'Snakehead' Fish Found in Wisconsin River

hey, how about a link that doesn't require AOL membership?


" caveat lector" wrote in message
...
http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/arti...9990001&_mpc=n
ews%2e10%2e1



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--
Necessity is the Mother of invention.

Offer the people what they need.

Ah well.........
now I'm answering my own posts.

The story is he
http://tinyurl.com/oj5e

"Pepperoni" wrote in message
...
hey, how about a link that doesn't require AOL membership?


" caveat lector" wrote in message
...

http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/arti...9990001&_mpc=n
ews%2e10%2e1



- -- - -- - --
-- - -- - - -- - - - -- - - -- --
- -- - - - -- - -- - -- -- -- -- - -- -
--
Necessity is the Mother of invention.

Offer the people what they need.

http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/arti...9990001&_mpc=n
ews%2e10%2e1



- -- - -- - --
-- - -- - - -- - - - -- - - -- --
- -- - - - -- - -- - -- -- -- -- - -- -
--
Necessity is the Mother of invention.

Offer the people what they need.

"Pepperoni" wrote in message
...
Ah well.........
now I'm answering my own posts.

The story is he
http://tinyurl.com/oj5e

I'm from Wisconsin and I'm not worried. This is probably an isolated case and one that's not likely
to spread. These fish are from southeast Asia and begin to die off when the water temps drop below
60 degrees F. Anyone from the area knows that the water gets a lot colder than that. The only
possibility is if they get into an area that has a warm water discharge, like a power plant.
--
Steve
OutdoorFrontiers
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com
G & S Guide Service and Custom Rods
http://www.herefishyfishy.com

They seemed to do fine in a couple of ponds that someone introduced them to in Mass, and it gets a lot
colder than 60 in the water there too...you may have to worry. We had to nuke the ponds basically to get
rid of them.

"Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers" wrote:

"Pepperoni" wrote in message
...
Ah well.........
now I'm answering my own posts.

The story is he
http://tinyurl.com/oj5e

I'm from Wisconsin and I'm not worried. This is probably an isolated case and one that's not likely
to spread. These fish are from southeast Asia and begin to die off when the water temps drop below
60 degrees F. Anyone from the area knows that the water gets a lot colder than that. The only
possibility is if they get into an area that has a warm water discharge, like a power plant.
--
Steve
OutdoorFrontiers
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com
G & S Guide Service and Custom Rods
http://www.herefishyfishy.com

On Thu, 25 Sep 2003 09:56:32 -0500, "Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers"
wrote:


"Pepperoni" wrote in message
...
Ah well.........
now I'm answering my own posts.

The story is he
http://tinyurl.com/oj5e

I'm from Wisconsin and I'm not worried. This is probably an isolated case and one that's not likely
to spread. These fish are from southeast Asia and begin to die off when the water temps drop below
60 degrees F. Anyone from the area knows that the water gets a lot colder than that. The only
possibility is if they get into an area that has a warm water discharge, like a power plant.


That's what they said about carp for many years after they got out of
control in the south...
--

rbc:vixen,Minnow Goddess,Willow Watcher,and all that sort of thing.
Often taunted by trout.
Only a fool would refuse to believe in luck. Only a damn fool would rely on it.

http://www.visi.com/~cyli

On 9/25/03 1:41 PM Eastern Daylight Time, Rich Conley
wrote...

They seemed to do fine in a couple of ponds that someone introduced them to
in Mass, and it gets a lot
colder than 60 in the water there too...you may have to worry. We had to nuke
the ponds basically to get
rid of them.

So now I am confused...

The article at the link states...

"The DNR said an employee misidentified the fish as a native bowfin."

....is the "native bowfin" NOT a snakehead? I was under the impression most
people used the two names for the same fish.. not true? Or are they making a
point that they have a native bowfin in Wisconsin and this snakehead version of
a bowfin, is not one of them?

