iDRY Vacuum Kilns

Sponsors:

Catfish time in WV again

Started by WV Sawmiller, September 12, 2018, 10:45:10 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

WV Sawmiller

Cavey,

 Thanks for the diagram. Looks like that should sure help get a hook out. I may try making me a small one of those to unhook my baitfish and help keep them alive. I get very few gut hooked catfish now since I started using circle hooks.

  BTW - a Nile Perch and a Tilapia are very different fish. Tilapia remind me of a bluegill and are very good eating. In Africa we got lots of Nile Perch too and the French name was usually El Capitaine when you saw it on the menu if I remember correctly. Nile perch can be very large fish and are lots longer and more like a sea trout or striped bass or such.

    Good luck in Hydrilla Lake tomorrow. Send pictures.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

caveman

Locally, a lot of folks erroneously refer to Talapia as Nile perch.  As a young boy, while visiting my maternal grandparents in Mulberry, we would snatch hook them using surf rods.  As a teenager, we found that they would eat floated pieces of bread, especially around residential docks where the residents fed fish.  These things pull like five pound shell crackers when they are hooked on 6lb test line on an ultralight reel.

Anyway, back to catfishing.  Thank you for sharing the tip about using soap as bait.  With all of the times I had my mouth washed out with soap as a child, I just never expected it to be an effective bait.  
Caveman

WV Sawmiller

   The best fish I believe I ever ate was in February 2008. It was some Tilapia cooked outside on an old tire wheel with local made charcoal with a heavy piece of wire for a grill. Was in a little fishing village next to a power dam lake in Cameroon in West Africa. The lady cooking and selling them had scaled and gutted the fish but left the heads on. She scored each 3 times with a sharp knife on each side to let the steam out and rubbed them with locally made peanut oil and a seasoning called Maggi cubes. They cost about $.25 each and she served them to us on a piece of old used cement sack. We sat on a raised concrete sidewalk till a storekeeper running the local pharmacy ran out with a little 3 legged stool for my wife. Becky spotted a local vendor selling fresh tomatoes so I went over and bought her several and she munched on them as her side dish.

 I saw local fishermen in Ethiopia catching them with cast nets. They were usually floating around on little Papyrus rushes rafts throwing to likely spots. One guy had what looked like a raft made from kids old styrofoam surf board and a truck inner tube with his feet dangling in the water. The lake was full of crocodiles and I always wonder how many did not come home. He'd throw his net, take the fish up and bite them hard in the head to kill  them then he'd put them in an old nylon feed or rice sack.

  I guess the catfish smell the oil in the soap. The soap will swell 4-5 times its original size and get real soft. Dad liked it because all he caught was catfish. I think old Octagon soap was the start. I don't even think they make Camay which was nearly all we used. It cut better than Ivory. A big bath sized bar made 45 baits. It did not matter what color it was as all bleached out. You wanted to buy it from a big grocery or department store who sold a lot so what you got was fresh. Dad made a soap cutter out of an old U-bolt and guitar string kind of like a cheese cutter to slice through it.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

samandothers

Might be a bit challenging to be in the New River right now.

WV Sawmiller

   Yeah and the local flooding will fill the Greenbrier and the water from NC coming down will fill it above the dam. The New and Bluestone run together above the Bluestone Dam (COE type dam) then the Greenbrier joins the New about a quarter mile below the dam. The typically shut the gates to let the Greenbrier flow then, ideally, by the time the Greenbrier starts to ebb they can open the gates so they don't get water from all three at the same time.

  I know I am glad I got my lines out and recovered before all this got so we have plenty of fish for Saturday.

  Earlier you mentioned cooking the catfish whole. We were so used to eating 4" bream and getting a small pinch of meat off each side that if we had a 1/4 lb catfish he was easy to eat. In fact my mom and grandma would fry them real brown and eat bones and tails and all. I remember catching them on a small river out of a canoe between Beaufort SC and Savannah Ga when I was at Parris Island. We catch 100 or so on a pole with raw shrimp and nothing over 1/3 lb I'd guess. They were a pain to remove as small one always have sharper spines and easier to get hurt on a little one than a big one. They were very good eating though.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

caveman

We left work early (teacher work day and we have worked about 15 days straight).  Jimmy, a long time friend and coworker was catching good fish flipping a blue crawdad.  I was enjoying the trip.  He nailed two that were in the 4-5lb range.  I caught a 2 1/2lb flipping.  Did I mention that it was hot?  The low last night was 85°F and today it was in the mid 90's. 

