Mystery Skykomish fish

[schu7498]

I wouldn't put it past the Asians trying to plant fish. that's how the silver carp began. I assumed blue tilapia because they're the only tilapia that can live in colder temps. also the shape of its face, tiny mouth.

[knotabassturd]

I wouldn't put it past the Asians trying to plant fish. that's how the silver carp began. I assumed blue tilapia because they're the only tilapia that can live in colder temps. also the shape of its face, tiny mouth.

Hey easy there young one. YOU are part 'asian' if I am not mistaken, correct?

Good deductive reasoning on the blue tilapia line of thinking.

It will be interesting to see what we get IF we get definitive word back from the WDFW.

[Sthao92]

Hey guys I got an e-mail back and pretty much they want us anglers to kill them if we catch them and if you can preserve the fish and arrange a meeting with wdfw so they can take a look at it. I will add the e-mail here too if any of you want to read it.
Knotabassturd- The fish was close to shore and i had some worms so i just dangled a whole worm with a hook in its face and watched it eat the worm. so nope didn't floss it.

"I believe that fish you caught is a species of Tilapia. I sent your photos to biologists Todd and Danny and that is their thought as well. I included their comments below. Tilapia definitely don’t belong in the Skykomish River. They are one of the most farmed fish worldwide but there are not any tilapia farms that I know of near the Skykomish, so I’m not sure how it might have ended up in the Skykomish River. They are classified as an invasive species in Washington but need warm water to spawn so hopefully will not multiply. If you catch another one, kill it. And if possible, the WDFW invasive species biologist would love to take a look at it (in fresh or frozen form) to see if he can identify which species of Tilapia it might be, there are hundreds. My contact information is below. Thank you for sharing this information.
Jenni"

"Danny said, A picture is a picture, but clearly looks like a tilapia. There’s quite a few genera/species that could be around…. they survive in brackish and freshwater; many are tolerant of cold water (~8C), but need warm water to spawn (~20C)."

"Todd said, I asked John if he knew of any tilapia farms up north there and his answer was no. He’d like to get his hands on specimens if he can. Maybe let the fisherman know to catch and kill if he picks any more up. If he can freeze them, we’ll arrange for someone to pick them up. If he’s willing to deliver them to you, maybe you could freeze them until John sends someone up to pick them up? "

[knotabassturd]

Stha092- Wow thanx for the interesting thread here and the feedback from WDFW.

Bottom line, get rid of all tilapia-looking creatures LOL.

Too bad WDFW wants them, I was going to offer to take them off everyone's hands They are tasty.

As is the case with many species introduced, this one is another to try to eradicate.

About the only invader species I've come to love in the northwest here is the Tapes japonica (aka Venerupis philippinarum/manila clam) .
But they compete with the littleneck natives directly... Luckily, they both taste GREAT steamed and eaten with a cold beverage or glass of wince.

Thanks again for the full-circle response to this topic. Hopefully others will now be on the lookout for misplaced tilapia in our waters.

[Matt]

The good news is the Skykomish gets WELL below 8c in the winter months, I have seen temps down around 2c and they often average 4-5c in the dead of winter. It would be possible, however, for the fish to migrate downstream and spawn in either the estuarine reaches of the Snohomish, or the Snohomish river itself. The temps stay a bit higher in the lower reaches in the winter, and we do see temps of 20c+ in the summer months, esp. in the estuary.

Very interesting catch, and somewhat disturbing as well. Backyard biology is a very disruptive practice and I hate when I see things like this occurring in such fragile ecosystems.

The Snohomish is already home to many warmwater fish species, Largemouth Bass, Blue Gill, Pumpkinseed, Yellow Perch, Red Sided Shiner, to name a few.... and I have caught Smallmouth Bass near Duvall in the Snoqualmie. All likely the product of backyard biology.

[Bodofish]

I know how the Bass get into the river. The farmer has a nice pond in his pasture and he want's to fish for some bass. He stocks the pond not giving it much thought. As winter rolls around the river breaches it's banks and freshens the water in the pond taking it's inhabitants with it an leaving others behind.

[Gringo Pescador]

I know how the Bass get into the river. The farmer has a nice pond in his pasture and he want's to fish for some bass. He stocks the pond not giving it much thought. As winter rolls around the river breaches it's banks and freshens the water in the pond taking it's inhabitants with it an leaving others behind.

My uncle had a large small lake on his property (about 5 acres) in Nebraska. The Platte flooded it's banks and the channel cats took refuge in his lake, then were trapped. We would go down there for years and spend the night fishing for them - they ran between 10-30#, between them and the snapper turtles us kids never wanted to leave.

[knotabassturd]

Matt, "backyard biology":

Just curious if you coined that term (in the context you use it) or where you heard it from? Hadn't heard it before in this context but find it quite appropriate and think I'll use it when referencing people introducing non native species into their local waters (i.e. people thinking they have a great idea but in all likelihood are putting HUGE risks into the ecosystems with a potentially terrible outcome).

At the same time I wouldn't want the term to put a negative stigma on the positive side of the term sometimes used as basically how a backyard can be full of life and that by exploring it we can learn from it and learn to protect what we have.

Anyway, thanx for the interesting term usage. Hope you have been productive on the water .


Must admit though Gringo Pescador is giving you a run for your money with the 'large small lake' terminology.

[Rippasher06]

Weird because those fish tend to die in cold water. We just had a whole lake of them die down here in Tempe Town Lake.

[FishBaitThe2nd]

Weird because those fish tend to die in cold water. We just had a whole lake of them die down here in Tempe Town Lake.

This post stumped me, ive caughten more tilapia and bass in tempe town lake then I could count! Weird that the tilapia are dying off.

[Rippasher06]

Yeah it was all over the news last month when we had a cold spell.

[Kockmandoo]

OH NO!!! They're adapting to their surroundings! Evolving! aggghhhhhh mutant tilapia!