Looking for information on Baitfish: Sculpin

[acm95301]

Johhny C recently said the sculpin bite is on, and so I started to do some research. If anybody has some info I'd love to here it.

So far I've merely confirmed that the Merced river and thus Mcclure have sculpin...and Johhny C stated that most if not all mother lode lake have them.....yet I've never caught a bass or trout that had them in thier mouths or of those examined ..stomachs.

Dave rush stated that a green pumpkin tube is a bait that mimic a sculpin, but surely also a small crawdad too.

any help is always appreciated.

[flipit]

The guy I fished with last week caught one. A tube does mimic it perfectly. Looks like a 3in long Ling Cod.

[some guy]

Looks like a 3in long Ling Cod.

http://images.google.com/images?sourcei ... =en&tab=wi

[flipit]

Looks like a 3in long Ling Cod.

http://images.google.com/images?sourcei ... =en&tab=wi

Just like the Mottled Sculpin.

[acm95301]

The Prickly Sculpin is adaptable to environments ranging from fresh to saltwater, and from small cool stream to large warm rivers and lakes. The Prickly Sculpin has a variety of forms as some are coastal, others live in the valley, and some are limited to Clear Lake proper. The coastal forms rarely live in a stream without an estuary and rarely go farther than 50 km upstream though they have been found present over 120 km upstream before, often sharing habitat with the Coastrange Sculpin. In the Central Valley of California these fish inhabit low elevation waters. The limitation to the spread of these fish seems to be water quality, as the Prickly Sculpin is not found in highly polluted waters. In stream the se fish us a variety of habitats though good cover or overhanging vegetation is a common thread. The Prickly Sculpin spend most of the day sedentarily hiding and they then become active in feeding and movement at night. When the Prickly Sculpin reach sexual maturity after 2, 3, or 4 years they move to a suitable place in freshwater to spawn and hide the eggs under loose rock substrate. Most spawning occurs between February and June. The male will guard the fertilized eggs until they hatch. When the larvae emerge they are quickly washed downstream to an estuary or deep slow pool. In lakes and in estuaries the larvae become pelagic. As the larvae develop into juvenile fish they begin to move to area of prosperous feeding, often times moving upstream a considerable distance. In many cases the movement of fish an especially young Prickly Sculpin is limited by man-made barriers or diversions. In the lakes the juvenile fish forage around the lake shores and then gradually move into deeper water as they grow.



Feeding patterns in the Prickly Sculpin vary depending upon geographical location and or by size. For example in Clear Lake these fish may feed more consistently throughout the day. Both adults an juveniles eating midges and amphipods. While in coastal streams the food source might be benthic invertebrates, aquatic insects, mollusks, etc. Adult sculpins may supplement their diet with small fish and frogs.

[ash]

Johnny C should keep his trap shut (this is a joke)

Actually in the winter time and Post Spawn on our Resivoirs Sculpin becomes a forage for Bass, and one that is probably most overlooked. I find a JIG or tube represents a sculpin very well, esp a brown and black jig with a 176 or 221 Single tail Grub trailer.

These fish for the most part are bottom dwelling fish, and live most of the year in deep water.

[G-Ko]

Someone on this forum posted this link for another baitfish question some time back. I have saved it ever since and really helps with really all the baitfish questions and pictures I am looking for. Search through the CA species to find some sculpins. It's a really good base to expand from.

http://calfish.ucdavis.edu/

Greg Kosich

[fish_food]

So far I've merely confirmed that the Merced river and thus Mcclure have sculpin...and Johhny C stated that most if not all mother lode lake have them.....yet I've never caught a bass or trout that had them in thier mouths or of those examined ..stomachs.

Sculpin species are present all over California: lakes/reservoirs, the Delta system and in the saltwater....

[Brian D.]

of one that I caught last year at Castaic in 45ft.

[fish_food]

Forgot to add that sculpin are considered "striper candy" here in the Delta as well...

[milehi]

Jewell bait co makes a nice sculpin bait, deadly in cold water.

[acm95301]

I'm glad I asked...So far I've found two awesome websites and alot of good info from you guys!!!

Nice to get a piece of the picture...bummer it went 10 years to find it out.

That uc davis site is awesome.

[Scott E.]

Here in Big Bear we have no shad (or silversides etc.) what we do have are tons of sculpin! Sculpin and crawdads are the main forage for our bass here along with some trout eaters. That's why big grubs (like kalin's 5") and jigs are so effective up here especially in shades of green/brown. Back in the early 80's I killed my share of bass (before I became edumacated) and they overwhelmingly had sculpin in their stomachs. Hardly any had crawdads and only 1 had trout (and she had two about 6 or 7 inches and was only 15 inches long and I remember that fish like it was yesterday, and then she ate my spinnerbait). I remember back in 81 or 82, I was fishing with a nightcrawler and hooked a sculpin and as I was winding it in by a boulder a BIG BASS shot out, ate it pulled drag for a while and as I got her close to the bank she opened up her lips and spit it (never had the hook). Bass dig em!

[Vince Borges]

I like throwing a single tail yamamoto hul grub on a 1/2 oz football head jig in Brown w/ blk flake to imitate a sculpin, Then when Jan-Feb rolls around I will switch to a smoke peper flake to imitate the small catfish that are 3-5" long from the jan spawn. Prespwan bass love them things too.

Vince

[Guest]

Barlow tackle sell sculpin hypertail in 4-1/2" & 6" baits 5 different colors. And i think janns net craft also sell a scuplin bait.
www.barlowstackle.com www.jannsnetcraft.com

[Sinjin Kim]

Can't remember exactly how deep but it was definitely 40+ deep at DVL.





A C-Rig green pumpkin Brush Hog or a tube with a 3/4oz. http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage ... DUDJH.html (to create a fat head profile) would be my guess for a sculpin pattern. But then again, there are so many other ways to catch bass that I would not fairly give a sculpin pattern enough time.

[TomAtkeson]

If you are looking for a goby lure that's about as goby as you can get

http://www.tylurecustombaits.com/KickerGoby.html

[Robert Ratzlaff]

The feeder creeks in the motherlode lakes after big rains is when I see them in a fish's mouth. I like 3 1/2 zipper grubs tex/rig and drag this in the channel...

[Alex M.]

If you are looking for a goby lure that's about as goby as you can get

http://www.tylurecustombaits.com/KickerGoby.html

Tom....

What's the weight on that bad boy? Looks sick!

[TomAtkeson]

About an ounce

[aNNieNsaLTIE]

i think Shasta has these to.. i am pretty sure i scooped one up on a house boating trip.

Steven