Need pictures of Colo. Fish.

[DrVette 0]

While at San Isabel Lake, above Colorado City/Rye, yesterday i caught a couple of strange fish that i have never seen before. Unfortunately i didn't take a camera so i have no pictures to show you. I have looked through the DOW species listings and found nothing like what i caught. They were very similar to perch in the fin and body lay-out but thinner like bluegill/sunfish and have the smallest sucker type mouth i have ever seen. With large silvery scales that had yellowish tint near the top of each like some carp i am stumped as to what they were.

Is there an onlime data base that has more pictures of possible species to help me id this fish?

The tiny mouths realy threw me off as to what it might be and i think that they may have been what kept hitting my flies with-out my being able to even feel a set. I think it was just dumb luck that i managed to hook the 2 i did out of about 20 or so similar bumps on my fly.

I would really be sad to see these take over what has always been a nice trout only lake since before i was born. I have fished that lake all my life and never caught anything but trout in it before. Although this was my first time there in several years.

I did hit a good trifecta of brookies, a couple of rainbows and even a brown yesterday...if i could have hit a cut-throat i would have called the most perfect of days out. The first cut-throat i ever caught was in that lake about 15years ago.

Thanks for any info on data bases i can check out.

[blakejd 0]

I had a similar problem out in NC earlier this summer. Caught the strangest trout ever and couldn't find any info. Never did find out its exact species but a friend happened to have done research on many of the cold water species out there. She said its next to impossible to find info on the many subspecies of fish because they are not classified as game fish and therefor of no interest to the general public. I'd imagine it goes the same for here in CO. You could always contact DOW. The fisheries biologist here in Colorado Springs is super nice if you can catch him. I think his name was Mike.

[Firetiger 0]

The largest online database of fish that I know of is fishbase.org though it gets a bit on the scientific side...

[DrVette 0]

After going through the data bases i can find the only thing that seems to match what i caught is something called a triploid grass carp. The triploid is genetics speak for too many chromosomes and thus sterile. The problem is that all the pictures i can find match perfectly except for the tiny sucker mouth. Since the fish talked about seem to be a lab developed sterile form of weed control i am guessing that what i caught must be a very similar creation that has a different mouth. Does any-one out there know of variations in this kind of created lab animal?

It looks like my only other answer would be to contact the DOW.

I find it funny that they wouldn't post signs around the lake advising of their presence and pleading with fisherman to return them all to the water. One article i read says they cost around $4 per fish...you would think a few well placed signs would go a long way to help protect that investment, and it would educate dummies like me before we are confronted with an oddity at the end of our lines. If i hadn't been wading out about 50ft from shore i probably would have thrown it in the bushes for the bears to find.

[flytire 0]

golden shiner perhaps

 

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=golden...mp;adlt=strict#

[flyrod98 0]

Your description of the fish's mouth, sounds like it might be a whitefish.