Did You know - outdoor edition

[WV Sawmiller]

   Back in my teens I only had a 20 gauge Wingmaster pump to hunt ducks with and I could not buy #2 shot for it so I bought a little Lee Loader hand loader and made my own. That also allowed me to make some double ought and #1 buckshot loads whereas only #3 buckshot was available commercially for 20 gauge loads. 

   I don't know if you can buy tungsten shot for reloading but assume it is out there somewhere. Of course these last few years finding any kind of reloading or black powder or other hunting supplies has been a real challenge and real pricey. I probably have not used my loader in 40+ years.

   I don't know what happens when an Eagle eats steel or tungsten shot. Maybe it passes through their system much faster with little if any harm. 

[JJ]

I know when you bite into a steel shot, your teeth hurt.. I wonder how a beak feels on steel?   the larger diameter and lighter steel doesn't always pass through the duck meat.


     JJ

[WV Sawmiller]

   Did you know that "Shell Pearls" are made oyster and clam shells? The color of the lining of the shell determines the color of the pearl. Shells are sawed into strips like long narrow triangles or thin wedges then sawed crossways into blocks then polished and made into round pieces that are drilled and strung. The wider end makes for bigger pearls while the ones on the little end make the smaller diameter beads. They shine and work just like natural pearls when given the teeth test. I saw white, black, and grey ones and even some with a gold looking tint to them.

   We watched how they made them in a jewelry store in Thailand back about 10-12 years ago while on vacation there. I was stationed in Okinawa all of 1986 and bought a lot for my wife and other lady members of the family while I was there. I bought most of them at the USO on base and hit several jackpots on the 25 cent slot machines in the club one night and immediately went over and bought all the ladies their Christmas presents as shell pearls. (I knew my wife was not going to let me keep the money anyway. :D) I had been mostly buying 8 mm necklaces and bracelets and such and sending them to my wife and I saw some 3 mm ones and threw in a couple of pieces made from them. The smaller ones were much cheaper than the bigger ones. Of course you know which ones the wife liked best. Yep, she loved the little one but only after I had loaded her up on the bigger ones. There ain't no figuring them wimmin out. :

[WDH]

 There ain't no figuring them wimmin out. :

You seem to have been rehabilitated, don't go back there .  Just say No.

[WV Sawmiller]

Danny,

   I say a lot more than no. I get on my knees, I promise I will never do it again, I ask her to forgive me then if she seems to be willing to accept my apology I ask what I did. :

[WV Sawmiller]

   Did you know deer, especially does with young ones nearby, give signals with their tail as to what their mood is. You can watch the tail to see if it is alarmed, content, nervous, curious, etc.

   Apparently bucks do not give off as many signals as they are not keyed to warn other deer in their area.

    I can remember my grandfather talking about shooting at a nice buck and said something to the effect "Then I seen his flag drop and I knew I had him" so one indicator is a mortally wounded deer will tuck his tail as a dying reflex.

   Here is a link to some of the deer tail signals to watch for:

https://www.outdoorlife.com/8-ways-whitetails-communicate-with-their-tails-and-what-each-means-for-hunters/

[WV Sawmiller]

   Did you know that different fish move to different water levels throughout the year, month and even throughout the day based on light, temperature, moon phases, dissolved oxygen levels in the water, food availability, available cover, bottom conditions, and other factors?

 We think of catfish as a bottom dwelling fish but I routinely fill my freezer by catching them on limblines that are rarely 2' and often less than 1' from the surface. We tend to think of them as scavengers but I catch mine on live bait.

 Bass, crappie and bream move into shallow waters to bed in the spring and summer months. Where I grew up in N. Fla I fished old gravel borrow pits and bluegills would bed on the shallow sandy points between April-September and sometimes as early as March and as late as October. I've seen bass and bluegills making nests in water so shallow their tails would stick out of the water in the process. The bream bed (move to and lay their eggs in shallow sandy depressions) on the full moon each month. That was also a good time to catch them at night on a flyrod using a rubber legged floating cork bug. That worked best a few days before the full moon.

 At and after the full moon they got skittish and if you eased over their nest they would actually jump out of the water and hit or land in your boat. That may sound like a good way to catch them but if you've ever had one hit your hand resting on the side of the boat or land in your lap in an area famous for big, contrary cottonmouths you will discover there are probably easier and more comfortable ways to collect your dinner.

 In the Spring and Fall Crappie often feed in 2-4 ft depths while at other times they tend to be deeper.

 High tech modern fishermen use fish finders to determine depth of the water, structure (brushpiles, rocky outcrops, etc.), and even see individual or schools of fish at times. They also use gauges to determine temperature and oxygen levels and such and adjust their fishing accordingly.

[WV Sawmiller]

   Did you know fish eggs are called Roe? Many, if not all, species are good to eat and at certain times of the year some fish are targeted for their row. I remember going to a fish market in Cross City Fla as a kid and dad stocked up on Roe mullet and the roe was preferred over the meat of the fish itself. 

