I may have caught a state record fallfish

I got one that taped 19" in Conodoguinet some years ago. It ate a big stonecat fly about 4" long.

A few years ago at the Jam I got a big one out of Penns Creek near tunnel road on a SJW that I estimated was about 17 inches. It was bigger than any trout I caught that year at the Jam.
 
I catch fallfish in the 19-20" range every single year out of the Juniata. I only get one or two that size a year, but I catch many fallfish every year that are 15-16 inches.

I like fallfish. Slimy buggers, but they fight decent and eat anything at nearly anytime. They are definitely a confidence boosting fish for slow days.
 
Caught some dandy fallfish over the years. Several 18 inches and one that was about 22". Usually I think I'm on to a mega brown until I get a better look at them. While they may not be my target species they always put up a good fight. I hate seeing them disrespected. I've seen guys chucking them on the banks, etc.
 
Swattie87 said:
I call them the FW Bonefish, but yeah, I’m a fan too.
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I always though that was carp, since they are spooky. Although I do see the resemblance. Fallfish seem to greedily hit anything you drift past them, fight hard for their size, and look cool flashing that bright silver side. What's not to love about those natives?
 
I don’t have time to spend half an hour getting control of those things and reeling them in. When I inadvertently hook one (only happened twice) I just pinch the line and let them break me off.

Maybe true, but Fallfish are my FW Bonefish of choice. 😝
 
wbranch said:
Chubs/fallfish are the same species aren't they?
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They are actually quite different, at least I think so. They are both mostly silver, though, but chubs can have olive tones to them, too. Chubs are a far, far inferior fish. They don't eat as aggressively or fight as hard.
 
A couple of streams I fish give up almost as many fallfish as trout which can make a banner day a spectacular day because it sometimes takes a look-see to be sure what I hooked.

They also make me look good if someone is fishing in my vicinity...

I hereby admit when I'm blasting the fallfish and someone is watching, I have been guilty on a few occasions of quickly releasing them and when asked, never acknowledging that they WEREN'T trout... 😳

I did that same thing with a carp I caught on the Letort many moons ago and I'm sure the guy downstream of me is still talking about the big brown I caught that day... 😉
 
Bamboozle said:
A couple of streams I fish give up almost as many fallfish as trout ...

They also make me look good if someone is fishing in my vicinity...

I hereby admit when I'm blasting the fallfish and someone is watching, I have been guilty on a few occasions of quickly releasing them and when asked, never acknowledging that they WEREN'T trout... 😳
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What they don't know won't hurt them. 🙂
 
In my local creek, the fallfish are almost always 100% silver with an olive back, the chubs look closer to bass then anything else, but i know they arent bass as they typically have horny protrusions (hornyhead chub) and or small spots along the belly and sides. But i find that they hit stuff as readily as anything else, just if you are fishing with a hook bigger then size 16 they wont even try and swallow it. Spent many many MANY days there as a kid with a can of corn.
 
Not a fallfish but I one sauteed and ate a huge sucker on a dare that I caught on Yarnall Run if any of the SEPA folks know that little trickle.

It was far from memorable or fine dining but I did achieve legendary status amongst my buddies... 😉
 
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Bamboozle said:
Not a fallfish but I one sauteed and ate a huge sucker on a dare that I caught on Yarnall Run if any of the SEPA folks know that little trickle.

It was far from memorable or fine dining but I did achieve legendary status amongst my buddies... 😉
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My grandmother used to try l to convince me that suckers were good eatin’. I assure you that they are not! 😉
 
dc410 said:
My grandmother used to try l to convince me that suckers were good eatin’. I assure you that they are not! 😉
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I think the sucker was named after the first person who tried eating one... 😉

I guess if I had some seasoning of some kind, but I cooked it on the spot during one of the combination fishing/cooking excursions we embarked on as kids every Sunday. At first light we'd hop a bus with all of our fishing, cooking stuff and food to some creek or reservoir in the western suburbs of Philadelphia via the bus.

The day I cooked the sucker all I had at the time was some butter (for some reason) and the closest thing to flour I had was Coffee-Mate non dairy creamer...

So I cleaned it, dredged it with Coffee-Mate and fried it in butter. I seem to recall it being incredibly mushy and flavorless except for a hint of sweetness from the non dairy creamer... 😉

I never had the urge to revisit eating suckers after that first time... 😉
 
Bamboozle said:
I think the sucker was named after the first person who tried eating one... 😉

I guess if I had some seasoning of some kind, but I cooked it on the spot during one of the combination fishing/cooking excursions we embarked on as kids every Sunday. At first light we'd hop a bus with all of our fishing, cooking stuff and food to some creek or reservoir in the western suburbs of Philadelphia via the bus.

The day I cooked the sucker all I had at the time was some butter (for some reason) and the closest thing to flour I had was Coffee-Mate non dairy creamer...

So I cleaned it, dredged it with Coffee-Mate and fried it in butter. I seem to recall it being incredibly mushy and flavorless except for a hint of sweetness from the non dairy creamer... 😉

I never had the urge to revisit eating suckers after that first time... 😉
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That’s a great story!

I spent a lot of Sunday afternoons in March fishing for suckers with my Grandpa. A bucket of nightcrawlers - and we were on our way! He never threw anything back - so I ate more than one sucker in my life. However, my grandmother was a great cook. I particularly remember enjoying how she cooked catfish and duck!!
 
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