As far as MA... we most certainly do have a bowfin population:

===
This interesting fish was introduced into the Connecticut River drainage of
Massachusetts in the 1980's when specimens began to appear in Lower Mill Pond
and Nashawannuck Pond in Easthampton, Massachusetts. Presumably some
individuals migrated down the Mahan River into the Oxbow of the Connecticut
River. Individuals were occasionally reported from the Oxbow of the Connecticut
River in the 1980's. In July, 1987, an adult specimen was caught in the
Connecticut River off the southern end of Second Island in Sunderland,
Massachusetts. To date this is the northern most record of Amia in the
Connecticut River of Massachusetts.
===

I was one of the individuals that reported to the fisheries department, my
first catch of bowfin in Lower Mill Pond back around 1988-89. I've caught three
and had a cousin catch one.

note: I've fished all this water since I was a kid but only caught bowfin from
Lower Mill but have heard of bf from the other waters mentioned. Somewhere I
have a picture of the fish my cousin caught, as I used to carry a camera..
catch and release and all, ya know? Interestingly... I called the game warden
at home, very apologetic of course and told him I had a bowfin, asking what
should I do with it? He was quite adament (sp?) that I do NOT release it and
should not release any others I catch. I stated I had a problem with that idea
as a waste.. I don't kill anythin' unless I am gonna eat it... but I did
compromise and gave it to a friend that did taxidermy... so it's now perserved
as a "freak" of the waters of Western Massachusetts for others to see and
enjoy. The others we did release unharmed. (shrugg)

I can say though... I haven't caught one in quite some time nor heard of one
being caught. Maybe... they haven't survived.

(chuckle: same pond... a kid had a fish and asked "mister, what kinda fish is
this"... he was holding up a line and attached by a hook was.. an oscar.
hahaha)


-= Francis Yarra =-
fyarraATjunoDOTcom
http://members.aol.com/fyarra001/ads - My drywall website
http://members.aol.com/fyarra001 - My C64 website
http://members.aol.com/prsnl99 - My personal website

"Nospam9212" wrote in message ,SNIP.


So now I am confused...

The article at the link states...

"The DNR said an employee misidentified the fish as a native bowfin."

...is the "native bowfin" NOT a snakehead? I was under the impression most
people used the two names for the same fish.. not true? Or are they making a
point that they have a native bowfin in Wisconsin and this snakehead version of
a bowfin, is not one of them?

As far as MA... we most certainly do have a bowfin population:

The Bowfin is native to North America and has a wide distribution. Other names for them are
dogfish, lawyers and mudfish. We have them in waters up here in northern Wisconsin and I've caught
them in central Florida. Same fish.

In general appearance, the Snakehead and the Bowfin are similar.

BUT....The Snakehead is a different fish. It's native to southeast Asia and was brought to this
country as an aquarium fish. They are very aggressive and voracious. People who buy these are also
the same people that buy piranha and Oscars, they enjoy watching predatory fish in their fish tanks.
But the Snakehead grows fairly rapidly and soon outgrows the tank. At this point, some people will
just release them into local lakes and rivers, without thought to what the potential for disaster
is. That's probably what happened here.

I don't know if it ever held up to IGFA scrutiny, but a while back, someone was fishing in the
cooling pond of one of our power plants. This body of water never freezes over due to the warm
water discharge. The guy caught a large fish and couldn't identify it so he put it in a bucket and
called the local game warden. The game warden wasn't certain either so he took it to the fisheries
biologists. They identified it as a Red Piranha and it was larger than the current world record at
the time. The previous world record had been caught in Columbia, South America, this fish was
caught in Lake Columbia, Columbia Wisconsin. How's that for irony? It's theorized that the
fish was dumped from an aquarium and because of the warm water discharge, was able to survive the
winters here in Wisconsin.
--
Steve
OutdoorFrontiers
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com
G & S Guide Service and Custom Rods
http://www.herefishyfishy.com

On 9/27/03 7:40 PM Eastern Daylight Time, "Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers"
wrote...


...is the "native bowfin" NOT a snakehead?

In general appearance, the Snakehead and the Bowfin are similar.

BUT....The Snakehead is a different fish. It's native to southeast Asia and
was brought to this country as an aquarium fish.

Understood. Thanks for clearing that up.


-= Francis Yarra =-
fyarraATjunoDOTcom
http://members.aol.com/fyarra001/ads - My drywall website
http://members.aol.com/fyarra001 - My C64 website
http://members.aol.com/prsnl99 - My personal website