Weirdest fish you have ever caught... (photos please!)

[Rob]

I'm liking the biggest fish thread.  How about photos of the weirdest fish you have ever caught?  And lets see photos!

I speared some hog fish in the Florida Middlegrounds a few years back.  I think this one takes the cake for me.

[jeepster]

....I snagged a beaver once...

[lokidog]

That is one freaky dude, and the fish too.....   

[stevemiller]

Wow I do agree that is a wierd looking fish,The memories of that must be awsome I have always wanted to go spearfishing.

[billythekidrock]

I can't compete with the op, but I caught this cool fish from shore on Dutch.

[Bmcox86]

Hogs are the best tasting fish in the ocean

No pics but I caught a snakehead once, a bowfin and a slipperydick/soap fish

[Rob]

I can't compete with the op, but I caught this cool fish from shore on Dutch.

Not a competition!  Just want to see weird fish folks have caught. 

What is that one?  some kind of flounder?

[carver52]

Can't say I have any weird fish to brag about, but did see a rainbow trout taken out of one of the bayous in No. Louisiana.  How it survived the water temps no one could figure.  May have been washed down from Ark. in high flood water.

[Rob]

That is one freaky dude, and the fish too.....   

hey now...

Odd about the trout.  I was in Cabo once and they brought a king salmon in on one of the boats.  I gues thats not totally unrealisic, but he must have been a little turned around.

[janttihunter]

This is a snakehead I caught in the Everglades. They can live out of the water for long periods of time. This one was about 2.5 feet long.

A few other weird fish I caught are, a good size Blow Fish and a Seahorse.

[Rob]

Cool snakehead...

how does one catch a seahorse?  by hand?

[janttihunter]

I was a commercial fisherman for awhile in Cape Cod, MA. I caught a pretty big Seahorse with a hand net during Scallop season one year.

[Hawgdawg]

I think I got one of it's babies...............

[coyotecrazy]

I was 19 and at a bar in Canada,,,,, I'm too scarred to say more. The pics would be unpostable

[actionshooter]

 Stole this pic from the internet, but caught one of these in front of Zittles

[Rob]

Ratfish!  Love those.

[PolarBear]

I won't let a ratfish on my boat!  Yuck!
The wierdest I guess would be aligator gar on the Tennessee river.  I don't have pices because it was about 40 years ago when I was 7 or 8.  I've caught an awful lot of goofy looking bottomfish here in WA and in AK.

[Scvette]

Bering Sea Wolf fish

[Rob]

Thats a pretty big wolfie.  I hear they are really good to eat.  Protected in Wahington waters now I think (but could be wrong).

I have had them take food from my hands on many occasions.  I even had one take a herring out of my mouth once.  Sometimes they will even come out of the caves and wrap around you while eating.

Here is a small one I hand fed at Sunrise a long time ago.

[Rob]

The wierdest I guess would be aligator gar on the Tennessee river. 

How big was your gator gar PB?  They get quite large don't they?

[Scvette]

Thats a pretty big wolfie.  I hear they are really good to eat.  Protected in Wahington waters now I think (but could be wrong).

I have had them take food from my hands on many occasions.  I even had one take a herring out of my mouth once.  Sometimes they will even come out of the caves and wrap around you while eating.

Here is a small one I hand fed at Sunrise a long time ago.

They taste like calamari,the one in your picture,is it a wolf eel,this one is a wolf fish,has a tail. I've caught wolf eels off of Alaska,never seen one here in the Bering Sea,although I'm sure they're out here. I tell my guys to not hurt them,I think they're pretty cool fish so we get them back in the water pretty fast.

[Cylvertip]

Foot long "Gasgonade Gator" AKA hellbender salamander in Mo is about the strangest.  I have had about a 50lb beaver on the line at Potholes while flippin for bass around a beaver hut.  There was also a 25 pound coon flippin a jig and crawdad at Lake St Clair in my younger years too 

[PolarBear]

The wierdest I guess would be aligator gar on the Tennessee river. 

How big was your gator gar PB?  They get quite large don't they?

My Dad says my biggest was around 5 feet.  I caught it on a trot line while targeting channel cats.  I caught a bunch of smaller ones on rod and reel but all of them were under 2 feet.  My Dad caught one on rod and reel that was close to 200 pounds.  My Father in Law caught some monster ger when he was a boy growing up in Texas.

[sebek556]

Caught a sea robin on a field trip in South Carolina with my daughter. Those little things sticking out below the fins, are legs. Had to steal the pic from the net.

[C-Money]

Colorful little guy....

