BullHuss

 

you would have to see the mouth /nasal flaps to be sure, (groovey) not sure spot size would be enough

 

Yeah I thought as much but was to keen to put the fish back and get another bait out.

 

I voted LSD as no option for Alcohol.

 

I have seen lots of Dogfish that could have been mistaken for Huss on colouration alone, colour is not a guide at all, nasal flaps are the best guide as Peewit has already pointed out.

Dave

 

It has the look of an LSD.
As stated above, you need to look at the nasal flaps, but that is not the only difference, the whole body shapes are different between the two species, and yours does not look like a huss at all, other than the larger spots.

 

Rock Bass

 

Chesil LSD...very rare down there...well done for getting a few

 

i sometimes wonder if huss and doggies can cross breed.. it looks like it has the markings thats more identified with a huss ..yet the head is not as wide you would expect from one.. i had one a few weeks back ,,it was a big fat thing around 5lb..it had the markings of a dog with the nasal flaps of a huss.....in the end i called it a bulldog..

 

Did it put up a fight or come in like a little bag of spuds?

 

Definitely a dog fish, I've never seen a limited slip differential like that before!

 

Generally if it's wriggling but docile it's a doggie; if it's trying to gnaw your hand/arm off at the elbow it's a huss.
Huss have quite a different attitude to being caught

 

No way of telling from the pic. It has huss-like spots, but that's no guarantee as the markings vary so much.
The nasal flaps are the only way to tell and it's immediately obvious when you can compare the two.

http://lymefishing.org.uk/doggie-or-huss/

 

Put your finger in its mouth. You will be sure within seconds. A doggy wont hurt you whereas a Bull Huss is like a Rotty with tooth ache and a boil on its arse

 

As stated by others they're difficult without looking at the nasal flaps. The one below looking like an LSD is in fact a small huss

 

If the picture below is anything to go by then I'd say the smart money is on a Huss....

 

Do a google search for images of bullhuss and you will see why spot size and patterns are not reliable for identification.

 

Ok I have just trawled through literally hundreds of photos of bull Huss and I can safely say the majority of them, I'd even say 99% of them look like the the one the OP caught, my money is on bull Huss.

 

I guess the bottom line is the fish is away so we will never know.