well the day was mighty slow..... i think my buddy and i landed about 4 bass between the two of us, so we were itching for something to tug the line........

thats when we resorted to the old snag fishing for these ugly creatures....

its a puccostumas (i have no idea how to spell it) i believe...their just the common algae eaters....man their gross looking, but they put up a decent fight when they get to this size i suppose.....

thats my pal in the pic, and it was the first one he had seen out of the water (as you can tell from his expression)

most people call those "plecos"

Posted by: LCpointerKILLA      Posted on: Today at 8:07pm

most people call those "plecos"

...... plecos, huh.....

good to know......... thanx man!

did you throw it back? i got one of those in my fish tank lol

ya.....

of course it went back..... ;D

and i as well had some in my tank as a child as well......

its still surprising to see how large they can get in nature though.

Everybody around here calls those armoured catfish I never new the real name.

ya.....

of course it went back..... ;D

and i as well had some in my tank as a child as well......

its still surprising to see how large they can get in nature though.

hey ya never know might be good eating lol

Catching something is better than not catching anything at all is what I always say.

Everybody around here calls those armoured catfish I never new the real name.

Also called a sailfin catfish

Plecostomus, are awesome fish in the aquarium, but are considered an invasive species.  The Feds and some Fish and Wildlife Commissions are considering a ban on the import of all Plecos.  Florida is full of them and they are notorious for eroding canal banks, because they make tunnels into the banks compromising the embankment.  I actually humanely KILL each and everyone I catch, unless someone wants it for their aquarium.  Nevertheless, I still think they are cool fish especially the gold nugget and zebra pleco, they are much cooler looking than your average pleco.

Funny that this post came up.

The other day while waiting for a storm to pass, me and Steve were talking to these guys from North Florida who came to the stick marsh looking for armoured catfish.  They net them and sell them to "Indian people".  

Steve asked if they were the same as plecostemus, and both guys said that they weren't the same.  I don't know about these things but these two guys seemed pretty knowledgable.  Anyway, the armoured catfish are kinda fun to watch.  They swirl up on the surface and take in huge gulps of air.  Kind of a unique fish.

    Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!  I have never seen or heard of such a thing.

Looks exactly like a large version of the pleco's I have in my aquarium.

There is one pet shop in my area that has a good sized pool/tank with larger fish in it and there are a few that size or bigger in it. I know it's against most peoples nature to kill something for no reason but these types of invasive species should not be returned to the water.

i wasnt aware of the fact that they are considered invasive, or a nuisance species.....

they are quite numerous in all ponds and rivers that i fish around here.  I shall look into it more myself with the FWC, and if that is definetly the case, i will make sure that none i catch enter the water again (in a humane matter).

if they are as detrimental to the water systems as it seems from what i have heard here, then something must be done to solve the problem.

That sure is an ugly beast.

Falcon

boy, thats one ugly fish!!!

I've never hooked into one of the pleco's or armored catfish, whatever thaey are, but I can see how it could be pretty easy. They have no fear of people and will surface right next to the boat to gulp air.

I don't have them in my local lake, which is fine by me, but we do have gar.  the guys who fish it regularly will shoot you if you return a gar to the lake, so I know about "humane dispatch"  It gets to me though, so I don't do it anymore.  

I guess I"m getting soft in my ole age.  I used to hunt all kinds of critters and gut em in the field without a second thought.  

Now, it sorta troubles me to kill anything.  

Except maybe mosquitoes.    

Me no like stinkin' mosquitoes.