Pics of my Game Fish, Minnesota style

[Gamefishin]

I guess when I started this hobby all over again I didn't want the same nice little fishes like when I was a kid so I got some Game fish. We Minnesotains love to fish so I decided to get these fish that I've been catching. I did buy these fish at a LFS and it is legal although many people think it's illegal. It's different from state to state. In Minnesota however if you have a child you can even keep one Game Fish you catch as a pet per a child, even if it's undersize......wierd huh. Well enjoy the Large Mouth Bass, Walleyes, and bullheads. I did have two crappies but they died on me, my walleyes died too.

Here's a water Lettuce I got, it's all chewed up along with all the other plants by my Bullheads, those little tank bustas.....

 

[prettypleco]

Nice looking fish and plants. What is that plant in the second picture left top area? Its kinda pink and stringy looking? I like the water lettuce.

 

[Gamefishin]

Yeah it's a watter lettuce with all of it's roots eaten off or torn off by my bullheads.

 

[Sandtiger]

Cute fish, epecially the little catfish. What are the fish in the first picture? I'm not really familiar with native fish.

 

[Gamefishin]

The catfish look alike is really a Bullhead, it's in the same family but not exactly the same. The first two fish are Walleyes, they are one of the most prestigeous game fish for fisherman. BTW what does Sandtiger mean since I've seen a few people with that screen name?

The look like this when they're all grown up.

 

[seastaar88]

i keep natives too. good to see another natives person around on the forum. i've kept a number of species including LMB and bullheads, white perch, mummichogs, killifish, dace, darters, white suckers, central mudminnows, trout, shiners, fallfish and a few others i can't remeber off hand now. i've had to downsize a bit during the past few months, which is why i'm down to a few sunnies.

what are the specs on your tanks and can you post a full tanks shot? are you feeding live food or have you weened them onto frozon/dry food? how have the walleye been? i've neve kept them.

 

[Gamefishin]

Walleyes were doing great until my stupid a$$ tried to warm up the tank just a bit so that I can keep some other fish in there too like a Gar and some tropical suckers to clean the tank. Somehow my heater got out of control and my water temp rose to 80 degrees and my walleye died. Those were my favorite ones too even though they are shy and don't like the lights like my LMB. Maybe in the summertime I might get some more walleyes.

As for my tank, the shots make my tank look bigger than what it really is. It's only a 30 gallon breeder and I know I'll have to upgrade soon. My goal is to get a 125 gallon by summer time but well see if I have enough space.

I'm feeding them Rosy Reds right now and they love it. The only other thing they'll eat is some earth worms. I just got two of my LMB to eat out of my hands but my bigger one is scared of me somhow. My bullheads are tearing up my tank and plants but they are fun to watch and I let them do whatever they want.

 

[Fishchaser]

hey i live right on lake erie and are familiar with all these fish love the tank nice thinking

 

[Gamefishin]

^^^Since you are familiar with them do you know if Bullheads eat plants. They are destroying all my plants and seem to have a large belly even if I don't feed them for a while. I see with my own eyes that thye are nibbling at the plants but I'm not sure if they are eating them or just messing around...*thumbsdow

 

[seastaar88]

it's not a good idea to mix natives and tropicals. natives like cool water. even though they can certainly tolerate extremes like during summertime, they will do much better if you remove the heater and let the tank remain cool. if you want help with algae, go the snail route.

bullheads naturally have a full belly appearance. they are carinvoures and are probablhy uprooting your plants because they are scavenging for food. i'm not sure about the nibbling on your plants.... i wans't aware they fed on plants. i've never had a problem wtih my bullhead i had. be sure you are using a food that will sink to hte bottom for it. mine liked sinking shrimp pellets.

gar and most of your fish that you are keeping now will get very large, as you know... my LMB lasted just over a year and a half before i had to take him out. he started eating all of my other fish because he was getting too big. i'd be more concerned about over crowding within the next 6 months or so. definitly get that 125 next summer

 

[kerosenecounty17]

Sweet. That's it, I gotta get some plants. You're really lucky to have a LFS that stocks natives. I'd like to get some LM bass and possibly a pike or musky for my tank, but that's strictly prohibited here in WI unless you buy them from a fish farm, and I can't find one that's willing to sell them to me in quantities without at least a couple zero's.

kc17

 

[Gamefishin]

Here's a place in florida that sells native fishes and the shipping is not that expensive. The prices include shipping already and it takes about 2 days. I don't suggest buying in the winter though because I say you fish may be frozen by the time you get them. I ordered my water lettuce and frogbit plants from them. Stupid UPS guy just dropped off the package at my front door without even ringing the door bell. Luckily I happen to see the package not too long after he came but the plants started to freeze already but were ok after that. So your fish would probably be dead if this happened so I say wait till spring atleast.