 

 We got to the pit around 1:45 p.m. and fished until around 5 p.m. ( I had a call about a lame show hog and another with a rectal prolapse-day in the life of an ag teacher).  Jimmy caught a huge softshell turtle while flipping a crawdad.  Initially he thought he had a bass of a lifetime.  He has caught bass over 12 lbs. fishing with me.  This turtle probably weighed over 35lbs.  We let it go.  They taste good but are a pain to clean.

I caught a couple of fish on a chatter bait.  One was in open water and the other came right at the boat ramp as we were about to take the boat out.  I have caught a lot of good fish at the ramps over the years.  The holes made from folks power loading their boats seem to hold fish.  Jimmy took a couple of pics of some of the bass.  My phone is full and will not hold any without me deleting some.  Jimmy is in blue.  These were actually pretty good fish but the pics do not do them justice.  The five best ones we landed today would have been in excess of 20 lbs.
Caveman

samandothers

Good job and nice break from the work!

WV Sawmiller

Cavey,

   Looks like you guys had a good time. Glad to see it.

   I am drooling about that softshell turtle though. The last one I cleaned was many years ago and it was a piece of cake. I stuck my knife in the notch on the underside of the shell near his tail and wiggled a little from side to side till I hit the seam and it opened up like sliding a zipper then I just cut the meat out from the inside. We'd fry them like chicken. I keep kicking myself for all the ones I threw back as a kid but my mom did not know how to cook them.

   Mostly I fished for alligator snappers. They are a lot harder to clean but there is a lot of meat on one. 

    I usually keep a bass rod in the boat but rarely use it. Many years ago I decided bass fishing was getting to be like work so I went to ultra-light. A half lb bluegill on an ultralight rig fights like a 5 lb bass on medium tackle and there are a lot more half lb bluegills out there than 5 lb bass. If I had bass fishing like it looks like you guys have I might have to rethink that.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

nativewolf

Really enjoying the posts WV.  Good stuff and Thanks!
Liking Walnut

WDH

Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

Southside

Your son did a really nice job on that building.  There were numerous buildings like your old barn on our place before we bought we bought it, I have seen a couple of photos and found some of the buried evidence.  But the place was empty for a while, went through a bankruptcy, and then a squatter, sold, re-sold, so the buildings one by one were dismantled, bulldozed, or just burnt.  I have a couple of roofs that were pushed off of the buildings just sitting along the edge of fields.  They actually make decent cow shelters so I have left them there for now.  The worst part was a year or so back I found out that several of the old buildings were filled to the rafters with circular sawn walnut lumber, been in there for decades, thousands upon thousands of feet of it.   >:(
Franklin buncher and skidder
JD Processor
Woodmizer LT Super 70 and LT35 sawmill, KD250 kiln, BMS 250 sharpener and setter
Riehl Edger
Woodmaster 725 and 4000 planner and moulder
Enough cows to ensure there is no spare time.
White Oak Meadows

WV Sawmiller

 Southside,

  Thanks. Yeah, I am real proud of them and it makes a great tool shed. It is pretty well insulated so for several years I have used it to hang deer in the winter when it is below freezing so the meat can still be cut up.  I can leave a light or two burning in there and it knocks the chill off enough it won't freeze.

   Let us know how all that black walnut you found turns out for you. Sure sounds exciting and I know you were thrilled to find it.

   We went back on the lake yesterday to take our Tuscon AZ house guest out to see and photograph the birds and such (She is a birder - I tell her a bird brain). First thing I found was my trailer tire was flat again but at least I was at home with a handy jack and electric impact wrench so not a big job to change. Left at local service station and picked it up today - had got dirt and grit in the seal and they just cleaned and re-sealed it and seems to be holding air.

    First thing we spotted on the lake was the level had been up about 10' from Florence and other recent weather systems. Lots of floating grass hung up in the bushes that high and such. The flooding did help remove a lot of that. The lake is still up but was sure a lot higher.

   We spotted several adult bald eagles. One let us get within 15 yards to photograph. We left it on its perch. Lots of blue herons and we watched them catching fish. Several kingfishers, a couple of osprey, one young this years's eagle, lots of little green herons, and even an otter swimming the river. Coming from the desert Evelyn had a real good time and looks like we will take her out again before she has to return to Tuscon next week.  Saturday and Sunday look real good as to the weather reports.

