long silvery fish. They sit vertical in the water sometimes so you see just the head and the tuft like in that picture. They sometimes come into shallow water and have been the cause of many "sea serpent encounter reports". On occasion they were found in the surf dying in southern CA while I lived there. Little is know about them, but they appear to live in ocean waters all over the world. Cool looking very long sleek fish. The tuft on the head is very strange too. The picture of that one was probably taken while it was in shallow water some where about to die.

Good fishing,
Brian

[YumDinger]

I understand that it wasn't an oarfish, it's just impossible. What about an alligator gar? I don't know if they get up to that length, but I think they get close. Are there alligator gar in this area?

[Striperfishin]

Alligator gar are very rare in TN, not sure if there is any in the cumberland. The cumberland is a colder water river and alligator gar like slow warmer river backwaters. There are lots of paddlefish, huge buffalo and carp, other types of gar, etc in the cumberland, but nothing that looks like the picture of the oarfish. I can't think of anything in TN that would have those hairlike structures unless some fish had some sort of growth on it or got tangled up in something.

Good fishing,
Brian

[Mike Anderson]

If it looked 12' long it just about has to be a Paddlefish, or that Striper I lost at the Dam last year! Come to think of it I was using a big red fly.....

[tnridgerunner]

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.pawnation.com/media/2010/01/huge-catfish-caught-record-345ds012010.jpgBNPS

Holy mackerel!

Holy catfish, rather. This 15-stone, 4-pound catfish (that's 214 pounds to Yanks like you and me) broke records recently when a woman wrestled the leviathan from a Spanish river while on vacation (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1244379/Grandmother-Sheila-Penfold-lands-monster-214lb-catfish-enter-record-books.html), reports the (U.K.) Daily Mail. As if that feat wasn't impressive enough, the accomplished angler in question happens to be a mere 5'3" in stature, a grandmother, and legally blind. The superwoman, Shiela Penfold, 56, took 30 minutes to bag the beast.

The monstrous catfish, dragged from the depths of the River Ebro near Barcelona, measured a terrifying 8 feet, 2 inches in length. Penfold used halibut pellets as bait to supplement what we presume is her superhuman strength.

"I was exhausted but elated afterward," Penfold told the Daily Mail. "I'm still walking around with a smile on my face. But it goes to show that just because you are blind it doesn't stop you breaking records like this."

After snapping a few photographs of the catfish that will give you nightmares for the rest of your life, Penfold released her vanquished opponent back into its freshwater home.

[Striperfishin]

I have always been fascinated by those Wels cats of Europe. Love to catch one someday. They do get some over 200lbs, but we probably have quite a few 100-150lb blues swimming around in this country and that is just as impressive.

Brian

[jeffro]

The original fish picture looks like a parrotfish - but those are saltwater

[YumDinger]

Put it this way, I wasn't drinking or doing any drugs, and I won't ever be swimming in that area. I won't even put my hands in the water to clean fish slime off them. I was able to get a quick picture as it submerged, but it's pretty unidentifiable and is toward the tail end of it. I emailed it to a fiend of mine who is an asssistant professor of marine biology at Dartmouth. He said that he can't tell how large the object is because of a lack of scale, but believes it's an animate object. He felt that it could be a large sturgeon but wasn't sure. He did say the redish and gray coloring wasn't consistent with that of a sturgeon or anything he's aware of.

Let me know if one of you animals catch it so I don't look so crazy.

[jackson]

Where's this picture?

[YumDinger]

Hard to really put it into perspective unless you were there.

[Striperfishin]

Almost looks like a sturgeon that has rolled over on its back. Otherwise, whatever it is has some sort of damage or growth on it, hard to tell. Part of it does looks like the nose of a sturgeon, with the mouth and barbels facing up. Very hard to tell and very interesting. Like to see one myself.

Good luck,
Brian

[TNtransplant08]

I agree with Striperfishin, it does look like a sturgeon to me based on the scale markings in comparsion with Lake Sturgeon I've seen back home.

[Fishaholic]

http://library.thinkquest.org/J002558F/Scalloped_Ribbonfish.jpg

[Fishaholic]

Not sure what the heck it's doing up here but, then again I said the same thing about striped bass in the Cumberland River. A buddy of mine caught one when we were kids and I recognized it as soon as I saw it, this is not the best picture of one but if you google it you'll see various other pictures and renditions.

