last night I caught....... - Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating

Flaptail · 10-06-2006, 10:11 AM

A real Needlefish on a Needlefish. Aboout two feet long. Nasty little bastage with a bad attitude. Man he curled around like a snake and kept snapping at me after I unhooked him. All those little needle teeth on those long jaws. Apparantly they are cannibalistic. Under the bright moon in a pond opening jsut as the tide started out around ten last night. Had a couple others on but dropped them. I have seen one bigger in the canal caught at night that attacked a live eel years ago. My friend Ski still has the head he cut off and varnished. It was easily three feet long and viscious.

Anyone else ever hooked up on them?

bttfish · 10-06-2006, 10:39 AM

Any pictures? No idea what they look like..

DZ · 10-06-2006, 10:41 AM

Flap,
They were caught by the bucketfull in Old Harbor one November on Block (1980s). Diamond jigs and gold hooks meant for mackeral took them. Often made me wonder why the bass were eating our needlefish plugs with reckless abandon. I Mention the event in my book.

Good fight?

DZ

Flaptail · 10-06-2006, 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DZ

Flap,
They were caught by the bucketfull in Old Harbor one November on Block (1980s). Diamond jigs and gold hooks meant for mackeral took them. Often made me wonder why the bass were eating our needlefish plugs with reckless abandon. I Mention the event in my book.

Good fight?

DZ

He was hooked in the tail and wrapped around the plug in his jaws. Dennis I would love to read that draft sometime!

Flaptail · 10-06-2006, 10:52 AM

Book says they grow up to 4 feet long! Yeow!!! Also, says they are excellent bait fish that spend most of thier time at or near the surface. Hmm... wonder why I like floating needles so much!

thefishingfreak · 10-06-2006, 11:21 AM

we've caught them in a cast net in chatham harbor. thru them in the cooler all day and they lived in the melted icewater/beer swill all the way back to boston.

i think there the same ones they sell in pet stores as GAR.
i've had some for a few years in a 55 gallon freshwater tank and fed the little goldfish.
nasty is right.

RNC · 10-06-2006, 11:22 AM

I caught one back in July while it was just swimming at the surface, I shined my flashlight at it and just grabbed it by hand. I never knew why there were needlefish shaped lures until I caught a one.

Karl F · 10-06-2006, 11:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bttfish

Any pictures? No idea what they look like..

Flap.. Tony S. caught one within the past month, just about the same size as the one you got.

DZ · 10-06-2006, 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flaptail

Dennis I would love to read that draft sometime!

Steve,
The draft was sitting on the coffee table in our cottage in Wellfleet when i was up. You should have called... The way the bite was that week you would have had plenty of time to read it. Maybe this winter.

DZ

PoPin Plug · 10-06-2006, 02:58 PM

haha he P*ssed you off sooo p*ss it of and use it as bait

did you? hahaha

fishaholic18 · 10-06-2006, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PoPin Plug

haha he P*ssed you off sooo p*ss it of and use it as bait

PoPin Plug · 10-06-2006, 03:06 PM

they look like small green Cudas

Redsoxticket · 10-06-2006, 03:11 PM

I'll bet that eels are mistaken by needlefish from a bass perpective.
I never knew needlefish were like you described.

beamie · 10-06-2006, 05:12 PM

I've seen needle fish in the Guam/Saipan area at the 4 foot mark easy. Nasty teeth, Will try to take a picture next time out that way.

Adrian · 10-07-2006, 07:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beamie

I've seen needle fish in the Guam/Saipan area at the 4 foot mark easy. Nasty teeth, Will try to take a picture next time out that way.

In the tropics they can get very big. I've heard them called Houndfish in the Bahamas and down in Cabo. Local fishermen fear them. At night they have been known to fly at lights on the masts of small boats and do some serious damage to the crews.

I had a small one swallow a fly one time and had to amputate its head to get the fly back. Just to add insult to injury, the head still managed to clamp its jaws around my finger, even separated from the rest of the body.

Their teeth are very sharp and if you do notice one pecking at your leader, check it very carefully and better still, retie or replace the leader.

PNG · 10-22-2006, 07:57 AM

Swimmer · 10-22-2006, 10:25 AM

I have read that boat fishermen in the Carribean, probably row boat fishermen, have had the needlefish impale themselves in a fisherman's chest when they jumped out of the water. I think the person/s who this has happened to were seriously injured.

Tagger · 10-22-2006, 11:41 AM

cool ... You keep it ? ... nice color .. olive ? .. I 'd have that sucker on the duplicator ..

spence · 10-22-2006, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tagger

I 'd have that sucker on the duplicator ..

I'd freeze it first

-spence

PNG · 10-22-2006, 04:34 PM

It is frozen, not for the dupi tho...It would seem someone from this site would like to try it with a little Myrons

Karl F · 10-23-2006, 09:44 AM

cool catch PNG

bttfish · 10-23-2006, 12:07 PM

taste good fried? Thanks for the nice Pics.. Now I know what to avoid...

kennebecstriper · 10-23-2006, 09:29 PM

Neat,
I caught a bunch of them in the middle east last year.
They just kind of hang on the surface and didn't touch anything I threw at them until I went to real in at hyperspeed to change lures. At that point, all of them raced after my lure. I found that they could catch up to my bait even when I realed it as fast as I could. Small spoons would be skipping along the surface and they would catch it on the way down.
Neat to watch sailfish fead on them in the calm at sunrise 50 yards off shore!!!!(Ras Al Khaima, Emerates, bring a fly rod!)

ThrowingTimber · 10-24-2006, 04:38 PM

lil fuc*ers bite down hard dont they!!

jimmy z · 10-24-2006, 07:16 PM

I haven't seen them in years.