I was fishing creek chubs earlier today when I caught a rather large baitfish that was probably around 10 inches long. It had reddish orange fins and it had 4 spikes on each side of its head and upper lip. Not sure what this fish is. Thought maybe a red horse but i thought they were much bigger. Caught it in a small stream. Any ideas? I can get a picture of it on here if need be. It's in my bait tank now. Prefers to lay tight on the bottom.

are you sure it wasn't a creek chub. They get little horns this time of year.

I love to see a pic

I'll get a picture of it on here for you tomorrow dtro. If it was a chubber it was the biggest i have ever caught. It does have the same body shape as a chub but the fins are real red compared to the others. I'll get a picture of it on here in the morning along with pictures of the other shiners i got to see if you can ID them.

Check that! Just found an article online that explained how male chubs get real rosy red this time of year and develop the horns for a mating ritual. Never caught one quite this big and red though! I'll get a picture on if you still want to see it though.

I'm guessing it is a big colorful male chub. I'm trying to think what else it could be.
I've caught them close to 12" before.


*edit*

yeah that's what I was thinking. Big colorful male looking for a little love.

It sure is a big old male chub. Sure like to get a few more his size. Do you happen to know if there are several kinds of shiners found in Minnesota's streams? I believe the bait shops sell golden shiners, but I don't think thats the kind I am cathing. They are much fatter and dont have the flat sided bodies that the ones from the bait shop have. I looked at some pictures and they look kind of like they could be "common shiners".

It's a breeding male, probably a common shiner or a hornyhead (aka redtail) chub. Both of those species and the creek chub can attain lengths up to 12 inches and can be found in much of the same habitat.

Yeah, my first guess would be hornyhead chub, known in the bait industry as redtails.

Males get tubercles this time of year, become very colorful and are in the mood to spawn.

There are many species of shiners in Minnesota. The minnow family, Cyprinidae, is easily the most numerous family in the state, and within the Cyprinids the genus Notropis is the most numerous genera in the state and contains most shiners. There are 18 species whose common name is shiner.

If you ever want to find what your bait is called or what crazy looking fish you caught in the river last night, I recommend this Fishes of Minnesota site

Ya, what da chise31 said.

here's the big old shub. Sure would like to get a bunch this size. Most of them are 5-6 inches.

Looks like good bait to me!

oh yeah, that's a chubby for sure.

I'll be out collecting some of those for Sat's fishing. Thanks for sharing those pics.

Gonna be collecting with a seine net or trap or with the rod and reel?

I have a hard time with creek chubs and seine. They are tough to keep in the net. I just get them with rod/reel.

In that case keep your bait as close to the bottom as possible for the bigger ones. We noticed if it was set higher off the bottom you'd get a lot of smaller ones biting. You'd miss a lot of them and go through more bait. Also, they were hanging in areas right between fast moving water and slow moving water, much like a catfish would. Good luck!! Let me know how you do.