Thread: Eastern shore fish id help

Does anyone know what kind of fish this is? About 3 weeks ago we were catching these fish in a small coastal creek. They were thick and as we cast across the schools we could feel the jig sliding over their backs. All fish that were landed were foul hooked and had not made any effort to strike our baits. I have caught shad and herring many times but these were different and much larger. This was a medium sized fish. Thanks for any help.

They were so thick under the bridge I could have taken net after net full of them. I was sticking my pole into the water and poking them at one point. Before I foul hooked the first one I could feel the lure hitting, it felt like a bite but I couldn't for the life of me understand how they were getting off. Then I hooked up and and had a heck of a fight getting it in only to see that the hook was in the back not the mouth. I caught a bunch of them when I hooked up to a monster. This one fought better than all the rest. After a 15 minute tussle I got it to the bulkhead and realized it was a carp, a huge carp hooked in the tail. It was a very strange fishing trip for sure.