Help ID that fish

pinellas50

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Aug 10, 2009
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207
I don't know what to begin searching for on this one so I will just post it.

I have caught some weird things before but today took the cake. At first I thought I was dragging in some old beer can that looked like it had been at the bottom for decades. When I got it up I noticed that my line was actually going into a hole in the top of the can(where you would drink from) and I didn't see the hook. When the can rolled over I saw that there was a good size hole in the side of it..........................and inside was a pair of eyes looking up at me! The fish was living in the can. It looked like he had over grown the can and there was no way he could have come out. He had sucked the shimp into the small hole somehow. There is no physical way he could have gotten any part of him out of that hole.

I had to cut the can open to try and figure out what it was. When I got it out of the can I was still at a loss. Of course I didn't have a camera. I have been searching the web for pictures of something that looked similar and this is the closest thing I found.

041_fish.jpg


It had a very large mouth with teeth. The head was also very large compared to it's body. The body had fins and was fish like but the head looked like it was 3 or 4 times too big for the body. It had two bumps or what ever they were that kept popping up on the top of it's head whenever I started messing with it trying to get my hook back. I tapped on the bumps with my pliers and they had a sound to them like the sound of the spines on a cat fish. I don't know if they were spines or what ever but I didn't grab it to find out. These bumps were only about 1/4" or less tall above the fishes head when he popped them up.

Anyone have a clue what this thing might have been? This was caught in the Intercostal off of Maderia Beach, FL.
 

pinellas50

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Re: Help ID that fish

Oh. I also saw a sea otter swim around where we were fishing. I have never seen one of these out here in salt water either. Weird day!
 

huskerdaninva

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Jun 18, 2009
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Re: Help ID that fish

I'm no expert but that looks like an Oyster Toad or as my son calls them "Ugly Fish". Those thinks can be mean and will bite on almost any bait, possibly even aluminum cans and certainly fingers! Those things actually crack oyster shells with those teeth to get to the "meat". That's my guess...
Dan
 

pinellas50

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Re: Help ID that fish

Thank you for that key word. Toad. It was a toad fish from what I found.

4021_1211893343483c065fd0a9d.jpg


This looks identical to what I found in the can. Now I know and can sleep better. Thanks.
 

polar05

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Dec 14, 2009
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53
Re: Help ID that fish

In Galveston most of us call then ugly fish...
 

FishyFish

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May 13, 2009
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Re: Help ID that fish

I almost said Bullhead....but the teeth.....through me off.
 

Isaacm1986

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May 20, 2009
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Re: Help ID that fish

Ugly Fish, Did you take it home and fry it?:D
 

KeyWestSkipper

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Re: Help ID that fish

That's a goosefish in the pic. The oyster toadfish has that longer adipose fin along its back.
 

pinellas50

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Aug 10, 2009
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Re: Help ID that fish

I can see why folks would call this thing an ugly fish.

The thing thrashed when I pulled him out and the can went flying back into the water. I honestly wouldn't have thought to look for eggs though.
 

pduquette

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Jun 22, 2007
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999
Re: Help ID that fish

Poor fish was probably hiding in the can from his reflection !!:D pete
 

mhg

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Aug 27, 2008
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Re: Help ID that fish

Thats a mother in law fish
Mike
 

LadyFish

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Re: Help ID that fish

Looks like what we call a dog fish around here. But you are right. Gulf toadfish, Opsanus beta.
 

Fly Rod

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Oct 31, 2002
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Re: Help ID that fish

It is a monk fish. Monk fish tails sell for 3-5 bucks a pound. They also sell the livers.

Once upon a time we took a monk fish to Maine as a joke. As we were fishing for land lock salmon, a boat with a couple of Mainer's came close by and we held the monk fish up and asked the fellas if they knew what kind of fish the monk fish was that we just caught in the lake. Well, we caused quite a stir. The two Mainer's apparently called the game warden and had mentioned that we had caught a prehistoric fish, a fish that they had never seen in Maine's lakes. Game warden canoes out to us and wants to see the strange fish that we caught, he chuckles, in the meantime, a TV camera crew starts to set up a camera on the shore waiting for us to bring in this prehistoric monster. The game warden paddled to shore and and must had mentioned that it was a joke and evryone had left by the time we finished fishing for the day.
 

Home Cookin'

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May 26, 2009
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9,715
Re: Help ID that fish

The photo is what we call toad fish or oyster toad (b/c they hang out on oyster rocks). Goose fish and stargazers ahve pointy teeth; toad fish have nubs.

Did you know that if you stick something in his mouth say the size of a firecracker he will clamp down on it and not let go for about the time it takes the fuse to burn down? At least they did 39 years ago.
 

SBTOM

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Jul 22, 2009
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Re: Help ID that fish

"Did you know that if you stick something in his mouth say the size of a firecracker he will clamp down on it and not let go for about the time it takes the fuse to burn down?"

Hahaha... so thats what happened to the dinosaurs....
 
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