Hornyhead Fish Festival

The Newborn Schoolhouse would like to invite you to join us for a fun-filled day of activities. We will have vendors selling everything from homemade crafts to Direct Sale Company items, food, a car show, music and, of course, our annual fishing tournament. The Annual Newborn Hornyhead Fish Festival and Tournament is the biggest event all year in Newborn and this year promises to be bigger and better than ever.

All anglers are on their own for the Hornyhead Fishing Tournament.  Once you have registered online you do not need to come by the schoolhouse prior to going fishing.  Please find a stream or creek (see fishing map) and please be respectful of private property.  Either ask permission first or find a public stream.  All fish must be caught on April 27 and must be turned in for judging by 12:30 p.m. so fish anytime between 12:01 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. but remember your fish must be alive and only bring your best fish in for judging.  Judging is by length and then number of horns.

Helpful hint: Hornyheads are bait fish, frequent rapidly moving water in creeks and streams, hide among the rocks and have tiny mouths.  So you'll need a tiny hook.  Rumor has it worms make great bait.

Curious about where the nickname Hornyhead came from? According to Kelly Rudell at Peach State Fish (*****-heads" target="_blank">https://peachstatefish.com/2017/11/20/*****-heads), during spawning season, a good portion of males in the family Cyprinidae (carps & minnows) grow tubercles mainly concentrated on their heads- aka hornyheads! These tubercles are nodules that are made out of keratin, just like our nails. The main use of these tubercles is to attract a mate, surprisingly, but depending on their size and placement on the body they might have different functions. Some scientists think that the smaller ones that can extend down the body are used as mechanoreceptors to help “feel” for a mate.

Bluehead Chubs’ heads swell up during spawning season and their tubercles are on the larger side. These are for show: to impress the ladies and scare off other males. This species of freshwater fish is a hopeless romantic. Bluehead Chubs build nests then guard them to impress the females. The most fascinating part is that the nests are built from gravel that the males pick up and carry in their mouths. But not only is that cool, Blueheads will go out of their way to find every last piece of gravel in a creek if there isn’t an abundance of that substrate.