Good points, all. And I see the pendulum has swung for a few folks.

Maybe cutting this thing open might reveal a few more clues. Any resident experts out there on fish ID based on the number of pyloric caeca?



I didn't count 'em all but the one thing that struck me was the SIZE of the caeca. Rather than the 1-2" spaghetti strands we're all used to seeing in river fish, these were HUGE.... the size of half-cut green beans! Serious digest activity going on, for sure. And look at the size of the stomach! Hard to believe there could be that much digestive capacity in an 8 pound fish!