What the heck is this?

[beetlespin]

http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/PICT0012ede.JPG

My son Chris and I had a great day on the Columbia landing about 25 with a few 3-4#. However at one point Chris pulled in this creature from the black lagoon thingie and we were both at a loss as to what it was.

What is it?

Oh yes and here's a picture of Chris with his day's largest.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/PICT0013ed.JPG

[bass man]

Hey that is a mud dobber.
Nice smallie!
Where were you guys on the Columbia? :cheers:

[Super Fluke]

Thats a mud cat or a sculpin

[pitchnboy]

its a sculpin, that water behind you in looks AWSOME...

pitch

[gerry]

Looks like a sculpin to me. I have some small 2" crankbaits made by "Salmo" that are in a sculpin pattern and they catch dang near anything.

[IslandBass]

I say sculpin too. Is a mud dobber another name for a sculpin??

[QH's Paw]

It is a Sculpin (not maybe). If you look in the next Walleye you catch you'll probably count 2-3. My experience is that Walleye love these as a meal. It may be that they are always on the bottom so end up on the Walleye's radar for dinner. If I owned a plug or jig body that looked like one of these I would pound the Walleye areas with it. I've seen jigs bodies in sculpin pattern at the Sportsman's show. I have yet to find any realistic looking ones around these parts in stores or shops. :shrug:

[Eagle Eye]

Hey that's just my ex bottom feeding again....throw her back, quick!
Yeah, I know, swallowed the hook.
Best of luck with the high priestess of the temple of doom.

[beetlespin]

So that's a Sculpin. I had read on other posts that Sculpin steal your Sturgeon bait but had no idea what they looked like.

Actually as coincidence would have it, I was reading my current F&H News last night and in the very back there was a picture of a sea run cutthroat with one of these beauties sticking out of its mouth. The article suggested using fillets from these creatures for cutthroat bait (match the hatch)!

By the way it fell to a 3” purple Senko, wacky rigged.

[Hunt'nFish]

Mr. Mike, down on the Chetco they do that... dorsel hook a sculpin and watch out. Not sure if it's legal or not though...probably not.
Hunt'nFish

BTW, good to see ya fishing. Hope the motor troubles are over.

[FishinTechnician]

We used fresh water Sculpins in Siltcoos years ago and caught LM bass and big Perch on them. They were legal in those days but I don't know if it is still legal to use them, or not. Have heard you can use them if taken from the same body of water where you intend to use them. Can normally be caught around some of the docks around the lake. Also caught them in rocky areas along the Columbia. They were a great natural bait. Fished with a weedless hook through the lips.

[tnj8222]

those little things are in lake washington as well.. everybody there calls them bullheads... now i know what they are. they are awesome for small mouth.. thats the only thing i can really catch the smallies besides worms in lake washington!

[beetlespin]

How do you catch them? What kind of bait and water? I've caught one on a plastic worm in two years of fishing so that is not too productive.

[Mr. Sturgeon14]

use a small hook and a small piece of night crawler and a split shot should do the trick there are alot in the clack as well

[tnj8222]

mr.sturgeon got it except i dont use a split shot, they seem to get me caught up on all the rocks in washington! i just toss it out and let it drift anywhere near the shore in lkae washington.. not so sure about the rivers...