New Species: A Fallfish!

It was another amazing day of fishing today. It was only our second fishing excursion of the season and we already beat last year's one-day total of 14 fish. Today we caught 18 fish in total, 10 for me and 8 for Ryan. The bass are crazy huge this year! Last year the average size was about 12-14" but this year we keep catching 16-17" bass and even some 19 inchers!!

We caught well over a dozen Smallmouth Bass (micropterus dolomieu), including a couple of 19 inch ones, but there was also a 28 inch Northern Pike (esox lucius) and a strange new fish, a Fallfish (semotilus corporalis).

It was quite a surprise! I couldn't even identify the fish at first. I thought it might be a Lake Whitefish (coregonus clupeaformis), a White Suckerfish (castostomus commersonii), or maybe even an American Shad (alosa sapidissima) (they're here for their yearly migration right now). But after looking at several pictures online and comparing physical features and descriptions on various websites I'm pretty confident it is a Fallfish.  It measured 33cm (13 inches) which apparently is pretty big for a Fallfish!

Ryan also caught a small walleye, but it let go of the hook before we could take a picture.

There's also a couple of videos below that Ryan took of me fighting some of the smallmouth bass.

My first Fallfish (semotilus corporalis) ever!
33cm (13 in.),  aprox. 1-1/2lb. 

It's sooo shiny!
Fallfish (semotilus corporalis)

It has a "goblin" face according to Ryan.
Fallfish (semotilus corporalis)

My big Smallmouth Bass for the day. 19 inches.
It came with a small hagfish attached to the dorsal fin, which we removed.
(check out the video of me catching this fish, below)

A nice little Smallmouth Bass (micropterus dolomieu)

A nice fat Smallmouth Bass (micropterus dolomieu)
(check out the video of me catching this fish, below)

This was Ryan's first one of the day, he's happy!
Smallmouth Bass (micropterus dolomieu)

Woo! Another one!
Smallmouth Bass (micropterus dolomieu)

A huge 19 inch Smallmouth Bass (micropterus dolomieu) for Ryan!

I love to catch these striped ones! This one had reddish tinted fins too. Very cool!
Smallmouth Bass (micropterus dolomieu)
(check out the video of me catching this fish, below)

Fish on!

Another huge bass! Good job!
Smallmouth Bass (micropterus dolomieu)

You have no idea how much fun these are to catch!
Smallmouth Bass (micropterus dolomieu)

An 18 inch monster bass!
Smallmouth Bass (micropterus dolomieu)

Nothing brings a smile to my face like catching bass!
Smallmouth Bass (micropterus dolomieu)

Smallmouth Bass (micropterus dolomieu)

A lucky golden bass!
Smallmouth Bass (micropterus dolomieu)

Not the biggest one of the day, but it gave a good fight.
Smallmouth Bass (micropterus dolomieu) 

Another nice bass. Had a black stripe on the tail, easy to recognise if I ever catch it again.
Smallmouth Bass (micropterus dolomieu)

Another plump smallie for Ryan.
Smallmouth Bass (micropterus dolomieu)

This pike was a big surprise! It hammered my wooly bullee.
When the head came up I hoped it was a big walleye.
It was quite skinny, but look at the size of that head!
Northern Pike (esox lucius)

HUGE MOUTH!  This is what makes it one of the top predators in this river.
Northern Pike (esox lucius)

A fisherman in his environment.