Caught a Big Mouth Buffalo Tonight

[Dugger]

.... went back out on the river at 8 and fished till 12 with a pee break back at camp in there somewhere..... The Black Crappies were EVERYWHERE!!!! Every cast a hit, I landed 40, a Channel Cat and some Rockies and 4 Freshwater Drum on rattling plugs. I was ready to head back home as that red moon dipped behind the trees and the last cast was met with a WHAM!!!!! My one piece 6.5 foot Shimano Compre doubled over and the line peeled as I fought the behemoth in the dark, fumbling for a light. It was a herculean battle and after an explosive fight I slid the net under her. During the tussle I pondered if it was one of these beauties just by the way it fought and sure enough it was a Big Mouth Buffalo!!!

What a gorgeous fish. Truly Canadian and has been in this river since its formation 12,000 years ago. It looks off the cuff like a member of the Carp family but it is in fact a member of the North American Sucker family!!!

I love these fish, I see maybe three a year and the battle is always momentous. Look at that sweet face!!!

She was 27 inches long and nailed my favvy 4 buck plug. These plankton and bug feeders are only found in North America and the record around 64 pounds!

.... I'm off to bed!

 

[sunny14]

.... went back out on the river at 8 and fished till 12 with a pee break back at camp in there somewhere..... The Black Crappies were EVERYWHERE!!!! Every cast a hit, I landed 40, a Channel Cat and some Rockies and 4 Freshwater Drum on rattling plugs. I was ready to head back home as that red moon dipped behind the trees and the last cast was met with a WHAM!!!!! My one piece 6.5 foot Shimano Compre doubled over and the line peeled as I fought the behemoth in the dark, fumbling for a light. It was a herculean battle and after an explosive fight I slid the net under her. During the tussle I pondered if it was one of these beauties just by the way it fought and sure enough it was a Big Mouth Buffalo!!!

What a gorgeous fish. Truly Canadian and has been in this river since its formation 12,000 years ago. It looks off the cuff like a member of the Carp family but it is in fact a member of the North American Sucker family!!!

I love these fish, I see maybe three a year and the battle is always momentous. Look at that sweet face!!!

She was 27 inches long and nailed my favvy 4 buck plug. These plankton and bug feeders are only found in North America and the record is 64 pounds!

.... I'm off to bed!

WOW Dugger! That's one Beautiful Fish!!

I never even knew they existed. Thanks for all the Information!

Sleep Tight Buddy!

Rick

 

[grubman]

Very nice catch. Looks like a beautiful fish with iridescent scales. 27 inches long, how much did it weigh, even a guess. Are they rare I've never heard of or caught one before.

Thanks for the report, congrats, sweet dreams of bigmouth buffalo....lol.

 

[rusty420]

Yes very interesting and nice catch

 

[Alfiegee]

I have heard of the Big Mouth Buffalo but never seen one in person. Where did you catch it? I don't know anything about them other than what you have said Dugger. If they fight like that I am certainly interested in trying to get one.
I believe earlier this year I read something on OFF about one caught in the Thames near London.

It seems like we may be ready for a Blair moment

Alfie.

 

[ChaseChrome]

I have heard of the Big Mouth Buffalo but never seen one in person. Where did you catch it? I don't know anything about them other than what you have said Dugger. If they fight like that I am certainly interested in trying to get one.
I believe earlier this year I read something on OFF about one caught in the Thames near London.

It seems like we may be ready for a Blair moment

Alfie.

View attachment 9798
​

​

The bigmouth buffalo, Ictiobus cyprinellus, also known as the gourd head, redmouth buffalo, buffalo fish, bernard buffalo, roundhead, or brown buffalo, is a large species of the Catostomidae or "sucker" family.​

The bigmouth buffalo is a dull brownish olive color with dusky fins. Like other suckers it has a long dorsal fin, but unlike others it has a large oblique and terminal mouth. It is the largest of the buffalo fish and reaches a length of more than 4 ft (1.2 m) and 65 lb (29 kg) in weight.​

It is distributed from the Red River of the North, Manitoba, Canada and North Dakota, United States to the Ohio River and south in the Mississippi River system to Texas and Alabamain the United States. It lives in sluggish areas of large rivers and shallow lakes and streams.​

The fish is vulnerable in shallow water and is often captured by spearing. It is commercially caught on trot lines, setlines, hoop and trammel nets, and seines. Though it has numerous small bones, its good flavor makes it one of the most valuable of the non-game freshwater fish.

