Found these guys on the bank of a local reservoir yesterday- 7 of them in fact. I never caught anything other than bass, bluegills, and crappies from this lake, ever. I think there are some catfish in here though.

I wonder if the fish species, whatever it is, actually belongs to the lake, or was used as bait. Never seen these here before, either dead or alive.

Mattlures bluegill (5 inches) for scale.

Thanks,

they look like golden shiners to me

I don't know what it is and I don't have any personal experience with Golden Shiners, but it doesn't resemble that species as illustrated in my field guide.

http://www.uaex.edu/...astresearch.htm

scroll down and they have some pics. they are common both in the wild and as bait

It's a Roach. They were widely used as live bait back in the day. They populated in many of the lakes of the east coast and are a very good forage fish for bass.

http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-49711954/stock-photo-fresh-roach-fish-isolated-on-white-background.html

Looks like a bait shop shiner to me. Maybe someone was using live bait and dumped their leftovers on the bank right there?

I would say bait shop shiners or roach.

Yea that looks like a shiner I use em all the time

Thanks guys. I appreciate it.