Never seen this creature before.

[redLUNDrebel]

Snag this last fall, end of October with jig and minnow @ 20fow, about 20 yds from the shore. What is this? i had to cut the line. Is this poisonous?? st. croix creature

[croix walleye 6]

mud puppy

[mnviking28]

That would be a mudpuppy...it is related to the salamander family. Definitely freaky looking, but I have never heard of them being poisonous. Google Mudpuppy...it will show you all kinds of pictures just like that one.

[reinhard1]

yeah, a mud puppy. i have cought them over a foot long on dead bait and returned them to the water [ice fishing]. they will do y ou no harm. good luck.

[Trucks]

I would run out of the fish house if I caught one of those through the ice. Maybe a dumb question but how does that breath under water?

[harvey lee]

Cute little guy.

[croixflats]

Yep Cute, freakishly cute in a good kinda way.

I have caught quite a few of those but never the large ones. How big was that new buddy of yours be you think. Did you cut the line? I do if I cant shake them off . Tough exterior but so soft inside we are

The big ones dont look so freaky as the little ones.

Dont let them bite you Old wise tails Ive heard after a bite you gurgle on a full moon

[redLUNDrebel]

size was approximate 12 inches.. very slimy. did not try to touch it cause i did not know what it was. When i was cutting the line, it made a barking noise so i got scared even more.. I was going to throw the whole rod and reel on the river when it started barking at me. Next time i will keep it and put in Aquarium with DNR permission of course. LOL

[reinhard1]

mud puppy's or waterdogs can breath underwater with their "gills". they have their gill's outside of their bodies were a fish have them under their gill plates. they also have lungs but live mostly underwater their whole life. i have cought them using dead smelt on the bottom fishing for lake trout. i read up on them a little bit and found that they live to be over 20 years old and can get as large as 16 inches. they feed on minnows,crayfish, snails, and worms. we have cought some that were over a foot long on grindstone lake and it was interesting to see them walk on the ice prior to putting them back in the lake. they do make a little barking noise, and that is how they got the "waterdog" name. good luck.

[DonBo]

Hate those things! I would not have blamed you one bit for throwing your rig down the hole so you didn't have to touch it. YUCK!

Usually when you catch them it is because your jig is too close to the bottom. Never caught one up off the bottom.

[Jarrid Houston]

I have hadc nigths where I have gotten into a mess of them. they do not hurt you. I ususally handle them and just take out the hook. They are soft and slimy but not outto do anything except eat a nice yummy minner....Gd luck!

[archeral566]

caught one of those this year on opener up north last year. i found the slimy thing to be kind of cool