[TheMidgettMan]

http://www.tnfish.org/LakeSturgeonRestoration_TWRA/AcipenserFulvescensResorationTennessee_TWRA.htm

Check out this link....color and scaling looks similar...

[clean air]

What about a large bowfin.They get big and are ugly.We caught some big ones in Florida.Looks like a big bowfin.

[bd-]

The original photo in the very first post is definitely an oarfish, as mentioned by Striperfishin above.

Sorry Yumdinger, but the photo posted on page 2:

http://www.fishingtn.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1018&d=1264199070

looks like a photoshop-fish to me. The slate gray part near the middle looks a little like a brook trout though.

bd

[Striperfishin]

I always wondered what the best bait for sasquatch was. I will try sturgeon guts on heavy braid next time.

Brian

[Striperfishin]

It just came to me, but maybe it was ManBearPig?

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f298/Raine_n_the_south/ManBearPig.jpg

[Moby Bass]

Hard to really put it into perspective unless you were there.

THis is probably what you saw:

http://www.loch-ness.org/images/plesio.jpg

[BOB]

Please show me where I can find water that clear on the Cumby in the last few months cause I live on the water... That water also appears to have a tanic stain to it. The image is PS'ed and this is a BS thread. Funny, but BS.

[BOB]

Well, come to think of it I have seen a few hairy beasts on the river before...

[numi13]

Sedor sp. could be any of the species or even the related lookdown fish.

[tnridgerunner]

Well, come to think of it I have seen a few hairy beasts on the river before...

Let's don't get personal here. Some of my Lancaster cousins like to take a swim ever now and then.

[fishbait61832]

Did it look like this

[Striperfishin]

Now that is a cool picture of an oarfish. I am sure nothing approaching anything near that size is living in the Cumberland. Otherwise the commercial fisherman would have been caught poaching 10 of them by now. I was on Cheatum a few weeks back and the commercial guys had gill nets strung everywhere. They were hauling in paddle-fish by the boatload, it is amazing that anything is left in the Cumberland. The day I went the Cumberland was as low and small as I have ever seen it. The netters had a field day clear cutting the section of river that they were fishing just above the stones river influx.
If the post that started this thread was not a hoax, a common internet hoax picture of a oarfishes head with no scale to it wouldn't have been posted first, then followed up with some photoshoped pic. Why not post the original picture first if it was real?

Good fishing,
Brian

[BOB]

I think he admitted it was a hoax, sort of...

There is no place for commercial fishing with gil nets on our rivers or any rivers as far as I'm concerned. Its wrong and needs to be stopped.

[clean air]

As long as there is a blackmarket for there eggs people will always take the risk for the money.Are any other parts of the paddlefish worth eating?

[jaycee]

Very, very good eating. Lots of waste but no bones at all, only cartledge type back bone. Trim straight across like making steaks and trim the blubber type fat off the outside and trim away from the bone. All that remains is white meat. Delicious. Used to make fish sandwiches for lunches.

Used to snag in the Missouri River in Montana. Caught one 68 lbs. Used salt water rigs. Limit two a day.

This was in the early 70's.

[clean air]

Arent most people that net for paddle fish in this area just cutting the egg sack out and trashing the rest.I heard there eggs were worth more than gold and you could get several pounds of eggs out of one fish.The state busted some guys catching them and the people buying the roe a couple of years ago but they need to keep working on the problem.Seems like a big waste of the fish just so people can make money.When times are bad for so many people they will break the law just for some extra money but that dont make it right.They are not only destroying the paddle fish but everything else that gets caught in there nets.I am afraid that if the state is succesful bringing back the stergon the same will happen to them.There roe is worth alot of money.Its sad that it happens even in our home waters.

[Striperfishin]

Commercial fisherman don't belong on a river as small as the Cumberland now that the population of people is so large. Twenty years ago, it was probably fine, but I don't see it as a sustainable resource for years to come. I hate to attach someones way of life, but if it is not sustainable, the sooner they change careers, the better.

As far as the people that just poach, their boats, gear and rights to fish and hunt should be taken from them. With out real punishment, they will continue to see it as a worthwhile risk.

As the population and pressure increases, I even see recreational juglines, trotlines and that sort of thing as being something that will have to be more seriously regulated.