[Rob]

They taste like calamari,the one in your picture,is it a wolf eel,this one is a wolf fish,has a tail. I've caught wolf eels off of Alaska,never seen one here in the Bering Sea,although I'm sure they're out here. I tell my guys to not hurt them,I think they're pretty cool fish so we get them back in the water pretty fast.
[/quote]

Wolf eel, wolf fish, all in the same family, and all fish, not eels.  both have tails.  And you are right, they are really cool fish!  Don't think I could kill one as they are like pets.

[Rob]

Sea Robin...  I assume that is a salt water fish?  Looks like our sturgeon poachers only a little bigger.

[sebek556]

  yup salt water fish, thing growled at me when I was unhooking it 

[Rob]

Thats freaky all by itself!

[actionshooter]

Another one where I had to steal the pic from the internet.....
 We didn't catch one, but saw it laying on the surface about 15 miles from Cape Disappointment.

[Vulcan]

And people wonder why I'm terrified of the ocean...

[Skillet]

Another one where I had to steal the pic from the internet.....
 We didn't catch one, but saw it laying on the surface about 15 miles from Cape Disappointment.

Sunfish.  They do get huge, but the worst thing they'd be able to do to you is give you a huge hickey...

[actionshooter]

Another one where I had to steal the pic from the internet.....
 We didn't catch one, but saw it laying on the surface about 15 miles from Cape Disappointment.

Sunfish.  They do get huge, but the worst thing they'd be able to do to you is give you a huge hickey...

Ya the one we saw had to be 10' across.

[Scvette]

They taste like calamari,the one in your picture,is it a wolf eel,this one is a wolf fish,has a tail. I've caught wolf eels off of Alaska,never seen one here in the Bering Sea,although I'm sure they're out here. I tell my guys to not hurt them,I think they're pretty cool fish so we get them back in the water pretty fast.

Wolf eel, wolf fish, all in the same family, and all fish, not eels.  both have tails.  And you are right, they are really cool fish!  Don't think I could kill one as they are like pets.
[/quote]

The wolf eel I caught in the gulf didn't have a tail,it came down to a point and was skinny and about 8' long,where as this one was about 5ft and a lot more mass to its body,has fins like a fish and a tail like a fish would have,I'm pretty sure they are completely different animals,I'll check with my fishery observer I have on board.

[Rob]

I was refering to the Wolf Eels we have here in the PNW and up to Alaska, and the Atlantic Wolf Fish being the same.  Those are both fish, but eel shaped.  Looks like there are 5 types of wolf fish around.

What you caught may have been different.  The photos in this thread I believe are both Wolf eels (and are actually fish, not eels).  At least I know the one I posted was!

Per Monteray Bay AQ
The wolf-eel is not related to other eels; it’s one of five species in the “wolffish” family. The other four species are not nearly so long and skinny. Wolf-eels look more or less normal-sized down to their neck, and then their bodies just keep going, with thick, muscular waves of tail stretching nearly 8 feet behind them. Adults wind those long bodies into caves and crevices, sticking just their heads out and waiting for something crunchy to swim by. They love crabs, urchins, and shellfish.


http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals/AnimalDetails.aspx?enc=C53nR+hhcrWkm4cqZXxSlg==

[jay.sharkbait]

Another one where I had to steal the pic from the internet.....
 We didn't catch one, but saw it laying on the surface about 15 miles from Cape Disappointment.

Sunfish.  They do get huge, but the worst thing they'd be able to do to you is give you a huge hickey...

Hitting one at 20+kt in a sailboat isn't fun.

[Rob]

And it looks like the Atlantic Wolf fish has a true caudle fin, whereas the Wolf Eel’s tail comes to a point.

[Mtn.Ghost]

Hogs are the best tasting fish in the ocean

No pics but I caught a snakehead once, a bowfin and a slipperydick/soap fish

"slipperydick/soap fish" Uhhh!!!! is that a don't drop the soap joke  

[deerslyr]

Not "weird" but interesting. Had a great trip with a good friend this summer catching one of the purest strains of golden trout in MT, and most of NA for that matter.

Heres a video we made of the awesome adventure.

Back Country Gold

[yorketransport]

The ratfish is always a classic.


This was pretty cool as well.


Andrew

[jeepster]

Hitting one at 20+kt in a sailboat isn't fun.

What the hell kind of sailboat do you sail? 

I'm a sailor, got a boat, but 20+kts..... That's some big $$$$$$$$$$

[rumrunner]

I caught a solid gold trout at Lake Solmar between sequiam and Port Angeles about 20 years ago i have the picture somewhere just have to find it.

[MatthewHunter98]

those are some cool  fish