Sucker Fish

[blwlaw823]

I caught a pretty big sucker fish today and it weight 4.35 lbs. :bad_boys_20:
How heavy is the biggest sucker you have ever caught?

[Calgaryguy1977]

I dunno, I got one at the bar one night that was a good 300 lbs!
JK I've never seen on that large before.

[blwlaw823]

By the way, the fish is 24 inches long
and some pictures :)

[buckmaster]

I caught one in the nsr that weighed 7lbs,9oz.The one pictured in my avatar pic.

[Guitarplayingfish]

6lb biggest for me

[alodar]

this monster pictured here in my avatar

[ericlin0122]

on bow river, they look even uglier....
http://lh6.ggpht.com/__J7HPCkHujM/TC2CdTTnKOI/AAAAAAAABf0/rK0rGwzUFAY/s800/P1000390.JPG

i don't know the weight, but this guy is around 24"+ range.
caught many around 20"+ length.

all on fly rod..... i hate suckers....

[fredieC]

on bow river, they look even uglier....
http://lh6.ggpht.com/__J7HPCkHujM/TC2CdTTnKOI/AAAAAAAABf0/rK0rGwzUFAY/s800/P1000390.JPG

i don't know the weight, but this guy is around 24"+ range.
caught many around 20"+ length.

all on fly rod..... i hate suckers....

me too.....no offence though... if i see a sucker i just get my line out i dont want to hook them up at all...........

[ishootbambi]

i didnt scale it, but i guess around 15 out of the SSR. are you targeting them?.....and eating them?

[fish-man]

6.5 lbs.

[Fishfinder]

Never weigh em but have caught pretty big ones in the riv like 'ishootbambi' has done. Maybe 8-10#s for me.

Am curious too, what are you using the suckers for anyway?

[Pudelpointer]

For those that are curious, there are 7 species of Sucker in AB.

Blwlaw, was that measurement fork length or with the tail pinched? If fork length it would probably break the AB record.

Unfortunately the latest records I have are from '92, but at that time:

The largest Longnose was 20.5"
Quillback - 20"
White - 20.7"
Silver Redhorse (what Blwlaw's looks like) - 23.4"
Shorthead Redhorse - 16"

I will look around and see if I can find more recent numbers, but keep those in mind when you are out fishing.

[sheepguide]

For those that are curious, there are 7 species of Sucker in AB.

Blwlaw, was that measurement fork length or with the tail pinched? If fork length it would probably break the AB record.

Unfortunately the latest records I have are from '92, but at that time:

The largest Longnose was 20.5"
Quillback - 20"
White - 20.7"
Silver Redhorse (what Blwlaw's looks like) - 23.4"
Shorthead Redhorse - 16"

I will look around and see if I can find more recent numbers, but keep those in mind when you are out fishing.

Not sure what ive caught in ways of species but have caught lots up to 5lbs in the upper James and a few huge ones in the Clearwater and N.S that were well over 5lbs and im sure as long or longer any of them lengths posted there.
SG

[blwlaw823]

I don't like eating fish, so I usually give it to friends/family. According to my friends, sucker tastes pretty good if cook properly.

So the one I caught is a Silver Redhorse sucker?

[blwlaw823]

How about this one??
Caught this guy from Red Deer River
Is this a shorthead redhorse?

[Pudelpointer]

Yes and Yes (as far as I can tell from the pics).

One of these days I may have to kill one and try it.

[ishootbambi]

my 15ish pound white sucker from the SSR was way longer than 20 inches. sounds like most people view them as garbage and dont bother taking measurements or even know there are records for them. heck i didnt. that 15 was my biggest.....i have seen other guys bring em in closer to 20.

[Fishfinder]

my 15ish pound white sucker from the SSR was way longer than 20 inches. sounds like most people view them as garbage and dont bother taking measurements or even know there are records for them. heck i didnt. that 15 was my biggest.....i have seen other guys bring em in closer to 20.

Agreed, have caught plenty over 2ft from the SSR. Didn't know there were records for them either. One record I'm not really after though lol.
Cheers!:)

[gunner72]

I dunno, I got one at the bar one night that was a good 300 lbs!
JK I've never seen on that large before.

LOL how come no one asked to see pics a that one. Maybe she got a way?:scared0018:

[EZM]

Lol - record sucker - I don't want my name beside that one. But I will agree, I've caught 10lb plus suckers out of the Bow River. If the record is 20"-24" then I'm a champion (of sorts).

I'm many anglers have caught suckers larger than the records as described. I can guarantee I have.

I too, am curious as to why you would keep them. Other than some Asian folks I've seen fishing for them, I've never seen anyone keep one. I assume they are consumed?

I am under the impression the "table quality" is poor for these fish.

[whitewolf]

i know when i was a kid back in ontario we used to catch white suckers in the streams but we only kept them in early spring when the water was really cold as they can get really wormy and full of parasites in warmer water...havent tried any out here tho..

[jeprli]

Redhorse sucker is tasty, if you really want to compare it, it is way better than any whitefish i've tasted, and lots of meat on that fish, no small bones.

I usually bring one or two from SSR, it is a really good eating fish...if you plan on keeping some take the 2-4lb ones, they seem to be the best, big ones have bacon on their belly ;)

[Pudelpointer]

Wow, lots of Sucker bigots out there! So I guess we have Archery Snobs, Flyfishing Snobs, Trout Snobs, and now Walleye Snobs and Pike Snobs??