Brian

[pawpawskeeter06]

Alligator gar are very rare in TN, not sure if there is any in the cumberland. The cumberland is a colder water river and alligator gar like slow warmer river backwaters. There are lots of paddlefish, huge buffalo and carp, other types of gar, etc in the cumberland, but nothing that looks like the picture of the oarfish. I can't think of anything in TN that would have those hairlike structures unless some fish had some sort of growth on it or got tangled up in something.

Good fishing,
Brian

its not a gar I know that much
pawpawskeeter

[Mike Anderson]

I'm wondering if they even care about the Fisheries in Mid TN. I've called many times about poaching at Walter Hill. I've even gone so far as to photograph the people cast netting "HOLDING THE FISH THEY ARE CATCHING WHILE SMILING FOR THE NICE PHOTOGRAPHER" along with the plates from the truck they were driving. I've told TWRA all they need to do is show up at 4pm and watch that area any day of the week in the spring. I've called them while it was in progress there. Nothing came from any of that, nada, zero, zippo. I won't waste the min's on my cell phone calling them anymore....

I have a jet boat and can see what goes on below WH Dam where most folks can't or don't go. It looks like a scene out of Nat Geo down there. There are migrant people EVERYWHERE! Do they live in the woods beside the river? I was absolutely baffled the first time I saw it. We're trading our lands, laws, and values, for cheap labor. Somehow the immigration issue has been swept under the rug with this admin. If this administration doesn’t want to do something about it the let’s get rid of them and move on to the next bunch of liars. Sooner or later we’re bound to get a good one…. Right?

[Striperfishin]

I'm wondering if they even care about the Fisheries in Mid TN. I've called many times about poaching at Walter Hill. I've even gone so far as to photograph the people cast netting "HOLDING THE FISH THEY ARE CATCHING WHILE SMILING FOR THE NICE PHOTOGRAPHER" along with the plates from the truck they were driving. I've told TWRA all they need to do is show up at 4pm and watch that area any day of the week in the spring. I've called them while it was in progress there. Nothing came from any of that, nada, zero, zippo. I won't waste the min's on my cell phone calling them anymore....

I have a jet boat and can see what goes on below WH Dam where most folks can't or don't go. It looks like a scene out of Nat Geo down there. There are migrant people EVERYWHERE! Do they live in the woods beside the river? I was absolutely baffled the first time I saw it. We're trading our lands, laws, and values, for cheap labor. Somehow the immigration issue has been swept under the rug with this admin. If this administration doesn’t want to do something about it the let’s get rid of them and move on to the next bunch of liars. Sooner or later we’re bound to get a good one…. Right?

Mike,
Exactly why I moved from CA. Sad to see it in TN too. I called CA DFG so many times with all the evidence they need and they never did anything at all. I see the same thing in parts of TN. It is not just illegals either, seems to be a lot of natives that participate too. Between the trash, the poaching and complete lack of respect it sometimes makes it hard to go out and have a good time without getting angry. I did see two Game Wardens out on Priest the other day though. First time since I have lived here that I had seen wardens and not just creel clerks.

Brian

[Mike Anderson]

I know a couple of the TWRA guys over this area and I hope they don't take my comments wrong because I don’t mean any disrespect. I know they are understaffed and have alot of waters and woods to cover. Maybe going after the immigrants never amounts to any paid fines. I’m sure a lot of these people are fishing to eat but that still doesn’t make it right.
TWRA has done wonders with the Deer and Turkey, and I can’t wait to see if the Quail population has the same success. I just hope they find time to keep our waters safe and fishers legal. The Smallmouth Bass is a “native” and one of, if not TN’s most treasured game fish. I hate to see them get decimated in so many small creeks by cast netters. They deserve the same treatment and respect that the native East Tn Brookies get IMO.

[Striperfishin]

I know a couple of the TWRA guys over this area and I hope they don't take my comments wrong because I don’t mean any disrespect. I know they are understaffed and have alot of waters and woods to cover. Maybe going after the immigrants never amounts to any paid fines. I’m sure a lot of these people are fishing to eat but that still doesn’t make it right.
TWRA has done wonders with the Deer and Turkey, and I can’t wait to see if the Quail population has the same success. I just hope they find time to keep our waters safe and fishers legal. The Smallmouth Bass is a “native” and one of, if not TN’s most treasured game fish. I hate to see them get decimated in so many small creeks by cast netters. They deserve the same treatment and respect that the native East Tn Brookies get IMO.


