Really Strange Fish!

I have some friends that want me to take them bowfishing. I donated a bowfishing trip at the annual Lone Star Bowhunters Assn banquet, and a good friend won. Anyway, they want to go to a nearby Lake that has plecostomus (plecos, for short). Yes, these are the same little sucker fish that you see in aquariums. Someone let some go in a local river/lake, and they have gone crazy. They are very bad for the river ecosystem, and really mess things up for the native fish. Anyway, I went there last night to see how the conditions were, and to see if I could find the fish. The water was horrible. Dirty as heck. I only shot 4 plecos and one tilapia in several hours. We decided to postpone our trip till the water clears up.

But man, these are some strange, prehistoric looking fish!!!!

 

 

They all seem to have different patterns, kinda like fingerprints, and their skin is as rough as 80 grit sandpaper!!

 

 

 

 

And here is the one good eating fish I got, a nice sized tilapia.

 

Bisch

[Petrichor]

Good shooting man.  Always wanted to go bow fishing.

[Bladepeek]

Those would make some great inlays in a leather sheath!

[STICKBENDER98]

If they get big enough or you get enough small ones they'd make great skins for a bow too

[elkken]

Nasty looking little buggers

[VictoryHunter]

Looks like a plecostomus like people put in their fish tanks to clean them.

[Will Cocke 2]

Crazy looking little suckers.

[wingnut]

Yep Plecos, those are very nice ones.  I have them in my aquaponics tanks to keep the algae down.  If they have food, they grow very fast.

Mike

[lt-m-grow]

Huh.  Interesting.  Their skin is kinda cool and like you said...all different.   I am trying to think of another animal that has this wide of variation in skin patterns and cannot.  

Anybody?

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Congrats Bisch.

There are hundreds of Varieties usually assigned with an L#.  L24, L047, L085, L033 and L333 are some of of my favorites.  I have sold hundreds of these back when I worked in the aquaculture field. L190 was a big seller. The ancistrus/hypancistrus species are pretty cool. Most dont get that large but in the wrong eco system I can see how they would be invasive.

I used to breed/import them for a hatchery operation.

[Thumper Dunker]

That's not skin on them that's armor plating.
Big scales. Had a ton of the smaller types when I was into cichlids. Good shooting. Ever try eating one ?

[Pine]

I'm curious if they are good eating too .
Some ugly fish are very good eating .

[neuse]

It woyuld appear they have no natrual predators, so over population could occur quickly.

I have not ate one. A buddy tried to get into one to eat it, and their skin is tough as boot leather. They don't have a lot of meat. The only info I could find on the net about eating them was sketchy. I think I will stick with eating the tilapia and the bigger gar.

Bisch

[twitchstick]

They look like a fun target. Congarts

[starshooter]

Snakehead?

Originally posted by starshooter:
Snakehead?

No! As stated in the original post, plecostomus!

Bisch

[Sixby]

Armored Catfish, South and Central American. Some in Louisiana and Fla.

God bless, Steve

[Possum Head]

Bisch, would a large on be 1 lb?

I was told the other day that the TBBR record is right at 6#. I have seen several that would go 2-2.5#. So, no, I think a large one would go considerably more than 1#.

Bisch