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Fish Identification
updated: Feb 17, 2013, 9:15 AM

By Edhat Subscriber

I went fishing this morning on the beach near Oxnard/Ventura. I caught this fish and threw it back but I'm not sure what kind it is. Can Edhatters help me out?

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Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 375342	2013-02-17 09:19 AM
Smelt
COMMENT 375345	2013-02-17 09:21 AM
Yup looks like a smelt
SBSURFERLIFE	2013-02-17 09:24 AM
I'm not a fisherman but I thought Smelt was a lot smaller than that.
COMMENT 375350	2013-02-17 09:28 AM
Jacksmelt! Super fun to catch!
COMMENT 375356	2013-02-17 09:42 AM
Smelt....& they get ALOT bigger.
COMMENT 375402	2013-02-17 11:41 AM
Good Eat'n, should have kept it.
COMMENT 375426	2013-02-17 12:59 PM
It's not a jacksmelt, it's a topsmelt, Atherinops affinis. They don't get much bigger than that. They are a silverside, not related to true smelt.
COMMENT 375489	2013-02-17 03:20 PM
Smelt like fish, tastes like chicken.
COMMENT 375526P	2013-02-17 07:16 PM
Very funny, 489! Looking at Google images, it sure looks more like a jacksmelt than a topsmelt to me.
COMMENT 375546P	2013-02-17 08:51 PM
Find something better to do than hook little fishes and rip them out of their watery environment. Catch and release still causes harm. Smelt/chicken, har har. Thanks for the good i.d., 426.
COMMENT 375613	2013-02-18 08:32 AM
God put fish in our oceans to entertain us. Fish on!!
COMMENT 375696	2013-02-18 11:02 AM
Absolutely, positively, unequivocally, a jacksmelt.
COMMENT 375719	2013-02-18 11:57 AM
Looks a bit like what we used to call "Ronkidore" or "Ronky's".
COMMENT 375927P	2013-02-18 08:35 PM
Roncador is a name often applied to white croaker, which look nothing like the fish in the photo, which appears to be a topsmelt.
COMMENT 376145	2013-02-19 11:42 AM
Jacksmelt. Confirmed.

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