I know it sucks for guys trying to catch bait, but I wouldn't mind if cast nets were banned in creeks and only allowed on bigger rivers and lakes. The eco-system is a lot more fragile in small waters and it doesn't take many to screw it up. Where I come from, cast nets were illegal in the whole state. I wish we could have used one, it was worth the sacrifice to not allow another weapon for the illegals to rape the waters any worse than they already were.
ICE should sweep some of these streams and do some deporting, that would allow the TWRA guys to at least spend their time catching the legal citizens that are breaking the law.

Brian

[yakfishin]

Hah cast nets - forget cast nets, I've seen downstream below Walter Hill Dam huge nets that stretch across entire pools and alot of the time the entire river - at least 20-40 feet long or more. What Mike describes can be seen below WH about 200 days of the year (every spring and summer day for sure)

Its mind boggling there are any fish still in that stretch of river - in this area, the problem is made up of about 95% hispanics. Sorry to say but its a visual fact go see it to believe it.

On any given Walter Hill summer day one will witness:
*2 or 3 large nets that span the entire river (downstream from dam)
*dozens of cast nets per 100yds of stream.
*enough buckets of illegal fish to feed Haiti for weeks.
*No TWRA officers, ever.

[Mike Anderson]

Yak, as a person who grew up on the Stones river I can tell you that the run of Smallmouth that used to make the WH Dam run are now almost non existent. It was once a great SM fishery. I’ve been buying TN fishing and hunting licenses all my life as did my father and his father. I wish there was something we could do about the problem, I'm certainly open to suggestions. I should attend more Commission meetings but they never jive with my work schedule.

[Striperfishin]

How has TWRA not done an under cover sting on this area? Even in CA, they would set up hidden camera and post under cover officers when a certain spot had gotten that bad and enough public outcry had been heard. I talked to one guy that said they had done that at Nice Mill dam.

It goes back to the fact that illegal immigration laws were enforced a lot of those violators wouldn't be there in the first place. After they are rounded up, your patrol it and fine anyone else that is left to poach.

Brian

[clean air]

Illegals dont pay fines.They will throw the summons away.They wont show in court.There is no money in ticketing them.Its just a waste of time for the twra to mess with them and they cant arrest them theres no room in jail for a massive roundup of fishing violaters.Just the way it is now.I think they hassel the people that look like will pay a $300 ticket.Dont mess around below Nickajack dam they dont care who you are there .Thats the strictest place I have ever fished.They will nail everyone hard no matter what.

[Mike Anderson]

Illegals dont pay fines.They will throw the summons away.They wont show in court.There is no money in ticketing them.Its just a waste of time for the twra to mess with them and they cant arrest them theres no room in jail for a massive roundup of fishing violaters.Just the way it is now.I think they hassel the people that look like will pay a $300 ticket.

Exactly! I guess the good news is if they all eat so much fish maybe it'll cost us less the provide them with health care.

[Striperfishin]

Exactly! I guess the good news is if they all eat so much fish maybe it'll cost us less the provide them with health care.

Until they get Mercury poisoning from eating too much fish. I sure wish I could send my medical bills down to Mexico, that would have allowed me to keep my boat.

Brian

[YumDinger]

The TWRA doesn't bother the illegals below Walter Hill because they want them to eat the toxic landfill carp and shad. They pound them in to fishcakes, eyeballs and all and eat them. The worst part is when you see them bathing down there. You know your bad off when you feel that washing your body will landfill water will help your stink.

[bd-]

TWRA actually has made a number of busts below Walter Hill. I would like to see them do a whole lot more but it's not legit to say they "never" do anything.

Watch the auction lists when TWRA auctions off the gear it has seized from poachers once a year. Every year, the Rutherford County auction has some cast nets on their list. Guess how they're getting them.

Unfortunately, when you have one or two officers to cover everything in an area a county or two wide, they can't be everywhere at once.

bd

[Striperfishin]

TWRA actually has made a number of busts below Walter Hill. I would like to see them do a whole lot more but it's not legit to say they "never" do anything.

Watch the auction lists when TWRA auctions off the gear it has seized from poachers once a year. Every year, the Rutherford County auction has some cast nets on their list. Guess how they're getting them.

Unfortunately, when you have one or two officers to cover everything in an area a county or two wide, they can't be everywhere at once.

bd

Very true, but if many of the violators are illegals, ICE could get rid of a lot of the violators by doing their job.

Brian