What do you think this is?

[PaulC]

Caught in NorCal fishing for stripers.
Looks too big for a jacksmelt and the colors on the gill plates are all wrong from what I've seen down south.

[WinterrunRon]

Definitely a stiperhead!

Ron

[PaulC]

The fins just look too high for a striper. That happen often or is this a bay mutation?

[Niceguy]

:P

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Looks like some relation to the Mullet family?

Did you catch it in the Delta?

[PaulC]

Hey Bill,
Not the Delta...from the SF Bay.
A friend that hooked it thought it might be a malformed striper or some other species.
Looking at fishbase, I don't really have a clue.
Sure doesn't look like a striper or a smelt.
Searching for mullet pictures, this was the first hit. I almost spilled my beer on the laptop:
http://webpages.charter.net/harv.ols...pix/mullet.jpg
All jokes aside, I agree it looks like something out of the mullet family, just not the one in the picture.
Definitely big from what I'm used to running into. They don't readily take flies either.
-Paul

[David Lee]

Lisa .... or Lisetta .

Mullet , not clear which exact one , though . Ask Ken Hanley , he'll know .

David

[Tony Buzolich]

Take a look at "mugil cephalus" also known as a "striped mullet".

It is considered rare north of San Diego but has a northern range as far as San Francisco.

Care to enlighten us as to where you caught this fish and as to it's size?

TONY

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Tony is right on....here is a reply from a friend who works for the CA DF&G:

"That's a striped mullet, Mugil cephalus.

The catcher might check with someone from the Marine Region of the DFG in Monterey to see if its a range extension. Or the Monterey Bay aquarium, or UC Davis. The "Guide to the Coastal Marine Fishes of California" by Miller and Lea, 1972, DFG Fish Bulletin 157, lists the northward occurrance as Monterey.

I've used those for bait in Mexico. Without success.

They're usually found in estuaries, which S.F. Bay is. I've heard of people fishing for them in the lower Colorado River around Yuma, Arizona. I think peas were used as bait. But, obviously, they might eat a fish, too.

Ed"

[jbird]

I think the cool thing about it is someone actually got a mullet to bite. They are as closed mouthed as milkfish. In fact, in mexico they call mullet lisa and milkfish elisio(sp) as if mikfish are giant mullet. I would totally fish for mullet if they were biters. Thats pretty cool.

J