Carpsucker Q's ie Toadsuck Report

Toadsuck finally opened the park gates a week or so back after the Christmas flood. Word got out quick and fishermen are really working the boat ramp area, mostly to little success. I managed a dozen keepers earlier this week but it took me and a buddy plus a guy in a boat and another fisherman to get them. I haven't caught any crappie off the wall or below the dam but have hooked a couple of white bass.

My question for D10 or commercial fishermen or anyone else who might know is about carpsuckers. In the past year I have snagged 5 carpsuckers while crappie fishing! Four were with standard 1/16 oz jigs and one with a casting spoon. Three were hooked in the tail and two were in the top fin. How does this keep happening to me? I have never caught even one in all my years of fishing here and no one else I fish around has either. They are all 3 or 4 pounds and are a struggle to land in the current when hooked in the back or tail.

I identified four of them as Common Carpsuckers but believe one was a Topsail Carpsucker. Before I looked them up, I thought they were a cross between a buffalo and a carp or something.

There are tons of River Carpsuckers in the AR River. The other one is a Highfin Carpsuckers and it is not as common. I did my graduate research on the AR river and literally came across tons of the common variety, but I only saw a handful of the highfins. Some common Carpsuckers also have higher than normal dorsal fins but I can't remember off the top of my head what the actual distinguishing characteristics are right now. I have slept about 10 years since then and had to make room in my brain for other things. That's what reference books are for!