   I did run along a rock wall on the Bluestone River just above where it merges with the New to make the lake. I saw a lot more green bushes along the bank than I thought were there and the next time I go catfishing I am going to experiment and put some lines out there. The rock bank is sheer and a couple hundred feet high in areas. It looked like it could have lots of potential.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

Southside

Quote from: WV Sawmiller on September 26, 2018, 10:17:43 PMLet us know how all that black walnut you found turns out for you. Sure sounds exciting and I know you were thrilled to find it


Maybe you missed the part about how they "were filled" as in past tense, and sadly before I owned it the status changed....There were also a bunch of antiques here too - my wife was bummed about that, me not so much.
Franklin buncher and skidder
JD Processor
Woodmizer LT Super 70 and LT35 sawmill, KD250 kiln, BMS 250 sharpener and setter
Riehl Edger
Woodmaster 725 and 4000 planner and moulder
Enough cows to ensure there is no spare time.
White Oak Meadows

WV Sawmiller

   Our 6 y/o grand daughter Molly came and spent Friday and Saturday night with us and we had good weather scheduled so I scheduled a fishing trip with Grandpa. I caught a dozen nightcrawlers in the yard for us to use to catch some bream for catfish line bait. We got up yesterday and ate breakfast and went down and collected 50-60 minnows and chubs out of our creek from my minnow baskets. That was where the fun started getting Molly to help get the minnows out. We started for the Bluestone lake and before I got half  mile Becky called and said our friends and my fishing buddy from Jacksonville NC were stopping by so sounded like a perfect timing. Molly and I got down to the rock pile where we catch our bait. We used 10' crappie poles with #10 cricket hooks and small pieces of nightcrawler. I guess we caught 50 or so small green sunfish and bluegills. Fishing with a 6 y/o is always a hoot. Molly would throw out and get tangled in my line and if I caught a fish she would claim it since her line was there too. She caught one fish and I asked his name and she said he was Marlowe. I don't even know where she heard that name.

  I ran across the lake and put out a dozen or so bushhooks. I try to place them near sunken trees and had one on a vine right beside a tree. I know the tree top is full of crappie and bluegills and figured ought to have a big catfish or two there. I had to tie to a vine because no good limber limb. I was not sure I could even get one out of that spot but figured it was worth a try. I put a couple dozen lines along a high rock bank on the Bluestone river side where I had never fished for catfish as a experiment.

 After our friends got here and we had dinner Grayson and I went out checked and baited lines. We caught 5 fish that weighed 30 lbs total. Biggest was about 10 lbs channel cat. We got home about 9:15 pm and put the fish out in my creek on a stringer. I figured they were too big for a coon to haul off and hoped we were too close for  bear to get them.

 We got up this morning and checked our lines. My line tied to the vine had a 23 lb flathead catfish. We had 6 more fish that weighed 27 lbs total so we came home and cleaned and filleted fish for 2-3 hours. The 5 in the creek were all feisty and full of vinegar. So that was 80 lbs of fish in about 12 hours.

 When we got home and showed the 23 lb flathead to Molly I told her I put Marlowe on a line and look what came and ate him. She was real happy knowing her bait fish caught the biggest fish. When our son came to get her she had to tell him all about her trip.

  Tonya and Grayson had to head on back to Jacksonville and took all the fillets and Tonya took 3-4 feed sacks full of black walnuts with her. She is a blast to be around and Grayson is lucky to have her.


 
Grayson and I with 23 lb flathead on the hook and 27 lbs in the net with 30 lbs more in the creek behind us. Sampson did a great job barking at them all.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

samandothers

Quite the fishing story,but a true one.  Glad Molly had a great time.  Sounds like the friends went home with some great viddles!

WDH

That was a whack of catfish.  If I come see you, I will request fried catfish and hushpuppies ;D. 
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

WV Sawmiller

Sam&,

    They were up for a weekend visit 11.5 months ago and I put out lines and Grayson and I caught  125 lbs of catfish in 2 nights with biggest about 19 lbs. Molly's older sister Abbie went with us on that trip. Time spent in the outdoors with our kids and grandkids, really any kids, is beyond measure. The little unexpected things they say and do constantly amaze me.This weekend was definitely diamonds for me.

