Buffalo lake "thing"
 

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15...34028dbb3c.jpg
I am told this came out of Buffalo Lake today. Did I get suckered in or is this a real thing?

Might have been snookered....largest Salamander in Alberta is the Tiger Salamander at a whopping 8"....That looks like the Asian Variety of Giant Salamander....could be a released pet?

:snapoutofit:By the looks of the clothing..I would say it was real. Looks like walmart to me..:thinking-006::sign0161:

The minnow is rigged how you would rig live bait ..... which isn't allowed in Alberta.

Likely from a province or state where fishing with live bait is legal and a state or province that has salamanders that size.

It likely you have "told" a lie.

No face in the picture....most likely a Mongolian from Russia.

Suckered.

http://www.nature.org/newsfeatures/s...nder-facts.xml

Hellbenders are not from around here.

Salamander
 

I think that is a tiger salamander, the fisherman has obviously gone to Brandon Kops school of fish photography;)

No way there is that much snow cover on buffalo within the last 2 weeks.....if it is a recent pic?:thinking-006:

Definitely a Hellbender Salamander from States; Buffalo N.Y. perhaps!

Tiger salamander, and deceptive camera angle.

LC

We have mud puppies in some water body's in southern saskatchewan, I would imagine there range extends into alberta. They are about that big never caught one through the ice but have in open water, mud puppies are a true aquatic salamander, tiger salamanders are more terrestrial.

Ding ding ding!

This is a mud puppy, look at the size of minnow. It's not "giant".


It could easily be alberta.

It definitely looks like a Mud Puppy but they definitely don't grow that big. That said, the positioning of the camera could also over exaggerate the size of the Mud Puppy. Interesting nonetheless.

Suckered!

Only looks 5"-7" long to me

Not Suckered at All
 

Fact is that this is a mud puppy. It was caught on Fishing Lake in Saskatchewan by the brother of a close friend to my father. Apparently there is a population there that residents are aware of.

It was taken to a Sask Conservation Officer and confirmed.

Let all the critics and naysayers say what they want however that is fact.

Saskpikeman
 

And thanks to Saskpikeman for identifying that they do exist in Sask. I've also learned they are in Manitoba.

Mud puppy
 

They have them in Turtle Lake SK as well ! 1st time I saw one it came out from under a dock and I thought, here we go, now the burbots are growing legs !!

Eastern Ontario has them as well. I've seen them near Smith's Falls ON.

i used to see them at our family cabin by Godrich Ont all the time.

It looks like a mud puppy to me, seen em twice caught at pine falls in Manitoba. I think their cool!

Mud puppies have elongated protruding gills....tiger salamander adult is where my vote goes.

LC

deformed burbot.:)

Tigers have a different shaped tail.

http://www.ohioamphibians.com/salama..._Mudpuppy.html

Based upon this I am switching my vote to mud puppy. Skin is tighter which is indicative of puppies.

We have no "mud puppies" in Alberta...so the answer lies on where this picture was actually taken.

LC

This is correct.

It is absolutely not a tiger salamander or relative, nor is it a hellbender.

It is extremely unlikely to have been caught in Alberta, but things do have a way of getting around.

I blame the bucket brigade.

Hence I don't believe it was caught in Alberta. I have caught hundreds maybe even thousands of tigers in Alberta. For sure these are not tigers. In North America these most resemble mud puppy and hellbenders.

Knowing where it was caught could help identify. However skin and size leads us to pick mudpuppy as the answer.

As someone pointed out...live minnow rig suggests Ontario.

Funny how no one cares to read the posts as I clearly identified where the mud puppy, confirmed by Sask Conservation Officer, was caught. It was caught in Fishing Lake, Saskatchewan, by the brother of my dads close friend.

Couple others from Sask already confirmed populations along the eastern border Sask/Man.

No further debate necessary but what does it matter. Everyone wants to make assumptions, arrive at their own conclusions, and in general don't care about fact when someone states it. That's fine. Enjoy your day.

Lol, I read your initial post and was wondering if anybody else read it.