​

​

Distribution: The bigmouth's native and introduced distribution is confined to the countries of Canada and the United States of America. In Canada they inhabit the Milk River which flows through Alberta and the Qu'Appelle River which flows through Saskatchewan and Manitoba into Lake Winnipeg. Beginning in the northern United States they are native to Iowa, South Dakota and Minnesota, more southern states include eastern Texas and Oklahoma. The major drainages they are found in include Lake Erie, Ohio River, and Mississippi River drainages. From these drainages they are found into Arkansas, the Gulf region of Louisiana and down the Tennessee River into Alabama. The introduction of bigmouth has been largely done for commercial purposes. The regions include reservoirs within Arizona, North Dakota and Montana. The reservoirs in North Dakota and Montana are of the Missouri River drainage. Within California they have also been introduced to the aqueduct system of Los Angeles. The distribution has only increased in size so there is nothing determined to extirpate the bigmouth.​

​

Ecology: The bigmouth buffalo has numerous ecological needs. Diet is important in any organisms' ecology. The larval bigmouth are benthic feeders of copepods and cladocerans mostly but also eat phytoplankton and chironomids . The juveniles and adults are benthic and limnetic plankton feeders that also eat cladocera, copepods, algae, Chironomidae, ostracods, and other insect larvae and invertebrates depending on availability. The optimum habitat for bigmouth buffalo requires highly vegetated and turbid waters. Turbidity levels of over 100 ppm are optimal, they also like muddy bottoms. A minimum total dissolved solids is 200 ppm during the growing season. During spring and summer there should be 50–75% pools, backwaters, and marsh areas and 25-75% littoral area and protected embayments during summer for the habitat to be suitable . Bigmouth can be found in waters from 22.5–38.0°C but their preferred temperature is between 31-34°C. The optimal temperature for incubation and hatching of eggs is from 15-18°C but they can develop in temperatures reaching up to 26.7°C . The bigmouth prefer slow-moving water that does not reach a velocity over 30 cm/sec. Salinity can be a problem for reproduction. Spawning can occur from 1.4-2.0 ppt of salinity which eggs and yearlings not being able to survive a salinity of over 9 ppt . The minimum dissolved oxygen during the spring and summer is 5 mg/l . All of these factors in the ecology of bigmouth buffalo result in their seclusion to slow-moving vegetated/marshy areas in oxbows of rivers and reservoirs.​

​

Life History: The bigmouth buffalo is a spring spawner generally spawning between April and June when the water temperature is between 13–26°C. The bigmouth is a broadcaster that has adhesive eggs which it lays in highly vegetated waters. They seek high submergent and emergent vegetation and high turbidity to keep their eggs safe and in ideal habitat for hatching. The substrate found is generally a mixture of a medium amount of rubble and gravel and a high amount of sand and silt . The water levels but substantially rise before spawning and stabilize afterwards. The sexual maturity of bigmouth is dependent on their size. Females mature once they are over 475 mm while males begin to mature around 305–328 mm and should be mature by the time they are 356-379 mm . The bigmouth are group spawners which produce 250,000 eggs/kg of adult weight, their eggs are approximately 1.5 mm in diameter . The age of bigmouth is around 2 years old when they reach sexual maturity but it is said that they have been found as old as 20 .​

​

 

[FishingNoob]

WOW! That is a gorgeous fish with the scale pattern and all. 40 crappies! MY GOD!

That has go to be the biggest sucker I've ever seen! Way to go!

 

[Brian]

beauty buffalo man...

 

[grubman]

65 lbs. That almost qualifies as Ontario's own River Monster. Angler's have been dragged into the water fighting this muscular monster and a swarm of the Bigmouth Buffalo suckered them to death........lol. The only remains of the hapless anglers were their blood stained tattered clothes and inflammed anuses. :blink:

 

[TRINIBOY]

Grubman.....Inflamed anus....Lmao looks like that topic not going to leave anytime soon.
CC what's this Blair part two.... But honestly thanks for the info must admit it was an interesting read.sounds like these bad boys/girls get really big would most defanity would not mind hooking into one. Nice catch Dugger and thanks for sharing pictures of your catch.

 

[Alfiegee]

Grubman.....Inflamed anus....Lmao looks like that topic not going to leave anytime soon.
CC what's this Blair part two.... But honestly thanks for the info must admit it was an interesting read.sounds like these bad boys/girls get really big would most defanity would not mind hooking into one. Nice catch Dugger and thanks for sharing pictures of your catch.

LOL, I was thinking the same thing about Blair part 2 when I read CCs post. You beat me to the punch Trini.
As I don't use nets or trot-lines to catch fish the question still remains. Where are they found in southern Ontario? As I said I think I heard of them in the Thames. And what type of tackle and techniques would one use to land one of these beautiful fish?

Alfie.

 

[DanForte]

.... went back out on the river at 8 and fished till 12 with a pee break back at camp in there somewhere..... The Black Crappies were EVERYWHERE!!!! Every cast a hit, I landed 40, a Channel Cat and some Rockies and 4 Freshwater Drum on rattling plugs. I was ready to head back home as that red moon dipped behind the trees and the last cast was met with a WHAM!!!!! My one piece 6.5 foot Shimano Compre doubled over and the line peeled as I fought the behemoth in the dark, fumbling for a light. It was a herculean battle and after an explosive fight I slid the net under her. During the tussle I pondered if it was one of these beauties just by the way it fought and sure enough it was a Big Mouth Buffalo!!!

