Fresh fish for lunch??
- Thread starter 32shooter
- Start date
Nice! Yeah not having any luck finding morels this year either.
gramps
gramps
Nice mess of bluegills!
I was trying out a new Lwt. Fly Rod this AM and they were sure on the feed.
Went looking for morels the other day, one small grey was all I found,,,going back out today.
Terry
I was trying out a new Lwt. Fly Rod this AM and they were sure on the feed.
Went looking for morels the other day, one small grey was all I found,,,going back out today.
Terry
Made the attempt last night to catch a couple of the big channel cats in Tom's pond. We know they're at least in the 7-8# range from seeing them come up for the floating fish food. Haven't found the bait they want until last night.
I made 3 mistakes which cost us a fish. Was using really stinky shad sides for bait and didn't want to get any nastier than necessary so I didn't cut the bait to size(used a whole fillet about 3"x2"). Used wrong shaped hook about 2 sizes too small. Finally, I didn't check my reel's drag and it wasn't tight enough to properly set the hook.
Had a BIG fish on for about 5-10 seconds and then gone. Pretty sure it just had hold of the bait but didn't get hooked. On the plus side, we finally found a bait the cats would even look at.
In the mean time while we were fiddling with the catfish, the Grandkids caught 10-12 bluegill about like the ones in the OP's pic and 7-8 small bass.
I made 3 mistakes which cost us a fish. Was using really stinky shad sides for bait and didn't want to get any nastier than necessary so I didn't cut the bait to size(used a whole fillet about 3"x2"). Used wrong shaped hook about 2 sizes too small. Finally, I didn't check my reel's drag and it wasn't tight enough to properly set the hook.
Had a BIG fish on for about 5-10 seconds and then gone. Pretty sure it just had hold of the bait but didn't get hooked. On the plus side, we finally found a bait the cats would even look at.
In the mean time while we were fiddling with the catfish, the Grandkids caught 10-12 bluegill about like the ones in the OP's pic and 7-8 small bass.
Well I never met a Channel Cat that didn't like chicken livers. You don't need to set the hook the Cat will swallow the bait 99% of the time. Best eating size is 1 1/2#-2# fry whole or a 3#-4# filleted and deep fried :wink:
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I live on the Mississippi River. We have channel cats and I've tried cooking them a couple of times. Man were they fishy. How can you guys possibly each them? What's the secret? Last time I tried cooking one, I had a bite. My wife had a bite and the dog ate the rest. Tasted like a dead one laying on the beach in the sun smells. I'm not a big fish eater, but I'll stick to walleyes.
skeeter said:
You already stated what the problem is. The Mississippi River. For a Catfish to be good it has to be the right size, feed the right food like a protein base, and been in the right type of water. The same rules pertain to most fish.
I have caught Walleyes/Dory form the Clear lakes/rivers of Northern Canada and they are outstanding. A properly raised and prepared Channel or Blue Cat is just as good. Must be why they are farmed so aggressively. :wink:
Colonialgirl
Hawkeye
Wyandot Jim said:
Best bait I ever found for Channel Cat was a Locust; went fishing in the Caney River in B'ville when I was in High school and caught some of the biggest fattest Channel Cats I had ever seen and everyone of them had a gullet STUFFED with Locusts.
graygun
Hunter
Colonialgirl said:
We used dough and grated parmesan cheese for cat in a stocked pond in the 60s.
That looks like a very nice catch!
I caught mine on a fly, fishing with a ultra light spinning outfit and a very small split shot approx. 8" up from the fly. I didn't have any live bait so I had to improvise. Caught this mess out of my parents farm pond, enough to make them several meals and also gave some to my Mother-In-Law. Did fish Mosquito Lake last weekend with my Brother. Ended up with 110 gills and a handful of perch.T.A. WORKMAN said:
The morels are starting to show up. When I dropped the fillets off at MIL house there was a small bag of morels in her fridge. My BIL found some and dropped them off for her. She arrived home today from Florida to a fridge with morels and blue gill fillets. Might go to her house for supper.
Great Gills. I spent MANY MANY hours catching gills and sunfish in the city park pond. The pond of probably 20-30 acres was spring fed and crystal clear. Even though they had a city pool we would swim in the pond a lot. Ice skated on it in the winter. Great to be a 50s kid and do stuff like this. They also had some Bass and Channels in it. What a thrill it was to catch a big fish. They also had a few big Goldfish/Carp. If you were lucky enough to catch one you could take it to the Hardware store and get a $5.00 bill for a prize.
By the way this was in Wyandot County,Upper Sandusky, Ohio
By the way this was in Wyandot County,Upper Sandusky, Ohio
Jim, My Son lived in Upper Sandusky for a short period of time while doing his internship with the Upper Sandusky PD. We still stop in there on occasion if we are passing through to grab a bite to eat at Mugsy's. Will have to look for the pond next time I am there.
