carptracker

http://www.wjbdradio.com/?f=news_single&id=21578

Somebody needs to tell these people about Darin's fish, which puts this one to shame. I guess this is the rod and reel record for Illinois. But it might not even be that. I don't know how many times I have seen articles on new state and even world record bighead carp of sizes that don't come close to a record of any kind. Nevertheless, I'd like to get aging structures off that fish.

By the way, currently, the largest bighead carp that I know of was apparently 174 pounds, caught in Hungary. But they didn't apply for any kind of record book or take it to be certified as to species. So that record will sit in some kind of limbo forever. I have seen a couple pictures, though, and the weight and girth reported make absolute sense, so I think it was real.

HNI_Christine

Yeah the rod and reel guys get their own records. They snag and foul hook a lot of bigheads down there. (tho' actual snagging is illegal there) That's the area where we were shooting the bigheads that had the body jewelry. Including the one with the nice spinner stuck to it's eyeball.

What's a real bummer is the IDNR started records this year for bowfishing but did not bring in any old records. Not even Darin's. Even though it was weighed on a certified scale and DNA checked and a zillion witnesses saw it.

If a club member shoots a big bighead, do you want samples of it? How big would it need to be before you'd be interested? Any way we can help out your research, let us know!

carptracker

I'd like aging structures off anything over 40 pounds for a bighead and over 25 pounds for a silver. That would be really great. If you catch one, I'd want scales and a bone called the postcleithrum. I can send a Standard Operating Procedure with pictures as to how to pull this bone out. It is easy to do - just need a short pocketknife and you can do it in seconds. A pair of needlenose helps, but you can do it without them. Actually, the best bone in a really big fish might be the vertebrae up by the head, but those are a lot of work to pull out.

HNI_Christine

Hmm.. I kind of know what cleithrum bones are. I think they're the bow shaped ones that don't break down very fast when buried in the garden. (along with big gill plates and jaws and scales from gar) The postcleithrum is somewhere behind that??

Better send the instructions.

Can the scales/bones be frozen?

carptracker

They can be frozen, no problem. The scales won't smell much if you just put a few of them in an envelope and let them dry out, plus you can write on the envelope easily. You won't be able to smell them unless you stick your nose right on them, once they are dried. (I do it every once in a while when I need a fix....not.) The postcleithrum can be cleaned off really easily because it is a smooth bone. It can go in the freezer, or you can just scrape it pretty clean with a pocket knife, put it in an envelope and let it dry. Just don't leave it where the cat can get it.

Oh - should you want to have a trophy mounted, I can wait until after the taxidermist is through.

HNI_Christine

I saved the pdf you sent me as an online file.

Here it is in case anybody wants to take apart their 40+lb bigheads and 25+lb silvers for Duane. http://www.illinoisbowfishers.com/pcremoval.pdf

What notations should we take with the fish? Location? Overall fish measurements? Anything? Do you want specimens from MO/KY?

Thanks.

carptracker

From anywhere you can get them.

Total Length (measured from the tip of the nose to the tip of the lower lobe of the tail, tail straightened out behind the fish), and weight. Fork length (measured from tip of the nose to the fork of the tail) is also nice to have, especially if the tail is messed up or deformed.

General location, however you can give it. GPS coordinates, river mile, county, whatever.