I'd like to see the pics. Not an expert, but am curious.

-Alan

Mikey could email them to you, or if he didn't mind, I could forward them to you.

E-mail has been sent, TFNTW2

Thanks. I'll check 'em out when I get home. Never fished the Comal. I've been tubin' a time or two on Guadalupe and Comal....what a beautiful group of rivers y'all are blessed with. Unfortunately, the tubers and what not probably screw up alot of habitat. I'm guilty of it
-Alan

No tubers where I go, Landa park. They have swimming and tubing areas, but where I am there are signs all over DO NOT DISTURB NATURAL HABITAT. I dont. Tuff fishin when it is sunny, with the water so clear, but on rainy days look out. We mostly fish for bass, but I keep seeing these fish. I will E-mail you pics of the last rainy day.

Mikey, question. Is the Comal usually as clear as it looks in those pictures? Do you know if it's spring fed? Does it stay a cool temperature in the summer? Are there any smallmouth bass there?

I ask because like I said, I think some of them are suckers. The only place in Texas I've ever seen/caught suckers was a small branch of the Concho river in West Texas. It was just a small branch that was spring fed, and a small section of it was very cool even in the summer, and always very clear. It was the only place in the state where I've caught Smallmouth Bass on a regular basis, and also the only place I've seen suckers.

White Suckers, I think, though I may have been wrong. Took forever to catch one too. They were just sort of slowly moving up and down stream, nosing the bottom now and then, so I dropped in a nightcrawler in one's path, hoping he'd pick it up. They were very spooky, and any movement sent them shooting away. But I noticed they'd nose around little rock piles and things, so I put a nightcrawler in a bunch of little rocks, and waited...and waited...and finally one made it to the rock pile and sat just over my nightcrawler, slowly sucking the whole thing up...when it started to swim off, I set the hook.

Yeah, I was bored, the fishing wasn't too good that day. But I also love catching a variety of species, and would like to catch everything possible lol. So it was satisfying and fun nonetheless.

Anyway, that was the only sucker I've caught in this state, the rest were all up north where they're more common.

But I think that may be what you're seeing.

Here's an example of a sucker I found a picture of. This species lives in the Rio Grande so it's probably not what you're seeing, but it's hard to say. This species also looks to have a larger mouth then normal.

From TPWD Fish Records. You may be seeing tilapia.

Comal River Tilapia Blue 11.94 13.54 07/12/94 Rickie Rivard Rod & Reel

Just a suggestion.

That's possible too Carpin. I hadn't even thought of that. In the pictures he sent, many of the fish look long, slender, and greyish, which is one of the reasons I think suckers. Plus I believe suckers make bowl-shaped nests.

Some of the broader fish may be tilapia, if the water temp is constant ( And warm ) enough for them to survive.

I love these threads. I'm on the edge of my seat here.

From Kentucky State University Aquaculture site:

Blue tilapia will survive in lower water temperatures (above 45�F) than most other species of tilapia.

The temperature in Comal is constant (spring fed) and I'm pretty sure it is above 45 degrees. Otherwise people wouldn't enjoy tubing very much. Maybe someone knows the temperature.

I didn't see any pictures so I'm uncertain what was seen. I have seen tilapia in the Comal at Lambda Park, but that may not be what mikey saw.

From Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine:

"Landa Park, New Braunfels
The 1.5 million-gallon, spring-fed pool at the Landa Park Aquatic Complex on the Comal River in New Braunfels is a compact version of Barton Springs without the crowds, fed by the biggest springs in Texas. A few hundred yards downstream on the Comal River is the Prince Solms Tube Chute, a cheap thrill ride that inspired the nearby Schlitterbahn, consistently rated as the best waterpark in America. Thanks to the constant 73-degree water temperature, snorkelers and divers can do the entire mile-long stretch of the river year-round."

please tell me you have fished this! sounds like a incubator from massive carp!!

That sounds ALOT like the area I caught and saw suckers out in West Texas, only on a much bigger scale!

Are there Smallmouth Bass there?

It could be some of those blue tilapia, mixed with some suckers, maybe drum, and so on. Could even be some carp mixed in.

Though that sounds like the kind of place where 8 lb carp would be on the very lower end, and they'd be very rare. Places like that often have very few carp, but very good size.

Just like the spot I've been mentioning, carp were rare, but 10 pounds was about the smallest I ever caught.

We may have to make a trip out there to catch some of those mystery fish ourselves!

Cant say it any better than carpin, the water clarity and temp are constant.These fish are tall bodied from what I have seen. Starless is on the right track with the sucker theory. I have not run across any smallies, and just a few perch. Grass carp,lmb,a few perch, crawdads, turtles, and the mystery fish, thats it. I will try to get everybody pics, and I think I will try to net one in the morning.