What is wrong with this fish ?

[Pegasus]

Fished BBP two days lately, and everytime I am there, somebody catches this crazy looking tuc. He has the meanest curve to his spine you have ever seen. The pictures dont really do it justice but try and check out the curve that this guys spine has. Anybody else ever caught him ? Believe me, you would remember this guy. Mike tried to tag him, but he needs to get a new gun. The thing wont shoot the tags in. Needs some wd-40 or something. Wonder what caused this ? Birth defect ? Other that the curve, he looks healthy !

[fisher dude]

Maybe mike tried to tag him before when he was a small guy and pinched a nerve! Lol!

[Stan Wright]

Mike,
I have a new tagging gun you can have...
Just a matter of how to get it to you.
(Should I show up at BBP most any afternoon?)

Speaking of tagged fish.. there was a big tuke hanging around the boat ramp this afternoon with a tag in it's back... wouldn't take any lure or bait the people tossed in front of it.

If you catch a tagged fish, try to get the tag number, length, weight, location where you caught it, and the date. Give me that information and I'll get you it's history... (who tagged it, when and where. How long it's been swimming around and how far it traveled.)

Stan

[BillFHM3C]

The fish could have been injured as a fry and was able to adapt to its minor deformity. If that's the case, then it's adapted quite well as it looks very healthy.

On the other hand it may be a genetic abnormality. When I raised Talapia, at HCC, I saw lots of talapia that had genetic abnormalities. Most died before maturity, but some did make it. Probably from being raised in a huge tank without predators helped. Deformities were about one in every 1000 fry, which is about normal. In the wild the ones with deformities usually get predated before any of the others. So you don't see them as much. But as the population increases, so does the number of genetic deformities.

I remember there was one talapia that was shaped like an "S" that bobbed up and down (head down) off the bottom of the tank. The other talapias didn't bother it and it grew quite large, but we didn't let it breed as we didn't want to pass on the possibily "defective" genes. Also, the deformity made it quite difficult to cook...just wouldn't lay flat the pan!

[Boatless]

Also, the deformity made it quite difficult to cook...just wouldn't lay flat the pan!

waaaaaat???!!! i was happy for the little guy until i read he ended up as your dinner Bill!!

[roadwarriorsvt]

There are many LMB at the Wahiawa Middle School that are deformed. Those are believed to be a result of generations of inbreeding. (insert Alabama joke here!) Not likely the case with this Tuc.

[kcandjacy]

Stan, i think i hooked up with that fish you speak of. Tag # 4053 was caught tuesday the 20th at the boat ramp. I had hooked the guy while jigging a white roadrunner alongside the boat ramp but after fighting him for about 2 minutes he bent my hook completely straight. Just after he got off, my buddy Sean walked up with live bait and i informed him of this big tuc's vicinity. After about 20 minutes of teasing him, he hooked up and landed this nice lookin fish. We weren't able weigh or measure the fish but assumed it was between 4.5 and 5.25 pounds. No guess of the length. Hope this at least helps a little.

[roadwarriorsvt]

Dougie was telling me about you catching that fish. When someone says they caught a 5# fish, ya gotta wonder how off their calculations are, but seeing is believing! Very nice Tuc indeed.

[Stan Wright]

I looked up Peacock Bass Tag # 4053....
It's one that I tagged back on Oct. 14, 2009.
It was tagged over in the Main Basin ( Condo Cliffs )
At that time it weighed 2 pounds and was 14 1/2 inches long.

I sent the information along to Annette at Aquatic Resources.
Thank you.
Stan