Please identify this fish!

[DEFIANCE1]

Took the boat out for about an hour out of Fairhaven just to kind of see what was happening out in the lake. This was the only thing that I caught. Caught this in about 80fow on 300 copper with a DW SS. Defiantly hit the spoon, all three trebles were in his mouth. Fish was about 21-23 inches long. What is this?

[GAMBLER]

Looks like a cisco to me. Hard to tell, I can't zoom in on the pictures.

[skipper19]

American Shad....Nope looked again...I think G is right, Cisco...it has an adipose fin like a salmon

[sawbelly]

Sure looks like a Cisco to me. Also known as Lake Herring (Coregonus artedi). If you still have the fish, you could take it over to the USGS Biological Station at Wrights Landing in Oswego for a positive ID.

[momay4000]

It could be a Lake Whitefish. I'm no expert but I don't know if Cisco can grow to 23". We used to catch Cisco's through the ice on occasion in Michigan and they were smaller.

I can't tell from the picture but the Lake Whitefish have a funky "snout" looking thing hanging over the lower jaw near the side of the mouth. If I'm not mistaken the Native Americans on Lake Michigan near Manistee net these suckers......

Cool catch!!!!

- Chris

[chowder]

Looks like a Whitefish to me! I'm not familiar w/ Cisco. Smoked Whitefish is one of the best things on earth!

[Mickey Finn]

Pretty sure its a whitefish. Caught a couple one day in July while trolling for salmon on NK28's. They were both about that same size.

[bottom-feeder]

whitefish

[LongLine]

Whenever you have questions concerning Id’ing a fish check this site out:

http://www.wiscfish.org/fishid/frames.aspx

Cisco

Whitefish

I’d vote whitefish as the ciscoes are quite rare and only get up to 21â€. Whitefish get bigger. On a side note DEC is studying the how's/what's to reintroduce the cisco to Lake Ontario.

Tom B.

(LongLine)

[Landshark]

whitefish, i caught one saturday and a few throught the season here is the pic from saturday, they like cold water

[windburn]

My guess is whitefish. Caught one a few years back while ice fishin' on Simcoe. That one went 4#. Fought like heck on 2# test. Very good table fare.

[GAMBLER]

I still say Cisco. Look at the heads of the whitefish in the pictures. The have a slight hump after the head. The Cisco is stream lined all the way back like the one in the picture at the top of the page.

[big easy]

I agree with Gambler,as it being a Cisco.We caught loads of them in lake Champlain,Identical to the one in the picture.Almost everyone we caught came on spoons being trolled for Atlantics.

I was told by locals that ciscoes are very good eating when smoked

[indian]

Bet my farm on it being a lake whitefish. Being from Upper Michigan I caught these all the time in Superior and Huron. They are pretty common up there due to the colder water temps. Down here they seem to have become quit rare though.

[Tim Bromund]

I agree with Gambler,as it being a Cisco.We caught loads of them in lake Champlain,Identical to the one in the picture.Almost everyone we caught came on spoons being trolled for Atlantics.

I was told by locals that ciscoes are very good eating when smoked

Yup, cisco are also known as bloater chub, so when you see "smoked chubs" in the fish market, those are ciscos. and they are yummy

With the original pics being kind of small, it's kind of hard to tell for sure. Larger/higher res photos would be a big help in identification.

Tim

[Tim Bromund]

Bet my farm on it being a lake whitefish. Being from Upper Michigan I caught these all the time in Superior and Huron. They are pretty common up there due to the colder water temps. Down here they seem to have become quit rare though.

indian, where abouts in Upper Michigan are you from? My dad's from Marinette, Wisconsin originally and I still have family all over that area and the U.P.

Tim

[indian]

Pine stump junction. Its a little town kind of near Mackinaw on the U.P. side.

[Tim Bromund]

cool, apart from the relatives still in Marinette, I've got family in Menominee, Escanaba and Quinnesec that I know of, plus a couple cousins that I'm not sure where they are living at the moment other than they are still in the UP.

Beautiful country up there.

Tim

[jimski2]

The Lake Simcoe drainage Canal enters Lake Ontario and could be the source of the whitefish. Lake Erie and the other Great Lakes could be the source of them. Back in the late 1800's, Dunkirk, NY had several hundred steam fish tugs taking whitefish from Lake Erie and shipping them to New York City as fresh caught fish over the Erie Railroad. Ice was stored after harvesting all winter and used during the warm months to keep the fish fresh. Lake Erie's Whitefish population crashed along with the Herring, Lake Trout and Blue Pike as the smelt populations exploded due to a lack of harvest. It was the mid 1960's when the Canadians started trawling the smelt and shipping them to Asia that the "Dead Lake Erie" started blooming back to life. The salmon stocking on other Great Lakes put some contols on the smelt and alewife populations. So now the whitefish are making a comeback. The Federal Fish People are interested in getting the herring/ ciscoe restored as a forage fish for Lake Trout since it does not interfere with the reproductive systems like alewifes. I can remember catching ciscoes as bait for Blue Pike in the light of our Coleman White Gas lanterns while night fishing off Crystal Beach in Lake Erie.

[skipper19]

I think it is a whitefish...the fins lay along the body lines and are darker than the fins of the cisco

[PolarBear]

I think that it is cool to catch a rarer species for a change ...good job , whatever it is

[akorol]

Pretty sure its a whitefish. A good sized one too.

[Self Censored]

Landshark,

Ok it is a whitefish ...... your word is good enough for me....

BUT,

What are those ugly black fish on that board?? Never saw a salmon or trout like that!

[emal7717]

Whitefish, used to catch them all the time below the rapids in the SOO. Great eating, bony though. Great smoked but hard to find papers that big!

[daker1979]

Here you go boys.....I still can't tell for sure with those pics:

Tell the difference: Cisco, Lake Whitefish, and Mooneye

Both the Cisco (Coregonus artedi) and Lake Whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) are found in Lake of the Woods and other lakes in Minnesota. Ciscos are commonly caught by ice anglers, while Lake whitefish are occasionally caught. Both fish make tasty tablefare.

Many anglers have a difficult time telling the difference between the two species. They each are identifiable as a member of the Trout/Salmon family by their body shape and adipose fin. The main distinguishing feature is their snouts. The Lake Whitefish has a snout that overhangs the lower jaw. The lower jaw of the Cisco extends up to or beyond the tip of snout.

Cisco are also commonly called tullibee or lake herring.

Lake Whitefish can grow to larger sizes than Cisco. The Minnesota state record Cisco weighed 5 pounds, 11.8 ounces, and was caught in Saint Louis County. The Minnesota state record Lake Whitefish weighed 12 pounds, 4.5 ounces, and was caught on Leech Lake.

Mooneye (Hiodon tergisus) are similar in appearance to cisco and lake whitefish. Mooneye are characterized by having large eyes. They are one of only two members of the Mooneye family, the other being the goldeye.

You are most likely to catch mooneye while fishing the Rainy River, or near the mouth of the Rainy River in the Pine Island area. Mooneye are often caught by anglers using flies, especially during July when mayflies are hatching in the Rainy River. The Minnesota state-record for mooneye is one pound, fifteen ounces. That fish was caught in the Minnesota River in Redwood C

Cisco - the lower jaw is not overhung by snout

Photo: Cisco - the lower jaw is not overhung by snout

Lake whitefish depicting snout overhanging its lower jaw

Photo: Lake whitefish depicting snout overhanging its lower jaw

Sorry couldn't get the pics on

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/areas/fisher ... efish.html