Smallmouth buffalo

[wgmiller]

A friend of mine was fishing the Susky (not on the fly) and showed me a pic of a fish he landed. It sort of looked like a carp, but yet it didn't. Baffled, I kind of dismissed it until I saw Allen Fly Fishing's post on Facebook today for a "Smallmouth Buffalo".

In doing some research, it doesn't show them having distribution in the Susquehanna watershed. Has anyone ever caught one of these fish?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallmouth_buffalo

 

[ebroesicke]

quillback? lots in the susky. if it has a real long dorsal spine, its a quillback.

 

[wgmiller]

Yup! I'd say that's it. Threw me for a loop there.

 

[riverwhy]

Thanks for solving a mystery for me. Saw a bunch in the Swattie last year and caught 1. Put up a good fight. Thought it was a suckercarp! Saw some again this year about the same time in early spring.

 

[Fishidiot]

Yep - quillback.

The Juniata is full of 'em too. I don't see many of them in smaller waterways but the Susky has many. On occasion, they'll take a fly.

 

[The_Sasquatch]

Yeah. That right there is the carpsucker ;-)

 

[wgmiller]

The guy that caught this said it hit a spinner which he was a bit surprised at. Said he landed half a dozen or so that day.

 

[riverwhy]

caught mine on a rapala. Cleanly hooked in the mouth though the mouth looked too small to eat something that size. weird.