Who's ready to go fishing???

[freekforge]

here is a few from today.

 

[HICKMAN]

Yak is in the back of the truck, ready to hit the honey hole after work... unless it's storming.

 

[Frosty]

My last day of vacation spent fishing, it was a good bite today until it started to storm. Got into a nice mess of bluegills and bass. Lost one bluegill to a copperhead that grabbed it when I dropped it back into the lake, right at my freakin' feet! I saw a catfish so stinking big he looked like a small seal swimming around! Couldn't get him to bite though.

 

[bwframe]

Is all that your litter or a "gift" from someone else?

 

[freekforge]

That was a gift from our fellow "outdoors men" it was unbelievably aggravating.

Went again tonight fought a cat for about 25 minutes only to have it snap my line. Landed 6 fish all together. Got before and after shots of one of em.

 

[jmiller676]

First time on local water last night.

 

[mom45]

First time on local water last night.

Nice!! We took a ride on the motorcycle yesterday and found a new lake to try. The one we have been hitting was treated yesterday for weeds and the sign says no fish consumption for 30 days. Hubby went without me today as I have another commitment this morning. I hate when I see litter all over, especially when it is from fellow fisherman like bait containers and stuff. It is not hard to take it home with you or put it in the trash...that really gets me that people are so disrespectful.

 

[lovemywoods]

My wife and I did some fishing yesterday. Caught 45 bluegill and one small bass.

 

[mom45]

My wife and I did some fishing yesterday. Caught 45 bluegill and one small bass.

Looks like some good eating. We've caught a few bass this year, but none at the 14" length required to keep them. I prefer to eat the bluegill anyway so bass are usually catch and release even if they are over 14".

 

[lovemywoods]

Looks like some good eating. We've caught a few bass this year, but none at the 14" length required to keep them. I prefer to eat the bluegill anyway so bass are usually catch and release even if they are over 14".

The bass in the picture clearly isn't over the required 14" size, however, these fish come from a private pond. In fact, all bass caught in this pond under 12" are culled in an effort to reduce bass over-crowding and stunting, a common issue in smaller waters.

 

[mom45]

The bass in the picture clearly isn't over the required 14" size, however, these fish come from a private pond. In fact, all bass caught in this pond under 12" are culled in an effort to reduce bass over-crowding and stunting, a common issue in smaller waters.

That makes sense. I bet the smaller ones are better for eating anyway. I like mild fish...not the strong tasting ones.

 

[jmiller676]

I get off at work at 1 today, then my dad and I are hitting the water.
The USS Slab Master will have it's second deployment of the year.
Gills and Ears, ALL ABOARD!

 

[freekforge]

Went at 1930 and stayed until about 2130 and caught 9 fish mixed species. This guy is takin a dirt nap

 

[1911ly]

Went at 1930 and stayed until about 2130 and caught 9 fish mixed species. This guy is takin a dirt nap

What's that Ethan? A carp? A buddy on mine came over one day with some fish his mom had made. Said try this. I did, and it was great. I asked what was it? He said buffalo fish. I said I had never had it before. He said you'd know it as carp. The way his mom cooked it made it taste like catfish. I have to say it was awesome. His momma was a southern black woman that could cook!

 

[freekforge]

Im not very good at cookin fish for some reason. I tried cooking a few catfish last night and was extremely disappointed in my work. I plan on trying a few recipes for carp in the future just not tonight. It will help feed more people as fertilizer in the garden than me cooking it so i dont feel too bad. Wish i had a bow or spear i saw quite a few along the bank but could only get this one to bite. I might try to go back tomorrow and catch some more. When fall is closer i will start catching them and keeping them for coon bait too.

 

[WebSnyper]

The boy and I went out for a bit this afternoon. Caught several largemouth between a black spinner bait (gold single blade) and a Rat-L-Trap type lure (shad coloration).

This one in the pic below was the best bass... a few minutes after this I hit what I thought was the biggest bass I had ever caught, but turned out to be a channel catfish (no picture unfortunately) that probably went 9 pounds. Catfish hit the black spinner bait as I pulled it over a dead tree and the water exploded, and then he spit it, but snagged the channel catfish in the back. Between it being good size and being hooked the way it was, that catfish doubled the rod and was taking drag on my baitcaster like crazy. Finally got the catfish in and was able to get it loose with some pliers and let it go.

All in all a good day. The bass were hanging in the shadows on the west side of the lake under heavy weeds and were hitting the baits slow enough that you could just see them suck in the spinnerbait.

You'll have to excuse the floppy hat, have to do that as I don't want any more skin cut out of my face if I can help it.

 

[freekforge]

Went for less than an hour tonight and caught 6 fish. These two were just down right fun reeling in, they weren't the biggest I caught but they were energetic and jumping out of the water all the way in

 

[Zoub]

Im not very good at cookin fish for some reason. I tried cooking a few catfish last night and was extremely disappointed in my work. I plan on trying a few recipes for carp in the future just not tonight. It will help feed more people as fertilizer in the garden than me cooking it so i dont feel too bad. Wish i had a bow or spear i saw quite a few along the bank but could only get this one to bite. I might try to go back tomorrow and catch some more. When fall is closer i will start catching them and keeping them for coon bait too.

the fish in your other pic are burned. Your oil was too hot, over 300 degrees burns the oil and in turn everything you cook in it takes on a burned flavor. Get a good heavy pan, add oil and warm slowly on a lower heat and use a good temp gauge like one use for a turkey fryer. When you hit 300 add some fish. The oil temp is still rising but will drop when fish are added. I prefer to use a cast iron pan on a gas burner with canola oil. Canola has a higher burn temp so it is a bit more forgiving. A shallow depth of oil heats up surprisingly fast, go slow and learn your combo of cooking equipment and how it reacts.

To make fish taste less fishy, soak in salt water for an hour or more before cooking. Don't do it with oily fish like Salmon and "fishy taste" is relative but if you think a certain species of fish tastes too fishy, soak it in salt water.

 

[freekforge]

Yea i was playing aroind with the temps. the fish in the pic was cooked atabout 310 but i was using just straight vegetable oil so it was pretty ugly. The part i was disappointed in was the fact that no matter what i did i ended up with a tastless piece of meat. I had catfish my aunt cooked pretty much the same way and it was strong and delicious mine was tasteless not even really a hint of fishiness.

 

[bwframe]

A lot of factors go into cooking good fish.
How long did the fish stay in the warm topwater? Cutting board? Serious meat fishermen get their fish on ice immediately.
Saltwater soak?
Any yellow meat?

In my experience, even with perfect handling, wild caught catfish can vary in flavor a lot due to circumstances beyond what we may know. What their diet is, water temps, oxygen level, habitat, water quality, etc. may be factors.

Cooking any other way than frying, I prefer Cajun seasonings with a bit of cayenne.

Frying :

Hard to beat one of these:

350 degrees with enough clean premium frying oil to not loose temp much. You are looking for a quick surface seal.
Fish surface needs to be just moist, not wet, and very lightly breaded with nothing more that white cornmeal breading. As close to uniform sized pieces as possible.
Remove when golden.