PATRON + The run of the Red Horse – an Alabama fishing experience that no longer exists
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If it is the same Red Horse that lives and thrives in the Cahaba River, then “Red Horsing” may not have been totally lost. It has been practiced in Centreville (Bibb Co.) since I know of as early as the 1920’s, and currently done today. I have never heard of the people here using a gig, only ever heard of, seen, and used a piece of piano wire or guitar string attached to a pole, often cane pole, with a slip loop on the other end and a weight on the bottom of the loop. You then ease up behind the fish as he’s navigating the shoals to spawn, slip the loop over his tail, and lasso him in a sense. That is the type fishing called “Red Horsing” that is still practiced today here in my small town.
The Cahaba was/is one of the few rivers in Alabama that flows freely to the Gulf. Never damned but for low water fords and the occasional agricultural partial dam. The run of the “Red Horse” was an event that would practically empty Bessemer as many shops and offices would be closed and the men would rush to the Cahaba leaving only a cryptic sign on their business ” Closed Red Horse Running “
What kind of fish is the “Red Horse” ??
The article indicates they are a saltwater run fish however commonly throughout north and south, Redhorse are a sucker of the Moxostoma genus (and freshwater only). There are several Redhorse and they sure do make spring spawning runs however their numbers have been reduced in most parts of the country. This is a “Greater Redhorse”https://www.flickr.com/photos/10362071@N03/10098484223/
Thanks Uland , you are the man !! The salt water connection had me confused.
Well, common names are a mess and fish population do odd things. It’s possible they are talking about a saltwater fish of the same name. It’s also possible at one time a population of Redhorse thrived in brackish water? But seeing as what we call today Redhorse sure do have large spawning runs, I’d bet it’s just an error in the article.
The Red Horse I’m familiar with is a type of Sucker that often rolls on the top of the water during spawning season. I’ve caught them in many creeks that had no connection with the ocean above their dams.
We have a run of the River Red Horse in the Tributaries of the Tennessee River each spring
What kind of fish were they?