Summertime Suckers

Only two members of the Catostomus genus have been recorded in Connecticut. One, the longnose sucker, is a species of special concern, having been documented in only one stream on the border with Massachusetts, and some attempts to locate the species again there have not succeeded. There are no redhorse in Connecticut. What we have are white suckers, and a lot of them. Their abundance bears no relationship to the ease with which the can be caught on the fly though. People nymphing for trout frequently often pick up the odd white sucker in early spring when they make their spawning run, and that is also the best time to target the species. In the summer and fall though they are often very hard to come by. They can be found, sure. They are everywhere. But they can't always be caught on the fly easily. So I was pretty excited one day in late June when I happened upon a stretch of creek loaded with suckers, many of them actively mudding.

Mudding white suckers are the hardest to catch mudding fish I've ever targeted. Mudding carp, bullheads, catfish, redfish, and largemouth bass have all proven to result in a greater take to presentation ratio than mudding suckers in my experience. Luckily, in this case, there was an abnormally large school of feeding white suckers that seemed to have thrown caution to the wind. I made my first presentation and missed a take, and that fish spooked, as well as the one immediately next to it, but the rest of the school payed no mind to the disturbance. I tried again, letting my Ausable Ugly settle on the bottom, then carefully sliding it it by bit into the feeding lane of the closest fish. It made a hard move to the fly and ate with clear intent. I hooked up, fought the fish, landed it, photographed it, then moved back into position and was amazed to see a number of suckers still there, feeding heavily.

Catostomus commersonii

I made my attempt at the closest fish, and again, it ate, but this time the fight didn't last more than about five seconds before the fish popped off. No matter... there were still some feeding. The next one wasn't so lucky.

It's these chance opportunities that keep fishing interesting to me, and since fish are creatures of habit they often repeat the same behaviors at the same times of year under similar conditions... so a chance opportunity often turns into a long standing pattern if I pay enough attention. Whether I'll successfully pattern this particular sucker bite, or if it's really that repeatable, I have no clue. But I can certainly try to pattern it if I decide to.
Until next time,

Fish for the love of fish.

Fish for the love of places fish live.

Fish for you.

And stay safe and healthy.

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