Papermouth (Barbus mattozi) Information And Pictures

The King Of Small Fish: The Papermouth (Silver Fish)

South Africa is home to such a diverse amount of freshwater fish species. There are a lot of smaller fish that occur in South Africa's fresh water systems and the Papermouth is a great example of a thriving small fish. In South Africa the Papermouth is occasionally referred to as the Silver Fish. Generally the Papermouth is quite small but they can attain a weight of 1.4 kilograms and reach about 40 centimeters in length. These large Papermouth often prey on the smaller Papermouth (Silverfish). The smaller Papermouth are also preyed upon by the Sharptooth Catfish (Barbel) and are regarded as good live baits for these hard fighting fish. Largescale Yellowfish are also predators of the Papermouth. Papermouth prefer large pools in cool perennial rivers, however they thrive in large dams and man made weirs. The Papermouth feeds upon plankton, lily seeds and insects. They live for 9 years and when they reach maturity at 3 years they migrate upstream with the first rains of the summer to spawn...

How To Catch The South African Papermouth

The best place I have found to catch Papermouth is at Loskop Dam. Papermouth are real suckers for almost any lure, jig or soft plastic imitations. By far the best way to target these Silverfish would be on lure, with a small plastic lure or spinner. Papermouth also take mealie kernels on small hooks and the bigger ones will occasionally pick up Carp baits. These fish are really fun to catch and its a good freshwater fish to let the kids catch. They can become a nuisance when you are targeting bigger fish on lures or bait. All in all the Papermouth is a great angling species and live bait!

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