I may have caught a state record fallfish

[krayfish2]

Here is a male in spawning colors. This one is like a purple color. Very odd. I've seen some that look almost like a rainbow trout being so pink. The one in this picture is around 18 inches.

You are the master of big fallfish/chubs. Those are two beasts and if caught in the right water temp, they will give you a good fight

 

[Swattie87]

I’ve caught plenty of Fallfish in the mid teens, and a few that maybe went 17-18”. They can look very similar to Creek Chubs, especially males in spawning season. Size is an easy differentiator though. If over 10” or so, it’s nearly certain you have a Fallfish. If over 12”, it is a Fallfish. Fallfish are a little more streamlined in overall body shape, and have comparatively bigger mouths also.

They’re found in generally similar habitat, though my experience indicates two slight differences:

1. Fallfish are much more tolerant of moderate or even heavy current, and in mid-Summer you’ll actually find them in pretty fast runs and deeper riffles. Creek Chubs prefer much slower water, all the time. They’re actually pretty common in small wild Trout streams in PA too. You’ll often catch Creek Chubs from the slack frog water at the bottom of a pool in a small Trout stream, and find the Trout at the head where the current is swifter. You rarely find Fallfish in small wild Trout streams.

2. The larger the size of creek or river you are fishing, the more likely it is to find more Fallfish, and less Creek Chubs. Most of the waterways being discussed in this thread most certainly have far more Fallfish biomass than Creek Chub biomass.

I’ve learned to enjoy Fallfish. They fight well, eat dries, and on WW streams they often still bite on days when the Smallmouth seem to have lockjaw. Creek Chubs I still see mostly as annoyance, other than serving as nighttime snack opportunities for Pool Boss Brown Trout.

Both species, and the entire minnow family in general, have been proven to be effective Sasquatch repellent.

 

[bigjohn358]

You are the master of big fallfish/chubs. Those are two beasts and if caught in the right water temp, they will give you a good fight

I've learned to appreciate them. Do I really target fallfish/chubs? No, but when I was a kid we often fished Pine Creek, Little Pine, Lower Bald Eagle Creek, Kettle Creek and chubs/fallfish gave us action. In all honesty I learned to nymph fish catching small smallies and creek chubs in the camp ground area of Little Pine during the summers as a kid. I can remember being in my lower teens fishing worms on Pine Creek catching fallfish and some really big ones. We didn't care what we were catching as long as we had some action. Only time I hated catching fallfish was when we would be carp fishing as a teen on lower Bald Eagle with breadballs and every time we would catch a fallfish they would end up puking all over. No idea why they would always do that. About 10 years ago on an opening day I got into a school of fallfish on Kettle. My dad kept saying quit throwing over there because all they were were fallfish. Well every one of those fallfish were 16-20 inches (heck maybe even a hair bigger) and I must have caught 10 or so all on nymphs. Maybe he was jealous because they were all bigger than the stockies everyone else was catching. A lot of the streams you tend to catch fallfish on are often stocked streams. I always appreciated the fallfish when fly fishing because they didn't come from the stock truck plus usually were much larger than the average stockie. Why are they hated so much? I think the stone piles they build for spawning are incredible! Those stone piles are also very beneficial for smaller species of fish that use them to spawn too. I don't harvest fish so the eating aspect of fallfish/chubs isn't a factor to me and probably most of you as well. Just learn to utilize your resources and appreciate what you have!

 

[redietz]

Very interesting. I always thought they were the same. Could you provide pictures of each so I could see the differences. Or perhaps a link if you don't want to pollute this forum with non game species?

Creek chub
Fallfish

Both links have hints on telling one from the other.

 

[Fly-Swatter]

I agree in appreciating fallfish. In most cases, the value we ascribe to fish species is subjective. For example, what makes trout better to catch than bluegill? In other words, why to we stock the heck out of trout when there are so many bluegill to catch? I'm not trying to hijack, just adding a perspective.

 

[Peyton]

I Can't fish most streams until opening day since they have stocked them, so I'm again left to target fallfish and chubs while I wait for the ponds to thaw. My biggest trout was way bigger than my biggest fallfish, but it fought like a wet towel. I often find fallfish and suckers in the same schools, they seem to live well together and spook together.

 

[DomR]

Fall fish are like mopeds.....fun until your friends see you with one.

 

[The_Sasquatch]

Both species, and the entire minnow family in general, have been proven to be effective Sasquatch repellent.

Truer words have never been spoken.

 

[Swattie87]

Truer words have never been spoken.

Good to see you Andy, hope all is well. And that there’s way more Brookies than Chubs in WV.

 

[The_Sasquatch]

There's unfortunately way more chubs here.

 

[drakeking412]

I got an 18" one on a mouse one night, i was pretty surprised

 

[pratt]

I routinely catch 15"+ fallfish on the Delaware main stem near Lackawaxen, where I own a house and fish for smallies on the fly most of the summer. They'll take stuff on top, on the bottom and in the middle of the water column.

 

[sarce]

In addition to the dorsal fin spot mentioned earlier, creek chubs also reflect a shiny purple when the light hits them a certain way when they are out of water. They have smaller scales than fallfish. Usually the black stripe is more pronounced with creek chubs compared to fallfish but sometimes the fallfish can look stripey too. The purple shine trick is helpful for telling the difference if they are small and dull colored.

 

[Peyton]

Fallfish will have a small black line until they reach the age of three and can spawn. still way smaller than that on a creek chub.

 

[wbranch]

It had the big black line down the side, and far too big of a line for it to be a young fallfish.

Maybe it was a snook

 

[dc410]

Fallfish are cool! Black line or not.

 

[GANGGREEN]

I haven't fished for them in a long time, but I used to catch them on the Raystown Branch when I was a teenager and young college student. Caught them in plenty of other waterways down that way as well (Bald Eagle Creek, etc.). At the time, I was usually in the mode where any fish was a good fish and I also think the Fallfish can be very sporting. They bite well, will take artificials and they fight very well. Like some of the other folks, I've caught LOTS of them in the 15-17" range and wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that some reached 18" (I rarely/never had a tape on the stream when I was a kid).

 

[Duriensbane]

looked to see if there was actually a record for a fallfish but there isnt. Went out to fish a keystone stream and i thought i got a big one, but it was a fallfish instead.

 

[tomgamber]

based on records from other states, anything over 20 inches or heavier than 3 lbs. is a really big fish.

 

[Cznymph]

looked to see if there was actually a record for a fallfish but there isnt. Went out to fish a keystone stream and i thought i got a big one, but it was a fallfish instead.

That’s a shame that there isn’t a record category for them.