What a gorgeous fish. Truly Canadian and has been in this river since its formation 12,000 years ago. It looks off the cuff like a member of the Carp family but it is in fact a member of the North American Sucker family!!!

I love these fish, I see maybe three a year and the battle is always momentous. Look at that sweet face!!!

She was 27 inches long and nailed my favvy 4 buck plug. These plankton and bug feeders are only found in North America and the record is 64 pounds!

.... I'm off to bed!

interesting fish, i have never seen one. thanks for sharing.

 

[Dugger]

LOL, I was thinking the same thing about Blair part 2 when I read CCs post. You beat me to the punch Trini.
As I don't use nets or trot-lines to catch fish the question still remains. Where are they found in southern Ontario? As I said I think I heard of them in the Thames. And what type of tackle and techniques would one use to land one of these beautiful fish?

Alfie.

I think targeting Buffalo would be a long shot, Alfie, at least here in Niagara, they seem to be so elusive it would be a long wait. My last encounter was one year ago. I have had some big brutes on that just wreaked havoc with the tackle... gentle looking but what a fighter! If they only jumped!!!!

 

[Dugger]

65 lbs. That almost qualifies as Ontario's own River Monster. Angler's have been dragged into the water fighting this muscular monster and a swarm of the Bigmouth Buffalo suckered them to death........lol. The only remains of the hapless anglers were their blood stained tattered clothes and inflammed anuses. :blink:

LOL! I'm not touching "inflammed anuses" with a ten foot drifting pole :blink:

and....

Thanks Chase for the research!!!!

Thanks gang for the nice comments... great fish eh!

 

[ChaseChrome]

Just had to respond to Alfiegee's mourning the absence of Blair...

 

[Alfiegee]

Just had to respond to Alfiegee's mourning the absence of Blair...

Thanks CC. I just got up of the floor after reading your post and laughing my head off.
I wasn't actually mourning the absence of Blair. I was more surprised that I had got to the thread before him and had to read it without his always pertinent and useful info and facts. I did find exactly what you posted at about 2 a.m. on wikipedia. I was also able to find out that there is supposedly a population of these fish in Cootes Paradise. As for angling for Buffalo, I have found very little. I now know they feed a lot on microscopic creatures and that it would be hard to put a plankton on a hook and keep it there for any amount of time. I have become intrigued and since there are some in waters close to home, I plan on landing one. There was until yesterday only one Ontario fresh water fish I have never landed, that being a musky, but now there are 2.
The top 3 items on my bucket list now appear as follows. #1 Be at the Saugeen the week-end of Oct. 13 to meet all my friends from OFF and chase some Chrome. #2 Catch a Musky in Ontario. #3 Catch a Big Mouth Buffalo in Ontario.

Alfie.

 

[ChaseChrome]

Had to see the pic again--lovely fish...

If they feed on Chironomidae (a favourite fly pattern) then the float rod and a chironomid pattern might just do the trick...who knows.

 

[FishingNoob]

Thanks CC. I just got up of the floor after reading your post and laughing my head off.
I wasn't actually mourning the absence of Blair. I was more surprised that I had got to the thread before him and had to read it without his always pertinent and useful info and facts. I did find exactly what you posted at about 2 a.m. on wikipedia. I was also able to find out that there is supposedly a population of these fish in Cootes Paradise. As for angling for Buffalo, I have found very little. I now know they feed a lot on microscopic creatures and that it would be hard to put a plankton on a hook and keep it there for any amount of time. I have become intrigued and since there are some in waters close to home, I plan on landing one. There was until yesterday only one Ontario fresh water fish I have never landed, that being a musky, but now there are 2.
The top 3 items on my bucket list now appear as follows. #1 Be at the Saugeen the week-end of Oct. 13 to meet all my friends from OFF and chase some Chrome. #2 Catch a Musky in Ontario. #3 Catch a Big Mouth Buffalo in Ontario.

Alfie.

Maybe one of your expert Fly Tying buddies could whip something up??? ;-)

 

[Alfiegee]

Had to see the pic again--lovely fish...

If they feed on Chironomidae (a favourite fly pattern) then the float rod and a chironomid pattern might just do the trick...who knows.

I'll have to work on this. I have of course heard of chironomids. (sp) My secret spot at Cootes does not really allow for flinging a fly, but I'm sure I will figger something out. Buffalo here I come.

Alfie.

 

[hightechdecks]

quite a rare catch, thx dugger for posting. that little river of yours seems like it has quite the mixed bag.