Lower Provo River Fishing (Sculpin Discovery) - July 29, 2011

This morning I started my day were I left off on July 23. The fishing was slow but I know I would be able to catch some fish here. I hooked 7 and landed 4 German Browns. All of the fish were visibly less than 15" so I didn't even bother with measuring them on the Hawg Trough. I did try and take a picture of one but by the time I got the camera out and ready he came off my line.

I did discover something very interesting worth reporting. When I was wading through the river I noticed a small dead fish on the bottom of the river. The fish looked different from a small trout so my curiosity was peeked and I reached into the water and pulled it out.

Here are some pictures that I took of it:

At first glance I thought this was a baby catfish due to the wide head and mouth. But, I didn't think that catfish existed in the Provo River so my second guess was a Sculpin.

Just a few weeks ago I went fishing to a lake between Vernal and Flaming Gorge called Caulder Lake. My friend Jordan Gallespie took me there. Jordan is a fly fisherman and guides on Utah Rivers and I have always been curious to what bug a jig mimiked so I asked him. He told me that it wasn't a bug that it mimiked but a fish called a Sculpin that lives in Utah waterways.

So from this new information that I had learned about a Sculpin I wondered if this was a Sculpin that I found. When I got back to a computer I did a google search on Sculpins and found this really good resource that proved to me that this fish that I found dead at the bottom of the river was in fact Sculpin.

---

http://www.flyfishusa.com/flies/sculpins.htm

Sculpins are small bottom dwelling fish that inhabit most trout streams. There are dozens of fresh water species in North America. Locally, there are three species, which are native to the Sandy River basin and several others that are native to the Deschutes basin. Size and color varies by specie and habitat. Mature freshwater Sculpins are usually from 1 1/2" to 4" in length and range through most of the shades of tan, brown and olive.

Sculpins have large flat heads. The eyes are set rather close together on top of the skull. Body conformation is long and narrow. All of the fins, including the tail are rounded. The pectoral fins are unusually large.

Body coloration is dappled to camouflage with the streambed. Sculpins are chameleon-like and change color quickly to match their surroundings.

Sculpins do not have air bladders, so they are confined to the bottom. Here they hunt and hide in near lizard-like fashion. They eat a variety of aquatic organisms, but are specifically designed to raid other fish's redds. They enjoy wriggling down between the stones to capture eggs and fry. The result is kind of like the lion/hyena wars. Trout probably grow up hating Sculpins. Some larger trout become Sculpin killers and will often eat them. In our region larger individuals of cutthroat, brown trout, rainbow trout and bull trout will eat Sculpins. Both summer and winter steelhead have been known to dine on fillet of Sculpin. Big resident rainbows in Alaska and Russia's Kamchatka eat large numbers of Sculpins.

The next time you wade your favorite trout stream, look for dead Sculpins on the bottom; possible evidence of a big trout killing spree. Or better yet fish a Sculpin pattern with a very fast sinking fly line. You may find some larger than average trout.