The price in the website includes shipping too so it's not too bad IMO. I'm considering getting a Redfin pickerel from them since they only grow to 12" max. I had a northern in the fall and loved him but little guy jumped out and died.

http://www.aquaculturestore.com/fwverts.html

 

[seastaar88]

You're really lucky to have a LFS that stocks natives

i dont know if this was directed to me, but i don't buy my natives, i collect them myself in the spring and summer months.

I'm considering getting a Redfin pickerel

i had a juvenile grass pickerel two summers ago for maybe a week... but he just wasn't a good match for my tank (small tank) and i was concerned he'd attack some of my other smaller juvenile fish, so i had released him back. i'd be curiuos if you will be able to ween the redfin off of live food and onto frozen.

are you going to try to go off feeding rosy reds, or do you think you'll always feed live stuff to your natives? i've been really successful in weening natives onto frozen. i had some problems with my juv. white perch but i think since the tank was SUPER overcrowded at the time, they were just stressed.....

 

[kerosenecounty17]

Gamefishin - Thanks for the link. I think I'll have to order a couple of yellow bullhead. Where did you get your pike from? The one that jumped out of the tank? I fish alot, but I've never been able to catch a really small (less than 14") one. Did you catch him or trap him? Any suggestions? If I can't get one, no big deal. I plan to add a couple perch this week and I'll call it my PCB tank (perch, crappie, bluegill). You fish quite a bit? If you do, check out www.myfishfinder.com. Great site. If you're in MN, I'm guessing you do a little ice-fishing too. If you do, come on over to www.iceshanty.com and join the fun.

SS88 - I've been trying for months to ween my fish off live foods with no luck. I don't think I ever will. But, I'm starting out with fish that were caught with hook & line, and are several years old already. The bluegill and sunfish do well with finely chopped shrimp or cooked ham. Worms too, when I can get them. The crappies love small fathead minnows that I can get for $1.75 for 3 dozen at the local bait shop. I'm guessing the perch will do fine with the same minnows, but I'll find out in the next couple of days. It's a bit more of a pain, but to be honest, I'd rather feed them live food. It's fun to watch them hunt.

kc17

 

[Gamefishin]

I'll only stick to minnows because that's one of the reasons why I got these fish instead of some neon tetras. Only other alternative for me is some worms because they are cheap.......I think.

The pike I got we trapped it because there is a little channel that baby northerns grow up in and when they get big they can't go out through the fence since the holes are too small now. I can't explain it but it's like a dock but it's metal and has a fence that makes a barrier and cuts to the lake itself. The only way is to go out the long way but we come from that side.

There are tons of baby northerns and I see people get them all the time. They are very cool fish but you gotta go in the spring or else they are too big and you'll need some giant tanks to house them.

 

[seastaar88]

for the past two years during the summer months, i've worked for the CT DEP and if we catch anything neat in our nets and traps i take it home. all my fish were also young of the year, so it's been really easy to ween them to frozen. while i agree it's better to allow them to go after their own food, i just personally find it fits my lifestyle right now more to feed out frozen. they do get live food as treats, however.

 

[Gamefishin]

I understand........

I guess it's their natural instint to be a predetor so I feed them live food. If they're hungry enough sometimes they can fit 3 minnows in their mouth at the samet time. I finally got one of the bass to get used to hand feeding and it is a lot of fun. I just switched from small rosy reds to regular crappie minnows they sell at the bait shop. It's actuall a better bargain since it's about 16 cent a feeder for the minnow and the rosy's but the bait shop minnows are bigger.

 

[vivalagourami]

Bullheads are YUMMY!!! We got tons of bullhead in upstate New York. Bullhead fishing is a great excuse to go out and get cozy at night with someone you got yer eye on
Walleye are NASTY! When I was in St. Paul for a week, every single menu has Walleye on it. Its a garbage carp fish that in a pub is half the price of sea white fish like haddock, but in a *nice* restaraunt, its twice the price of haddock.

And how does one keep a northern pike? I don't even think a freshwater backyard swimming pool would be big enough! Pike are huge! I could a pike once with some help and almost lost two fingers...them are some big a$$ fish.

 

[Gamefishin]

Dam bro no disrespect but you rather eat bullheads over walleyes.......*thumbsdow

Walleyes are one of the best fish you can eat if prepared right. Yes they are overpriced but they are good eatin. Neve eat a bullhead and never will, just the thought makes me sick.... I must be wierd too because I love Catfish and they are just the same thing. So I guess bullhead would be good to eat too but forget it. Everytime we go fishing those suckers come and take the bait and get caught, dam I hate bullheads, but I love keeping them in tanks.*thumbsups

As for the northern pike I got, it was only 10" inches and was doing great in my tank until he jumped out...

 

[seastaar88]

pike are definilty rediculously huge. when i worked for the DEP, we seined three out of one river that were over three feet long!!!