A record is a record, why would you not want to be associated with it? What is the difference between a whitefish and a sucker (when it comes to fishing)? I wouldn't hesitate to enter a Lake Whitefish and Sucker's eat the same foods for the most part, so why the hate?

The intolerance of it all!!!!!!!!!

[anton___]

i just started fishing about one year ago along the elbow river in Calgary above the reservoir and was wondering if suckers are bad? because when i go fishing i mostly catch white fish and suckers and the odd pike but only 1 trout and yes i know i'm using the right lures but the sucker fish populations are crazy sometimes ill even hook one on the side accidentally while fishing for something else and when i look in the water i just see so many!!! i hope there not bad because there spreading... i think. hopefully they feed the pike :fighting0030:
hopefully this gets a response because in a noob. thank you for you time!!!

[Dewey Cox]

I didn't realize ishootbambi was banned

[Fishwhere]

I think mine was about 3-4 pounds. I think theyre funny so its a little treat to hook the odd one here and there.

Years ago my uncle was convinced that they tasted good so we cleaned it up and cooked it in with pike and walleye - and when you got a piece of sucker you immediatly knew it haha it was pretty disgusting.

[CNP]

One good thing about suckers is that I can leave them on the bank for our feathered and furred friends to lunch on. They make good fertilizer too.

I'm a bigot I guess:thinking-006:

[mapleleafman3]

Used to catch suckers during the spring run in Wisconsin and pickle them.

[Drewski Canuck]

LOL how come no one asked to see pics a that one. Maybe she got a way?:scared0018:


No,

More like he is lucky to have lived to tell the tale!!

Drewski

[RockyMountainMusic]

I didn't realize ishootbambi was banned

Me either, apparently I've missed a few banning's as you go through some old posts like these and see familiar names from over the years and realize there is a lot that are not on here no more...

[MrDave]

Used to catch suckers during the spring run in Wisconsin and pickle them.

We used to smoke the big ones, never know they were "trash fish".

[YegFishing]

Me either, apparently I've missed a few banning's as you go through some old posts like these and see familiar names from over the years and realize there is a lot that are not on here no more...

My cousin got banned two weeks ago for laughing at a mod. I am smarter because I do not sit as much on here as he did.

[CanadianFisherman]

i just started fishing about one year ago along the elbow river in Calgary above the reservoir and was wondering if suckers are bad? because when i go fishing i mostly catch white fish and suckers and the odd pike but only 1 trout and yes i know i'm using the right lures but the sucker fish populations are crazy sometimes ill even hook one on the side accidentally while fishing for something else and when i look in the water i just see so many!!! i hope there not bad because there spreading... i think. hopefully they feed the pike :fighting0030:
hopefully this gets a response because in a noob. thank you for you time!!!
I don't know if I'd say suckers are bad, they are a natural food for bigger predators and I'd think just like the ones in a fish thank, the keep the system clean and under control. I have not done it myself, but if I understand correctly, you can use them as bait, provided they are not live still. Seen guys use them for cut bait too.
For me, a record is a record, plus I'm happy to reel in any fish that bites my hook! I have not caught one of these as far as I can remember, but I know as a kid fishing the river I wasn't doing it right to get anything close to bottom. Got into it on my own and was throwing little spinners and stuff I'd used on trout haha.

[MrDave]

Open Creek dam used to have a huge population of them. They would choke out the trout every hard winter. We would take home pails of suckers for bait, fertilizer, and keeping the cattle water clean.
Tourists would watch us thinking we were catching pails of rainbows. Watched one guy fly fishing away trying for hours to catch some trout. Wouldn't believe us that it was only suckers he was seeing jumping. Argued that suckers didn't jump.

An old recipe was to can them like sardines, with a shot of ketchup. Rinsed real good, decapitated, and stacked on end in the jar.

People just aren't hungry enough these days, subsistence living would be pretty hard on many these days. Looks good on TV, but having grown up that way I see why people have abandoned the old ways.

[Okotok]

Open Creek dam used to have a huge population of them. They would choke out the trout every hard winter. We would take home pails of suckers for bait, fertilizer, and keeping the cattle water clean.
Tourists would watch us thinking we were catching pails of rainbows. Watched one guy fly fishing away trying for hours to catch some trout. Wouldn't believe us that it was only suckers he was seeing jumping. Argued that suckers didn't jump.

An old recipe was to can them like sardines, with a shot of ketchup. Rinsed real good, decapitated, and stacked on end in the jar.

People just aren't hungry enough these days, subsistence living would be pretty hard on many these days. Looks good on TV, but having grown up that way I see why people have abandoned the old ways.

Ten kids in my Dad's family growing up on the farm in the Fort Vermillion area. Canned, smoked and pickled suckers was a welcome addition to the food supply.

[pikeman06]

Yes smoked with a little barbeque sauce or ketchup in the brine gives em a nice color and taste. Big bones make nice toothpicks but take the edge of a knife like nobodies buisness.

[Tigrr]

Spring caught is best tasting. 10 lb+ is the biggest. Salt pepper and butter fried the same day caught, cut in steaks. Now I'm Hungry.
I'm cooking up 4 fillets of rainbow tonight. Salt pepper and butter too!

[thumper]

The Banff bears love them and catch a lot of them during the spring spawn.