   In summer months I am really careful when cleaning bream so as not to puncture the egg sack. The bellies of the bream will be really swollen. We would meal and fry them just like the rest of the fish. One reason they were preferred was the fact there were no bones. ;)

   I don't remember us ever saving the roe from catfish or even the larger bass. I know catfish had blood filled arteries or veins running through them. Maybe we did not cook them because they were so big it would be hard to get them cooked done. You could not slice them into smaller pieces like you would the fish itself.

   I saw one show where a guy in Louisiana was catching bowfin for the roe to make what he called Cajun caviar so I assume he served to raw.

   If any of you cook and eat the catfish or bass roe please pass along any cooking tips you have learned about it.

[Walnut Beast]

  Did you know fish eggs are called Roe? Many, if not all, species are good to eat and at certain times of the year some fish are targeted for their row. I remember going to a fish market in Cross City Fla as a kid and dad stocked up on Roe mullet and the roe was preferred over the meat of the fish itself.

  In summer months I am really careful when cleaning bream so as not to puncture the egg sack. The bellies of the bream will be really swollen. We would meal and fry them just like the rest of the fish. One reason they were preferred was the fact there were no bones. ;)

  I don't remember us ever saving the roe from catfish or even the larger bass. I know catfish had blood filled arteries or veins running through them. Maybe we did not cook them because they were so big it would be hard to get them cooked done. You could not slice them into smaller pieces like you would the fish itself.

  I saw one show where a guy in Louisiana was catching bowfin for the roe to make what he called Cajun caviar so I assume he served to raw.

  If any of you cook and eat the catfish or bass roe please pass along any cooking tips you have learned about it.

True but if it's from the Sturgeon family it's Caviar 

[Texas Ranger]

We ate the roe from trout we would catch in the cold waters in Missouri.  we would fish in the morning and mom would go down stream to a park area and we would pull out there for breakfast, eggs, trout, trout eggs and bacon.

[Hilltop366]

Herring roe is big business around here, I got some relatives that were in it 30 years ago they got in it and out of it at just the right time it seems, some of them retired in their early thirties.

How most of it is caught.

Video Docudrama #2 Seine Fishing Off Shore Halifax Nova Scotia - YouTube

How it is processed.

Herring Roe Processing Yarmouth Nova Scotia - YouTube

[WV Sawmiller]

   Thanks for the videos. I have several questions and observations as follows:

1. Herring are bigger than I thought they were. (I thought they were sardine sized only).
2. I never knew they harvested the roe out of herrings. (Those looked like pretty nice sized roe and look real tasty.)
3. I did not see anyone scaling the fish but I assume they were run through a scaler before or after they were gutted in the fish processing line.
4. Was that water in the bottom of the big plastic crates they were filling with fish?
5. If someone didn't remember to pick up the fish that fell between the crates that was not going to be a real fun place to work in a day or so.
6. I am reminded again that I never wanted to be a fish monger. :

   Seeing the fish fall between the crates reminds me of an old wood boat Dad used to leave at the local boat landing on the river when I was a kid and before people got so destructive and thieves were so bad. The last thing he would do after a day of fishing was to slip a couple of small bream under the catwalks. I asked him one day why he did that and he said he figured it would make his boat stink worse than the others at the landing so if someone was going to try to steal or borrow one they'd get the other's first. I reminded him that we might want to use it too. I guess since he worked at a paper mill he could tolerate the smell better than others anyway. :

[WDH]

Being a fish has to be very bad. 

[caveman]

A couple of us friends used to run around quite a bit together-mostly fishing.  Jimmy, my current ag teaching partner, was the last of the group to get married, build/buy a house and have children.  He would make it a point to show up while we were building our houses or doing some other laborious tasks to show off his big bass or livewell packed with speckled perch.

After he got married, his mother gave me a key to his house.  We redecorated for him, changed his answering machine, put his boat and truck on the market for sale (he was also a bass guide), pulled all of the labels off of his canned goods, turned off his water heater, pulled line off of a few of his reels, snipped the line and respooled it on the reel, switched the salt and sugar container contents, filled the ice trays with vinegar, hid the toilet paper in the oven, created a dummy to sit on the toilet holding an SKS rifle and to top it off we allegedly placed several large bass carcasses in the livewell of his boat and under the tool box in his truck.

He eventually got over it.  We even filmed it all in Super8 video.  My children loved to watch it when they were younger as all of the participants were wearing masks.  I showed Jimmy a year or so later.  His wife still has not seen it and after 20 years it is still a bit of a sore subject with her.  They were evidently not fans of fish and rice.

[OntarioAl]

Very funny
Remember
Payback is sweetest when served up cold
;D ;D
Cheers
Al 

[WV Sawmiller]

Cavey,

  Sounds like a great trick but I'd be leery of the TP in the oven for safety concerns.

