I'm new to the forum and mighty impressed with how much the members know about identifying species of fish. Where did you learn that? Do you recommend a field guide to learn from? I see that there are two in the Peterson field guide series and an Audubon guide. I did not know the depth of my ignorance until this forum came along. Redhorse, hog sucker, and all those varieties of carp. I want to know more.
I use the Peterson guides to north America I know fellow members are much more in depth. This site in of itself is nuts for hi def photos not found elsewhere.
http://deftikangling.blogspot.com/
The only "guide(s)" i use, are either
A) Other members
or,
B) This site
Everything I know about species identification, I owe to the wonderful people on this site.
It doesn't matter what you're fishing for, just as long as you're out there doing it.
I use the Peterson Guide. Get the newest addition. I think addition 2.
Other then that I have many guides I use parts of. Fishes of Wisconisn is a great source for information. I believe you can find an online version for free.
Also http://www.wiscfish.org/fishid/ is a great resource if you are from the Wisconsin Minnesota area
I third or 4th recommned peterson's!
We will go easy on you for a little bit about lumping redhorse and other suckers in as carp. =)
Welcome to the site! It may change your life.
It is all perspective! Got Silver Chub?
Paul, in addition to what others have said above, don't overlook Gooooogle "Images". On the main page of Goooogle (whatever style you get) there's always the list "web, search, image, maps, YouTube" etc. Just click to "images" and type in the fish name, common or scientific and you'll get many pages of pics, some relevant some not.
Not fail-safe or always accurate, but this does give you a good idea of what fish look like as the pics are varied and from many angles. An additional ID tool for learning, it's quite handy.
You probably already know how to gooogle images and I don't mean to imply you don't. It's funny though, I never hear folks mention using it and I use it all the time this way. Good for birds, too. Sometimes book pics just don't look like what I have in hand, especially when it come to B&W plates or drawings.
This is also a good way to familiarize oneself with variations in a given species, something that helps immensely when sorting out ID issues.
The various "Fishes of..." books are good. I've got the "Fishes of Alabama", and it hasn't let me down yet.
I use this site, Petersen's guide, and cnre.vt.edu/efish. That covers most every fish I've ever caught...
www.facebook.com/appalachianroughfishmafia
I also use Google images a lot, especially to familiarize myself with new species in a body of water I might be fishing. I've also read almost every species page at nas.er.usgs.gov.
www.facebook.com/appalachianroughfishmafia
Fishes of Wisconsin is good for info but not if you're looking for photos that help with ID. Click the link below to my site and then look in the links on the right side. Fishes of Wisconsin is linked there. I'm out in the wilds of WI right now and have limited connectivity, or I'd load the site and copy the link.
The new Peterson's is pretty good. Better than the old one by quite a bit.
The NANFA forum and galleries are also good resources, but roughfish.com is the best.
Redhorse ID cheatsheets & sucker obsession: moxostoma.com
2012: 50+ days fishing, 30+ species, 9 lifers. 2013 so far: 23 days fishing, 29 species, 6 lifers.
One very important thing fishes of Wisconsin has is a key.
Keying out a species is a skill everyone shoudl have. Although its hard to do in the field, but once you learn what to look for it helps greatly.
this is an issue I am having with minnows now. I am not 100% sure what to look for.
I do with Fishes of Wisconsin had better pictures though. They pictures are terrible
A new one is in the works and I'm sure it will have better pics. If it doesn't, they shouldn't bother updating the book.
Redhorse ID cheatsheets & sucker obsession: moxostoma.com
2012: 50+ days fishing, 30+ species, 9 lifers. 2013 so far: 23 days fishing, 29 species, 6 lifers.
Awesome!
I didnt know they were making a new one.
I have the old book. Its been used very hard since I got it. I think it might even be signed. My dad got it for me when I was 12.
I think he traded a painting or print for it. The day I got the book I rode down to the creek with it in a back pack and spent a few hours netting minnows and darters and then poured over the book identifying all my fish.
@Josh, that totally sounds like something I'd do. When I was 14 my stepdad was out of work and took a job with VDGIF's Fish Division. He brought home tons of pamphlets, and my favorite one was a little booklet on fish ID for Virginia, listing all the game fish species, plus bowfin, common & grass carp, blue, channel, & flathead catfish, and a couple other roughies. I must have studied that thing for hundreds of hours, looking to see the differences between species.
I'm pretty sure I still have it...
www.facebook.com/appalachianroughfishmafia
I have the whole book in PDF, but not the physical book. I get emails occasionally from used book sellers saying they've found a copy if I'm still interested. It's usually $300-$400. I'd like to find one in a junk store or garage sale or something.
Redhorse ID cheatsheets & sucker obsession: moxostoma.com
2012: 50+ days fishing, 30+ species, 9 lifers. 2013 so far: 23 days fishing, 29 species, 6 lifers.
I scour junk stores looking for stuff like that! I've snagged some sick deals on fishing stuff (tackle, books) over the years...
www.facebook.com/appalachianroughfishmafia
Me too, or at least I used to. Estate sales, too. Seems like once the internet and Antiques Roadshow reached old people and small towns it got a lot harder to find good stuff cheap. Used book stores know what things are worth and won't have Fishes of Wisconsin in the dollar bin. Junk/antique stores know to look up old lures/tackle and find out if collectors want it.
Redhorse ID cheatsheets & sucker obsession: moxostoma.com
2012: 50+ days fishing, 30+ species, 9 lifers. 2013 so far: 23 days fishing, 29 species, 6 lifers.
"We will go easy on you for a little bit about lumping redhorse and other suckers in as carp."
If that's the way you read what I wrote, my writing must have been pretty doggone sloppy. I'll try again: I was commenting on the newness to me of the names of the varieties of suckers (such as redhorse & hog sucker) and the varieties of carp, all names I have never heard of before.
I'm enjoying the heck out of this site.
I bought the book, the Freshwater Fishes volume of the Peterson Field Guides. Thanks so much for the recommendations, guys.
The Peterson Field Guides are OK. Fishes of Wisconsin is good.
Fishes of Tennessee is now available for download as a pdf for FREE!
http://www.newfoundpress.utk.edu/pubs/fishes/
"The Peterson Field Guides are OK." - Spoken like an excellent ichthyologist. The Peterson guide is better than the Audubon, but doesn't go into the level of detail that the more technical books do. I think it is the best Field Guide for fishermen. Having the book in the field can save a lot of confusion.
The Wiscfish site is excellent with photos by John Lyons. But, hard to access when you are fishing.
I would not use Google images for ID because I see many mis-labeled photos there. (Redhorse labeled as carp. Buffalo labeled as carp. Carp labeled as buffalo redhorse carp.)