# Solo trip......What is THIS????



## SEAHUNT186 (Dec 24, 2004)

Caught something very unusual in Moses Lake close to the deep hole. Talk about some wicked teeth. 
Ended up with only 1 keeper fish which was a 24" red. 
Did catch some dink trout, gafftop, black drum (which I never keep anymore) and several hardheads. Oh, and 1 sheephead.

Here's a pic of the unknown, 20" black drum, and the red.

Steve


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## C N Spots (Apr 18, 2005)

That is a Cutlassfish.
I caught one there at Moses Lake's deep hole and also one at Offats Bayou around the deep hole there.


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## rr1496 (Dec 14, 2005)

It is a fish better known as the "long toothed skinny ugly fish". After eating one, you still feel hungery. (just kidding...I have no clue.)


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## HoustonKid (Dec 29, 2005)

ULGY and MEAN looking booger.


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## REDKILR (Apr 30, 2005)

Ribbonfish,great for kings.


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## espanolabass (Jul 20, 2006)

Yep Ribbonfish caught 3 last Sat. Nasty buggers, try to bite you while unhooking them.


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## SEAHUNT186 (Dec 24, 2004)

So, that's a ribbonfish. How big do those get?? And those teeth are sharp and strong. 
BTW, that was the only fish I caught inside Moses Lake. Did catch some croaker outside of the gate though.
Steve


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## 85LoneStar (Feb 26, 2006)

That's the biggest ribbon fish I've seen!

Mount it!


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## Dan Palmer (Jun 6, 2006)

That's a ribbon fish... Good bait offshore...............


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## Brian Castille (May 27, 2004)

Those ribbonfish get pretty long. I've caught them up to 4' long at the jetties. A few months ago, there was a pair of them in the green lights at the beach house. It was pretty cool to watch them!

If you cooked up that 20" black drum and a 20" redfish I bet you couldn't tell the difference. I'd be willing to bet that a some of the "redfish" in restaurants is really black drum.


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## SEAHUNT186 (Dec 24, 2004)

Brian Castille said:


> I'd be willing to bet that a some of the "redfish" in restaurants is really black drum.


Along with a bunch of other fish as well. 
I have enough fish in the freezer not to keep those black drum anyway. The funny thing is I fished all over the place and ended up catching the redfish right by the boat ramp. Go figure....
Steve


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## bbridges (May 21, 2004)

We caught several ribbonfish there at the gates Sunday afternoon.

Brian


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## mastercylinder60 (Dec 18, 2005)

Brian Castille said:


> I'd be willing to bet that a some of the "redfish" in restaurants is really black drum.


me, too.

cutlassfish and ribbonfish are the same thing around here.


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## CLODHOPPER (Aug 25, 2006)

*What is that fish*

Mercy.
Thats the biggest ribbon fish I ever saw.. I hate the things...


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## johnny a (Jun 10, 2006)

Brian Castille said:


> If you cooked up that 20" black drum and a 20" redfish I bet you couldn't tell the difference. I'd be willing to bet that a some of the "redfish" in restaurants is really black drum.


Years ago I worked for a Seafood Market. We got an order for 100lbs of red fish fillets. We did not have enough red fish to make up the order but had just got in close to a ton of fresh drum. Guess what the resturant got?


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## goatchze (Aug 1, 2006)

I'll tell you that I keep black drum and can't tell the difference. Neither can my buddies, and it doesn't matter whether I fry it or cook it some other way.

Of course, I DO tell them it's redfish.









Sounds like you may need some help with that freezer!


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## CosmicCowboy (Jun 20, 2006)

I got into an area near Wilsons Cut a couple of years ago that was loaded with ribbonfish...lost about $20 worth of flys in about 10 minutes...with those choppers it's literally one fish per fly....


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## shadslinger (Aug 21, 2005)

It's a mud bass, a mean one.


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## kenny (May 21, 2004)

I knew a guy that cast netted big shad at night and sold them by the box to bait camps.
He usually worked long into the night around TC dike area and was always catching quite a few ribbon fish. One night he caught one maybe 6 feet long and it was all tangled in his net. While he was untangling the fish it suddenly lashed out and buried it's teeth in his forearm. I saw the wound the next day and it was nasty.


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## S.O.B.(Salt On the Brain) (Jan 8, 2006)

*They Don't Just Bite...........*

I netted a 3-1/2 footer by the station street pier in Port Aransas about ten years ago. Thing was about 4" deep and 1" thick. Eyes the size of a quarter!!

I'd seen people who looked like they might bleed to death from accidental cuts from dead ones used for kingfish baits, so I knew I didn't want to get near those teeth. I stepped gently on its head so I could pick it up, and that little bastard tailwhipped me. Right through my shirt sleeve. I pulled my sleeve up to look, and there was blood on my arm, and a nasty, raised red line about 6" long.

I used to catch them at the Matagorda jetties and at the South Padre Island Jetties.

Lance.


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## Redfishr (Jul 26, 2004)

Or silver eel.


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## Lucky (Sep 1, 2005)

Cutlassfish-Ribbonfish, same thing.


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## Old Baitbucket (Sep 13, 2007)

I've got a ribbonfish story. Back in the day when you could fish next to the PortA ferries we were catching some croaker. I was reeling one in when it started really pulling hard and taking line. When I finally got it in, a big ribbonfish had bitten the croaker around the body and he had opened his mouth so wide he couldn't let go. Wish I would have had a camera. Can't remember how long he was but he was a big hungry one!


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## scm (Apr 27, 2006)

There are good numbers of them in Moses lake and alot of bigguns too.


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## great white fisherman (Jun 24, 2008)

All your commerical fisherman fish for drum and that is what is sold in most restaurants.
This is very true. I was over at a commerical fisherman house down in Port Mansfield a few years ago. He sets out trot lines for the drum. He had a big round blue bucker with all these hooks in a circle around the bucket, all circle hooks. Attached to each hook was a dowl rod piece of wood. You know, look in the closet and find that piece of wood pole that you hang your cloths on. He cuts them into about 1/8 inch circles and drills a hole in the middle. Hangs on the hook and that is his bait. He says they look like small crabs and when the wind is blowing or tide moving the flutter in the water looking like a crab. Says he does not use any other bait because hard heads and trash fish will clean his lines before he even gets to the end of one of his trot lines. I have seen his boat bottom covered in drum. A few years ago he was getting .97 cents per lb. 
A friend of mine who is the outdoor writer did not believe me so when he came down to fish I took him over to the commerical fisherman and made a believer out of him.


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## Fish-a-mon (May 21, 2004)

You can take the Ribbon fish and use it for cut bait. trout will nail it. Cut into small chunks under a cork


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## auden80 (Jun 19, 2007)

Ribbon fish is a good bait. We use to catch them in Corpus at the Naval station when I was little and use it to slam specks and sand trout. The meat is tough and doesn't come off easy. Can catch a limit of specks on one piece. Very good all around cut bait.


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## Reel Aggies (Nov 30, 2007)

Can you sell them to bait shops? The one in Rockport had some bigguns for sale a couple weeks ago....$5 apiece!


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## The Machine (Jun 4, 2007)

some teeth


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## catfishcrouch (Jun 5, 2008)

I'm pretty sure at this point the fella knows its a ribbonfish!


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