Thread 4997881

I was in Daytona, Florida, in shallow warm water, when a very large fish swam close to me. It was about 6 ft long and dark coloured, even black.

At first I thought it was a shark, but I didn't notice a large dorsal fin. Another swimmer said it was a dolphin but it was too dark for that.

Is there such a thing as a massive catfish that likes warm Floridian water?

>>4997881 (OP)
Did it have a really long jaw or whiskers? If the former it was probably a Gar, if the latter a Cat.

>>4997885
It was probably a catfish then. I just didn't know they could get that big.

>>4997881 (OP)
were you in the ocean or the river

>>4998354
Daytona beach. Ocean. Quite shallow.

>>4998361
then it wasnt a catfish, they wouldnt be hanging out in full saltwater.
if ti was really rough and craggy looking and had whiskers, it was probably atlanic sturgeon, if it wasnt and smooth, couldve been dogfish or an actual dolphin

>>4998367
Now that I think of it, it's tail was vertical not horizontal so it couldn't be a dolphin. Also it was pretty much all black.

>>4998370
Was is a fat fish, or sleek?
Might have been a grouper.

>>4998380
Quite slender. No more than a foot or so across.

>>4998381
Barracuda? 5-6 feet is about the largest they get, but they are very sleek.

>>4998385
Scary.

But then again, it was black.

>>4998387
?

>>4998389
That's the one! Boy was I lucky it just wanted to swim around.

Brown Recluse

>>4998387
Cobia?
They're around Florida and can get to 6.5 feet long.
Many pics of them will have stripes but those show up during spawning, otherwise they're pretty dark.

>>4997881 (OP)
It was a sturgeon.

>>4998606
Looks about right.