Danny,

    I have an embarrassing confession - I don't make good hushpuppies and the few times I cook them they are usually the frozen ones. Our typical fish fry includes baked beans, cole slaw (Cabbage/onion/mayo with a pinch of sugar), and either grits (Plain or cheese) or sometimes tater tots. When you come to dine with us that will likely be the fare to expect. Tomorrow's menu is likely going to be a baked 3 lb smallmouth that was convicted of stealing one too many bream off my lines today. He has promised never to do that again. 
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

WDH

OK, I do good hushpuppies.  I can take care of that part ;D. 
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

samandothers

Quote from: WV Sawmiller on October 07, 2018, 10:10:09 PM
Grayson and I caught  125 lbs of catfish in 2 nights with biggest about 19 lbs.

And the fish story grows!  :D
That is a whack of fish!  You are good.  

WV Sawmiller

Sam&,

 Actually, I posted that trip last year on this thread as reply 63 too .  
any fisherman here? in The Outdoor Board

  I went yesterday and caught most of my bait with a fly rod hoping to catch a few larger bream for bait. I baited up and put out a few more lines near spots that had produced well and finished baiting up near dark then ran the lines in the dark one time and picked up a 5 lb channel cat I staked out in the creek overnight. I also caught a 3 lbs smallmouth bait robber which I cleaned last night and we baked and ate for lunch. About daylight I went back and took up my lines. I picked up 7 more fish that totalled about 52 lbs. Biggest were a 11 & 10-1/4 lbs flatheads. Biggest channel cat was a little over 7 lbs. Total for 2 nights fishing was 140 lbs with biggest being the 23 lb flathead.


 57 lbs that range from 4 to 11 lbs.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

DPatton

Nice catch. :) :) :) Just ain't nothing better eating than flathead catfish. I didn't get out on the river one time this year and I sure do wish I had about 20 lbs of flathead in the freezer.
TimberKing 1600, 30' gooseneck trailer, Chevy HD2500, Echo Chainsaw, 60" Logrite.

Work isn't so bad when you enjoy what your doing.
D & S Sawmill Services

WV Sawmiller

   My wife is a retired school teacher and she and her friends and us spouses get together every month for a luncheon in a local restaurant or at someone's home. Yesterday we hosted it here at our home and had a fish fry and fried up a bunch of these catfish. The ladies bring an additional side dish or dessert, we fix the cole slaw and grits and the fish. We all ate too much and everybody took enough home to have another meal at home. It really was good fish.

  I have a big pot made from an old Freon bottle I bought at a Flea Market in Albany Ga nearly 40 years ago that I use with a 3 legged propane fish (Turkey?) cooker to cook lots of fish quickly. I typically add 3-4 quarts of vegetable or corn oil to the pot, coat the fish with a 50/50 mix of corn meal and flour with plenty of salt and pepper, put the meal mix in a gallon zip lock bag then add fish and shake well till coated and fry till golden brown and dry enough in the center that my wife doesn't yell at me as she hates under-cooked fish.

   Another trick I learned a long time ago to cook a little ahead of the crowd's arrival and keep the food hot and moist is to take my ice chest, line it with newspaper then paper towel and when I take the fish out of the oil I put it in the ice chest. People think about ice chests keeping things cold but they will also keep hot foods hot and moist.


 My old fish cooking pot - cooks a lot quickly and does a good job of it.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

WDH

I could stand some fried catfish :)
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

WV Sawmiller

Danny & DPatton,

 Come on out. I'm making a fresh batch of baked beans to go with the leftovers. If you don't get here before they are gone I bet we can find another pack in the freezer and we'll fix you right up. ;D
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

DPatton

Quote from: WV Sawmiller on October 26, 2018, 10:06:47 AM
Danny & DPatton,

Come on out. I'm making a fresh batch of baked beans to go with the leftovers. If you don't get here before they are gone I bet we can find another pack in the freezer and we'll fix you right up. ;D
Thanks for the invite WV Sawmiller! :D :D :D Danny that's a little bit closer for you than it is for me. Please don't eat it all before I get there. 
TimberKing 1600, 30' gooseneck trailer, Chevy HD2500, Echo Chainsaw, 60" Logrite.

Work isn't so bad when you enjoy what your doing.
D & S Sawmill Services

Thank You Sponsors!