Mud Dog Questions

[psnapp]

Several years ago I almost stepped on 2 on the Clinch, and oddly enough at the same time. Both were about 10" long, and one was firmly clamped in the jaws of the other. I would describe their coloration as a mottled brown.

Phil

[TNBigBore]

Originally Posted by BlueRaiderFan

If I remember correctly they are our largest salamander.

If I remember correctly, they are the second largest salamander in the world behind the Asian giant salamander which looks like a scaled up version of the hellbender.

[Don Kirk]

As a boy back during WWII, he and a buddy put out a trotline near the mouth of the Little Chucky on the Nolichucky River in Greene County. One night on a 40 hook line they caught 38 muddogs, all about 10" long. He said they fly in swarms, and are better than frog legs cooked in lard. Go figure.

Thanks to all who came by to say hello to Greg Ward and me at Wiliderness Week in Pigeon Forge. We are hotly pursuing the whereabouts of the cane splitting equipment old Ern used in the 1930s. Whatta wonderful find it would be.

[BlueRaiderFan]

Originally Posted by TNBigBore

If I remember correctly, they are the second largest salamander in the world behind the Asian giant salamander which looks like a scaled up version of the hellbender.

Didn't realize that. I'll have to look that Asian one up and take a look.

[T.E.Shuler]

I took pictures of one on the Tuckasegee River back in November. I'll look and see if I can find the pictures. You have to look close but you can see him. He had an 8 inch brown trout in its mouth.

Three years ago on Deep Creek, my little girl was rolling rocks looking for Stonefly nymphs and found a juvenile Hellbender. I was fishing just above jump off rock and she was beside me near the bank on the rocky beach. She came over to me and had it in her nalgene bottle. I put it back unharmed. It was cool to see it and to know they are alive and well. Because of her find, we left that area so that if there were any more in the rocks, we wouldn't step on them.

[Jim Casada]

Eugene--That's the way I've seen most of the water dogs I've witnessed over the years--the white belly of a trout reveals them. The first time I ever reched down in the water to check out the dead trout I was only 11 or 12 years old. When I discovered it was attached to something two feet long that looked like a prehistoric monster I did some serious high stepping. I think water dogs (or hellbenders) are probably more prevalent than we realize, at least in clean streams. They have excellent camouflage and aren't by any stretch readily discernible.
Jim Casada

[WNCFLY]

I have seen lots of mudpuppies in the Tuck. They are some weird looking creatures for sure.