  Okay for today I'm reaching out to our experienced readers for information.

Do you know if circle hooks work well for crappie fishing? I have gone to them exclusively for limblines and catch big catfish on them. I am still not exactly sure how they work but they do! They hook a lot better than my old J style hooks and a big advantage is they hook in the tough mouth/lip of the catfish and it is easier to unhook the fish. But a crappie has such a big, tender mouth I don't know if a circle hook would still hook him and, if it does, will it hold or will it tear out? Any experienced users and if so any recommendations as to hook sizes to use.

  If they work how come nobody has invented a jig using a circle hook? (Is Bill Dance out there reading this thread? If you use this idea and invent a circle hook crappie jig and make a ton of money, I'll send to address to send my check and Jeff can let you know where to send the FF share. :D)

[WDH]

I cannot believe that you are not filthy rich by now with all your almost inventions :D. 

[Magicman]

I cannot believe that you are not filthy rich by now.....

Sooooo, you are saying that he is not ??   ???      :

[Hilltop366]

3. I did not see anyone scaling the fish but I assume they were run through a scaler before or after they were gutted in the fish processing line.

4. Was that water in the bottom of the big plastic crates they were filling with fish?

5. If someone didn't remember to pick up the fish that fell between the crates that was not going to be a real fun place to work in a day or so.

I have never worked in the fish business but my wife worked "cutting roe" in a fish plant 30 years ago so I asked her for more info.

#3: The fish are not descaled, they are processed the same as they come out of the ocean. In the processing they are sorted (male or female) you may have noticed the workers putting some fish in the lower troth without cutting them. Some fish plants have a machine to sort the fish before it gets to the roe cutters.

#4: That would have been chipped ice & water in the bottom of the fish tubs, the tubs are insulated but the ice will melt some before the fish gets put in.

#5: The fish tubs won't be on the truck long, sometimes the fish processing plant will only be down the street a few hundred feet, sometimes a few hundred miles, some fish plants use tanker trailers instead of fish tubs on flat decks.

[WV Sawmiller]

I cannot believe that you are not filthy rich by now.....

Sooooo, you are saying that he is not ??   ???     :

Danny,

Its all in my Accounts Receivable file waiting for various multi-millionaires to get a severe enough attack of conscience to get off their wallets and clear their accounts. It is amazing how long some people can go and how little attention they can pay to those little those nagging little voices in their brains.

Lynn,

 I am wealthy. Just spent the weekend with all 5 grandkids. I was able to show the 3 y/o GD and our 5 y/o GS their first crawfish from our creek. The GS protected his little sister staying between her and the mudbug till it dropped back in the creek. Then last night they put on a show for us with the 3 y/o doing repeat renditions of the theme song to batman. Then the GS did several "shows" the all time best was his moves and version to Twisted Sister.

Your browser is deprecated. Please upgrade.

This morning the 3 y/o was singing it too.

 Then we spent several hours at our son's place where we all attended the 10 y/o's birthday party. You can't buy that kind of wealth with money.

[caveman]

WV, I've never used circle hooks for specks (crappie) but have used them for grouper, snapper, bass, tarpon, snook, and speckled trout (spotted weakfish) among others.  Speckled trout have fragile mouths also and when fishing live bait with inexperienced fishermen, they usually get a circle hook.

I have seen jigs with circle hooks used for tarpon and grouper (several ounces of lead and 6/0-8/0 hooks), but I do not recall seeing any small circle hook jigs.  There is no reason that they should not work.  The hooking action of the circle hook seems to work based on leverage and the turning action of the bent point when there is a steady pull on the line.  Steady pressure seems to bury a circle hook better than a jerk to set the hook as is common with a J hook.  The only time I prefer to use a circle hook is when fishing for grouper in deep water with live or cut bait.

[WV Sawmiller]

Cavey,

   Thanks for the info. I knew circle hooks worked well for fish with a tough mouth and lips but had never heard of anyone using them for tender mouth fish like crappie. I may try some this year if I do any crappie fishing for a change.

[WV Sawmiller]

  Did you know that a crawfish has 10 legs? He has 4 pairs of walking legs with tiny, weak pincers on the end and a big pair of pincers on the front that he uses for tearing his food apart and for defense as they are pretty powerful. Crawfish are largely scavengers and eat dead meat and fish they smell in the water and apparently they eat decaying plant matter.

   I guess I always thought they had 8 legs and did not remember ever counting them till this weekend when I put out a couple of minnow traps in the creek in the front yard to show the visiting grandkids. They were scared of the big "snappers" and were excited to check the traps during the day but pretty anxious to return them to the water once caught. They had no intention of handling them but these were pretty big and probably best that they did not do so till they were a little older.

[Walnut Beast]

Two pot belly pigs take on bear

https://www.avclub.com/angry-pot-bellied-pigs-fight-bear-1848680403

[WV Sawmiller]

   I saw that one and was surprised at the ending.