Speaking of TN records, ever caught this?

[bigluresonly]

I was looking through the TWRA state record fish list and noticed this record--
Atlantic Needlefish - 1.6 oz - Pickwick Dam Tailwater - J. Wesley Neal - September 30, 2008
I had no idea you could catch a needlefish in TN. Anyone ever caught one?
I caught this one last year fishing the river jetties in Mayport FL.
Prehistoric little fish, there are 8,634 little teeth crammed in that snout!

 

[RUGER]

Wow, very cool.

 

[Bone_Chaser]

If I did catch one I likely would have assumed it was a young gar.

 

[easy45]

Nope, never

 

[Rollo]

yeah, all those teeth make you think twice about getting your fingers close to your lure to remove it from it's mouth. I got nicked by one in December and it's like playing with a wiggly cactus. Wouldn't want to tangle with one that weighs over a pound!

 

[choupique]

They've been slowly spreading upstream after coming through the Tenn-Tom canal, along with a couple other Mobile Basin species (i.e., weed shiner). They can be pretty abundant out in open water of the lower Tennessee and Cumberland, but if you think skippies are bad about repeatedly hitting a lure and not getting hooked, these guys are masters!

 

[7mm08]

And you're still trying to get the stick off your hands from touching it!!!! We catch one or two In Beaufort every fall. I didn't know were coming upstream.

 

[Timber Ghost]

I am more impressed with the fact that you could count all those teeth so accurately.

 

[Sucarnochee]

Is that a "ballyhoo"? Use to troll with them for billfish in gulf. Just wondering if same thing.

 

[choupique]

No. Ballyhoo are halfbeaks, upper jaw is much shorter than the lower.

 

[TX300mag]

I've caught a lot of them in Galveston Bay. Caught one I'm pretty sure in NJ Steamplant several years ago.