Fishing for plecos???

[robbor]

I found a place that has large plecos. Im wondering if anyone has anyidea of what you could possible use to fish for them. We have seen quite a few about 12-18" in about a foot af water that we could possibly net pretty easily. I dont know what kind of plecos they are but boy are they huge. Any idea what plecos get that big? And at this size would they eat anything other than algea? I figured i could net a few and sell them to the local pet shop or elsewhere and fund stocking my new aquarium and maybe get me an extra filter or???

[MatsP]

I very much doubt you will get much for mature plecos - there are LOTS of people who have one that they want to get rid of, and not that many people who have 5-6ft x 2ft size tanks, which is what you need to keep the large ones.

I'd talk to the LFS first.

--
Mats

[Silurus]

Those are very likely to be

Pterygoplichthys

spp., which are a dime a dozen in many cases. I figure big ones to be worth even less than the little ones they sell so cheaply in the LFS.

I wouldn't bother with the time and effort if I were you.

[Shane]

Im wondering if anyone has anyidea of what you could possible use to fish for them.

Since you can see them, I am assuming they are in fairly shallow water. If the water is 4-8 feet deep, a cast net is probably your best choice. If the area is less than about 4 feet deep and has a smooth bottom with few obstructions, then a larger seine will work well.

Fish traps are also always an option though for loricariids that big you would need to custom build your own using chicken wire. Just copy the design of a basic minnow trap, but make it much larger.

Large loricariids are usually easily caught by hand, so a dive mask, snorkel and a large dip net is another option. Use the dip net to trap them by swinging it down (like a butterfly net) then just grasp the fish and place it in a collecting bag/container. This is a good method if there is a lot of structure that would snag cast nets or seines.

Loricariids, as a general rule, will almost never be taken with a fishing pole.

-Shane

[Suckermouth]

On a tangent, has there been a published report of Pterygoplichthys in California?

[apistomaster]

Shane's advice about netting or trapping are good methods. However, if the California Fish and game Regulations are anything like those in Washington, Idaho, Oregon and Montana, the reg. I'm most familiar with the rules governing the use of traps and nets, then they are probably illegal. Most Western States do allow using traps for harvesting Crayfish but they restrict the size of the openings. They could be used to catch smaller Plecos. A few split zucchini should work. For actually angling for the larger specimens, I would try Carp/catfish dough ball types of bait and fish at night.
No doubt, it is actually illegal to remove, possess, transport and sell any fish you managed to catch. And as has already been discussed, there would not be any market for these fish anyway. California has some of the most stringent regulations governing invasive species of fish and aquatic plants in the USA.

[Birger]

On a tangent, has there been a published report of Pterygoplichthys in California?

Go to page 7

http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/SpeciesL ... er=&Page=7

Birger

[robbor]

thanks all. Im pretty savy when it comes to fish and these are plecos. I already have a minnow trap made out of 2 arrowhead bottles but the holes are to small for these plecos. I may try trap some for my tank.
We will see how it goes. Im guessing plecos are tough like catfish, they certanly are much uglier .

[MatsP]

thanks all. Im pretty savy when it comes to fish and these are plecos.

Yes, and that limits it to about 700 different species of fish - given that they are also large, it reduces the possibilities quite a bit, and the likely scenario is that they are

Pterygoplichthys pardalis

- you can get cute small ones of these in Walmart, PetsMart, etc for about (or less than) $5. They are pretty easy to grow to fairly large size. Most shops do not pay customers that bought the fish from them for these fish if they are brought in. Ask your shop first, as you could end up catching fish that you can't get rid of - and by no means should you get the fish out of where they are, and then put them in a tank or some such, and eventually put them back in the wild where you got them, as this can spread diseases that weren't in the natural habitat.

Im guessing plecos are tough like catfish, they certanly are much uglier .

They are tough indeed. As long as they don't dry out, they are pretty difficult to kill...

--
Mats

[Chrysichthys]

You can eat them, here's a recipe for Jamaican-style pleco:

http://www.plecofanatics.com/forum/arch ... t-4420html