Garry - you can see a list of the most common species up your way Here.

In addition to carp, the channel catfish will respond to similar methods as the ones you would use for barbel.

Also have both white and yellow perch. White is closest to the UK variety but they both behave pretty much the same.

The "Northern Pike" is the same as the UK pike.

Tiger Muskellunge is like a pike but with a major attitude problem. Mean and more teeth than a pike.

Walleye - same as you would for zander.

Barbel - I would love to have some down here as well. If you decide to plant some, I certainly won't tell anyone. We already have at least one, USS Barbel, SS-580, which is a submarine. Also supposed to be both Barbus barbus and Barbus altianalis altianalis over here but I am not sure exactly where they are to be found.

We do still have Burbot which I understand have gone missing in the UK. Take a look Here but I'm not sure if they have them in MA. The Ohio record was set in 1999 at 17+ lbs.

Hi Newt(n+1),

Thanks for the info. I must say I'm interested in catfish. Though I don't know the first thing about them - except that they have whiskers of course. So perhaps I could pretend thay are barbel!

I do hope to explore the local fishing this year. It's a little cold for me right now (10 F when I left for work this morning at 7:00 am) and the waters have this odd hard covering. If I didn't know better I would say it was ice... Last year was largely taken up with trying to get to grips with living in the USA. Do you know of any good books on catfishing in the USA? As I said, it's completely new to me.

As for burbot - now that would be fun. If only for the bragging potential with my UK friends!

Hi Newt(n+1),

Forgot to mention that I was aware of the USS barbel. I always thought it a most appropriate name (I wonder how it came by it?). Sometimes when you hit a barbel it feels just like you scared up a submarine!

Oh, and tiger muskies - I presume one uses a whip?

Whip & chair for tiger musky is by far the prefered gear.

Catfishing books - found a few.


http://www.nighthawkpublications.com/fishing/masterscatfish.htm "Masters' Secrets of Catfishing"

http://www.fishinglines.com/bookstore/htmls/catfish.html "Fishing for Catfish"

http://www.wsmcafe.com/temp/09011250jau/page5.html "FISHING FOR CATFISH"

http://www.wsmcafe.com/temp/09011250jau/page6.html "CATCHING CATFISH" which is the softcover version of FISHING FOR CATFISH shown above.

Newt,

Thanks for that info - I'll be the best read catfisher in Cambridge.

And as for the whip and chair - do Cabelas do a camouflage set?

Hi Newt,

Thanks again for the info. I have just ordered one of the books on catfish which you listed.

As regards burbot - I have just done a search and found that they appear to be almost as rare in MA as in UK:

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BURBOT Lota lota (Linnaeus, 1758): DISTRIBUTION AND ABUNDANCE: Native - State Rare. In Massachusetts, burbot are known from only 4 records. Lesueur (1818) described and illustrated a juvenile specimen from Northampton (presumably from the Connecticut River). Storer (1839) stated that he saw or identified a 6-inch fish from the Ashuelot River, New Hampshire (Connecticut system); but later (1867) he mentions another (or the same?) 6-inch specimen from the Connecticut River (in Massachusetts). In July of 1970, Joseph Bergin, and a Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife survey crew found single specimens (7.5 and 8.5 inches TL) in Hubbard and Schenob brooks, both in the Housatonic drainage, near the Connecticut state line. The most recent record is based on two post-larvae found on May 16, 1987 by William Kenney in Longmeadow Brook near the Connecticut River. One of the specimens was raised until mid-June, when it measured about 30 mm SL and was definitely identified as a burbot. The specimen is now in the Museum of Comparative Zoology.
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I think the aforementioned museum might well be right next to me here at Harvard. The Museum of Natural History is - my favorite exhibit (apart from the glass flowers - which are just amazing) is a preserved coelacanth. As I can get in for free I go visit it often. Know any good books on catching coelacanths? (I already have "A Fish Caught in Time"). What bait do you recommend, and what's your PB??

Well Garry - in the overall scheme of things, Ohio isn't too terribly far from MA so maybe you could go after your Burbot. I tried to find a "burbot guide" but apparently no one guides for them.

Or if you want to go further west and like the "0ld fish" species, we have bowfin as well. I caught the occasional one when I lived in Arkansas and the states along the Gulf coast have them as well. Also as far north as the Great Lakes. Serious teeth and a horrible attitude but they can live in the worst water you can imagine. The pic below does not show it but the inside of the mouth is a nasty blue color.

Take a look at http://www.osadv.com/_borders/bowfin.KDJr.3.11.2001.jpg

Newt,

That bowfin looks suspiciously like the younger brother of my friend the coelacanth in the museum next door... ...do you think the whole "coelacanth story" could be a hoax, perpetuated by "illegal imports" of bowfin??

Good news is that there would appear to be some catfish in my neck of the woods. The author of the catfish book (Keith Sutton) I ordered e-mailed me to say it was on its way. And following my reply (the usual pitiful "UK angler adrift in a foreign country" story) he suggested I contact a Roger Aziz, who lives in MA and who he says "holds several world records, and apparently, is a great catfisherman". I'll try and see how far I get. Don't want to break any records (Mr Aziz might be a little p***ed and anyhow I couldn't handle the fame and adulation). Just a few fish in nice surroundings. And no mosquitoes please.

Yup. I think he does hold a few records. Take a look at the current list of MA records. He is listed with a 3lb 8oz bullhead - our smallest catfish and 3lbs is HUGE. The record carp for the state seems to be a touch over 44lbs.

http://www.state.ma.us/dfwele/dfw/dfwfrec.htm

And a nice article about him catching lots of white catfish (never even knew there were white catfish) in tidal waters in MA is at http://www.edersfishing.com/fresh/publication/2000/november/TideCats/default.cfm

Sounds like you could have some serious fun with him and learn a bunch as well.

And ole brother bowfin does look a bit like a coelacanth now that you mention it.