# Fish ID and a few silly questions



## stcold4506 (Oct 15, 2008)

Hey fellas, Couple new questions for the pros:

1. I don't guess it really matters when you're cutting 'em up for bait, but how do you tell the fifference betweenthese littlepinfish and grunts (i've heard people calling grunts hogfish too)? Best I can tell, pinfish have yellow vertical stripes and grunts have horizontal stripes. Am I right? And is one any better than the other to fish live?

2. The best way to tell the difference between a blue cat and a gaftop is the extra long whiskers and dorsal fin on the gaftop, right? any other obvious clues?

3. Also caught some strange juvie fish the other night, about 6 inches long, looked like a baby white trout but it had two long sharp upper front teeth and a few short jagged ones along the bottom jaw, never seen or noticed that before. Sorry I don't havea pic but we threw them back just in case they were baby reds, I don't know.

4. Gonna sound really stupid .......but is there anything illegal or unethical about throwing a castnet on top of a ray to catch it if it comes close enough. Wanna try some wings if I can catch one

Thanks alot guys for your patience with my short-bus inquiries:bowdown


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## specslayer (Oct 9, 2007)

pinfish dontgrunt and pig fish do...if its a pigfish youll know cuz he'll be grunting away like crazy

also gaftops usually slime up your line more than hard heads.

the trout could have been a whit, they have teeth but also could have been a spec and they have to be a minimum of 15inches

as for the ray question i dont know but im 99% shure its not illegal


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## reelthrill (Oct 3, 2007)

Just be sure that the ray is a sting ray. If it is floating in on top it might be an illegal ray.


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## reelthrill (Oct 3, 2007)

Piffish constantly grunt and do not have the sharp fins that pinfish do. Pigfish are great bait for big specks.


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## konz (Oct 1, 2007)

Below is a pinfish










Here is a pigfish (grunt)










You can see that the pinfish are striped and the pigfish are blotted. The coloration isalso noticibly different.Also note the spot on the pinfish. I hope this helps.

Also, sting rays are not the only rays you can keep. Cow rays are legal to harvest according to an FWC office I spoke to last year. I would recomend reading the latest regs though since so much has changed. As far as I know the only rays that are protected are the eagle ray and the manta ray.


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## Death From Above (Sep 28, 2007)

Nobody answered his which one makes the best live bait question.....so I will.

Neither one make good live bait. Use the catfish.


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## reelthrill (Oct 3, 2007)

In the 70's I used to commercial speckled trout fish with an old timer and we would seine our own bait. We through all the live shrimp, pinfish, etc.. away and only kept pig fish. They were outstanding bait for big specks.


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## konz (Oct 1, 2007)

yes the biggest trout i've seen have been caught on pigfish.......


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## yogitx13 (Jul 18, 2009)

Best bait is relative to the species, environment and many other things but my opinion is live bait is best. Piggy and Piggy 2 and Piggy 3 etc are all good. If anyone says 1 is better then it is their opinion only.

As far as cast net, no game fish can be acquired with a cast net. Many other rules as well, such as the water bodies they can be used in, intended use of aquatic life, etc. I don't believe any statenatural resource regulating body endorses catchingsting rays, hard heads, carp, or other none edible or un-popular (depends who you talk to) for the kill. Not sure about this one so check it out before proceeding.


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## John Becker (May 2, 2009)

> *stcold4506 (10/28/2008)*I don't guess it really matters when you're cutting 'em up for bait




it does if you get caught with them =)


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## Jason (Oct 2, 2007)

The # 1 ? Both fish will catch 2-4 ? 

The # 2 ? It was answered with the dorsal/pectoral fins and the slime. Go out knowing also that sailcats are good eating white meat...where as the blue is dark trashy meat. The sailcat eats alot of live bait and such and is not a trash eater like the blue.

The # 3 ? I really don't think you could confuse a red and ababy white. Baby whites make good bait also (big whites too). Baby spec still looks like a spec and a baby white looks like a white. I guess if you want to get too it and be specific if you look at babies (minnow size) the spec and white might look alike but I don't think you'll catch 1 that small.

The # 4 ? I don't see many sting rays on top of the water, if you see a ray in the upper water column it will more then likely be a manta...I've seen baby pods of 15-25 flopping around in the bay before...they are very fun to watch....

Remember the only stupid ? is the 1 not asked....:letsdrink:letsdrink:letsdrink


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## saltfisher1 (Oct 8, 2007)

> *stcold4506 (10/28/2008)*Hey fellas, Couple new questions for the pros:
> 
> 1. I don't guess it really matters when you're cutting 'em up for bait, but how do you tell the fifference betweenthese littlepinfish and grunts (i've heard people calling grunts hogfish too)? Best I can tell, pinfish have yellow vertical stripes and grunts have horizontal stripes. Am I right? And is one any better than the other to fish live?
> 
> ...




By blue cat I guess you mean Hardhead cat










Gafftop...aka sailcat


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## saltfisher1 (Oct 8, 2007)

PigFish










PinFish


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