Well A small world for sure. The pond is in the city park. For a small town of 4500 the park is outstanding. I have a lot of found memories of fishing, swimming, softball games, flying U Control model planes, and just being a kid. A shame kids still can't just roam the parks and streets the way we did.
So where do you live??
So where do you live??
I am close to Millersburg,(20 miles south of Wooster) in the middle of Amish country. I have always lived in the country so I never roamed the streets although we did play on the one in front of the house at times. I have two grandkids and you have to wonder what it will be like for them the way things are going.
skeeter said:
Just out of curiosity, how did you prepare them? I'll assume you started by skinning them.
:mrgreen:
I lived in Mansfield when I got out of the USAF in 1961. I met my wife where we both worked. I also fished in the lakes around that area. Nice country.
In a small town like Upper Sandusky the country isn't to far away . I had a lot of friends in the country that I would ride my bike to go see. Try doing that one now 
I worked on small farms while in high school among other jobs.
Jim
In a small town like Upper Sandusky the country isn't to far away
. I had a lot of friends in the country that I would ride my bike to go see. Try doing that one now I worked on small farms while in high school among other jobs.
Jim
Ale-8(1) said:
Not the right way that's for sure
Wyandot Jim said:Ale-8(1) said:
Not the right way that's for sure
That's my impression, but I thought I'd ask.
:wink: I started with a 1-2 lb fish. I filleted it and skinned it. I've even bled them and soaked them in milk. I then breaded them and deep fried them. I'm not an idiot like you guys project. No one eats them around here. That may also be because we have walleyes. I marvel at you southern people that hold cats in such high regard.
skeeter,
Go back and reread my post where I praised the walleyes.
I'll bet it might be a we bit hard to get them in the middle of January. Or do they farm raise walleyes in the frozen North?? :wink: :wink: I can have some outstanding Mississippi FARM raised cats tonight from Kroger's that is 10 minutes away. Yea I have to pay $3.00-4.00 a lbs. for fillets.
Go back and reread my post where I praised the walleyes.
I'll bet it might be a we bit hard to get them in the middle of January. Or do they farm raise walleyes in the frozen North?? :wink: :wink: I can have some outstanding Mississippi FARM raised cats tonight from Kroger's that is 10 minutes away. Yea I have to pay $3.00-4.00 a lbs. for fillets.
Skeeter, not everybody can cook fish, but it sounds like you did it "right", all right. Guess I have never eaten catfish from the Mississippi, but I have dined on walleye from that same source and found them to be great.
Growing up in southeast Iowa we ate tons of channel cat from the Des Moines and Skunk rivers and they were really good. The other "inland" Iowa rivers produce good fish, as well. And of course the farm-raised ones are good, if a little bland IMHO.
Guess the Mississippi is simply too polluted, even if the good walleyes do come from there.
:mrgreen:
Growing up in southeast Iowa we ate tons of channel cat from the Des Moines and Skunk rivers and they were really good. The other "inland" Iowa rivers produce good fish, as well. And of course the farm-raised ones are good, if a little bland IMHO.
Guess the Mississippi is simply too polluted, even if the good walleyes do come from there.
:mrgreen:
skeeter said:
No problem.
The walleyes/Dory I caught were about 20-25 miles South of Val-d-Or Canada. We had to drive on 25 miles of bush road to get to the lake/camp site that we stayed at for 6 days. Drank the water from the river and ate a lot of Dory. went there with my Canadian neighbors while working in Montreal. We ate a bunch of them and they are outstanding fer sure. We also caught trophy Pike during the day 24-36"+) and would catch dinner on the way in
VonFatman
Blackhawk
Those fish are NICE. So much fun to catch too. Especially when on the nest!
It can be hit 'n miss with morels. We managed a few bags. It was good in an area we hunt as the cool weather had stunted the grass and visibility was pretty good...my grandson out-finds me regularly. Young eyes half as far from the mushrooms. He's good at it.
Bob
It can be hit 'n miss with morels. We managed a few bags. It was good in an area we hunt as the cool weather had stunted the grass and visibility was pretty good...my grandson out-finds me regularly. Young eyes half as far from the mushrooms. He's good at it.
Bob
Nice bunch of morels. TitanX, thanks for the link. I am going to try to grow some.
gramps
gramps
Fatman, Those look big enough that I might even be able to find them. Jim, I have been to Canada fishing a number of times. Have been doing a fly-in trip the last number of years and the fishing is fantastic. There are days a person can catch over 100 walleyes. Here are a few pics from last years trip. I have been fishing almost exclusively with a ultra-light spinning outfit with 4lb test braided line, the pike was caught on the ultra-light.
WOW Looks like a great trip and a nice Pike. My favorite way to fish is with a 5 and 7Wt. fly rod or a spin cast with 4# test line. A 10-15# Bonefish on the flats will really get your attention. They can run out 50-75 yards before you can say WAHOOO.
