discomidge
Well-known member
Loogit this big lug. I think their scales are pretty cool too.
Fall Fish, one of PA’s original native predators: Thread for techniques, reports, and Fisheries.
- Thread starter Fish Sticks
- Start date
Fish Sticks
Well-known member
Yea it sucks its because of all
This “rough fish” and “trash fish” phrases people throw around, I hate it. As big jihn mentioned alot of other species depend on their enormous nests made by licking up stones with their mouth. Can get up to 6 feet long and weigh tons and provide huge amount of communal spawning habitat for co-volved fish
Fish Sticks
Well-known member
Yea sucks those mud sunfish are beautiful but have been replaced and hybridized out of lakes
rustbeltwilds
Well-known member
DomR
Active member
There's a faction of anglers that target them and live line them or chunk them up for the purposes of targeting apex predators in the big D.
Fish Sticks
Well-known member
Same in the conny
That's because fallfish make excellent bait for whisker-fish. If yinz' fellers have never built a fire, guzzled some beer, and waited for the whisker-fish to bite in the darkness of night you're missing out. Maybe you'll even have a few Dobsonflies dive bomb ya.
Fish Sticks
Well-known member
In the conny the guys I see doing it say they are for musky but I bet the entire gambit of non native mega predators love to eat them(snakeheads, blues, flatheads, musky). I have done a lot of that for brown bulls in jersey but stink bait was used.
Fall fish basically went from top predator to prey
Brown bulls? You mean bullhead? They're cool little native catfish, also near the bottom of the food chain.
Now that flatheads are in the Susky and the Juniata literally everything is a prey item for them at some point. They are top predator for sure.
Fallfish still remain cool in my eyes, though.
Fish Sticks
Well-known member
They are top predator before blues get in there
I think wells catfish will eventually start eating blues
Fish Sticks
Well-known member
Conny is the connodoguinett (prob spelled wrong) tons of fallfish
I think it's pronounced "Cannot go in it."
There's a Connemaugh River in western PA. I don't think I've ever read a fishing report from there on Paflyfish.com.
Fish Sticks
Well-known member
There are some places to squeak into it in places and the fall fish are not bad in my experience
Brown bullhead a top predator? Dang man......I mean, I guess. Bullheads are neat though. The records for bullhead usually top out around 4 lbs. That ain't very big. I can imagine the Juniata back in the day. Shad, redbreasts, eels, bullhead, fallfish, and that's about it other than fish that are so small they'd be basically just baitfish.
Fish Sticks
Well-known member
Oh sorry no i meant fall fish. Theres not much research but scientists believe their abundance and size structure was much different before introductions of non native fish
rancid waders
Active member
Could anyone share their confidence patterns for fallfish?
Basically anything you wanna throw sized appropriately. Woolly Buggers, Gurglers, poppers, Elk Hair Caddis, Big parachute adams, Chernobyl ants, smaller clouser minnows, crayfish, large wet flies/soft hackles.
They aren't picky fish.
Fish Sticks
Well-known member
I have found that buggers are my best producer. If its middle of the day and sunny and water is low in summer nymphing a bugger through deeper runs has been money for me
