More WV catfish

[WV Sawmiller]

   Sorry, the picture of this morning's catch was so grainy I deleted it. Maybe the next one will be better.

   Put out about 60 or so limblines (bushhooks, droplines, or whatever you call them in your neck of the woods) in Bluestone Lake, where the New River and Bluestone Rives run together above the dam at Hinton WV. All new circle hooks now. 6/0 and 9/0 hooks. Using live bait caught there in the lake.

   Caught a couple fish about 6 lbs total and had one stolen (thief threw him in the boat and cut the line just above the hook) when set them out then 12 fish yesterday weighed 33 lbs, 4 last night while baiting up that weighed about 16 lbs and 12 this morning that weighed 43 lbs (actually I put one little 1 lb flathead in my creek by the bridge). No big fish yet. Biggest this morning was a 7 lb flathead. Had about a 25 lb snapping turtle hooked in the foot yesterday. He was sure shaking that limb. Got him off alive and unhurt although when younger and imprudent I would have been so forgiving.

    I'm liking the circle hooks. Almost always catching the fish in the mouth or lip instead of down in the gullet. They stay alive better and sure a lot easier to unhook them. Sampson is getting hoarse barking at them as I toss them in the boat.

    My son and 4 yo granddaughter Molly, are going to check the lines and help me catch some bait tomorrow morning. Right next to the dam is a calm spot, out of the wind and little bait fish galore. Catch about 40-50 on one nightcrawler. Caught 20-25 with my fly rod and popping bug yesterday. Will be a perfect spot for Molly. Thread about 1/2 inch of worm on a #10 cricket hook and catch them till they knock it off. Set the float 6-8 inches deep and you can usually see them dart out of cover to grab it and rush back nearly snatching the pole out of your hand.

   Got to bag these up to give to an old neighbor couple and for local churches to have fish fries. May even keep a few for me and my wife to munch on every month or so.

[Den Socling]

How the devil did you get the snapping turtle off the hook? They can turn and stretch their necks and snapping beaks in every direction. Sounds scary.

Did you read in the news yesterday about the woman who found a new way of catching catfish? One fell out of the sky and hit her on the head.  Actually, it fell down through tree limbs and they think a bird dropped it's dinner. She sure was complaining about the smell. 

[WV Sawmiller]

How the devil did you get the snapping turtle off the hook? They can turn and stretch their necks and snapping beaks in every direction. Sounds scary.

Did you read in the news yesterday about the woman who found a new way of catching catfish? One fell out of the sky and hit her on the head.  Actually, it fell down through tree limbs and they think a bird dropped it's dinner. She sure was complaining about the smell. 

    First point - very carefully. Fortunately he was not hooked too deeply. I pulled the leg up over the edge of the boat and worked from the inside with a pair of pliers using the boat as a shield.

    I used to fish for them (Alligator Snappers) for meat and had a 75 lber in Albany Ga on a trotline. He bit through an 8/0 stainless steel hook as I pulled him into the boat then got after me. I got up with one foot on the motor and one on the corner of the boat and almost jumped into the lake. He lunged and bit the corner off my upholstered pedestal seat. I finally got around him and got him by the shell behind the head and kept him under control till I got home with him.

    Second point - I had seen the note and assumed that was the case. I've seen birds try to carry more than they could fly with and seen eagles crash into ospreys stealing their fish in mid air.

   Two new things today - last fish I cleaned and started to fillet I found it had broken its backbone about 2" forward of his tail. I guess it grew back with no loss of function and only a lump in the backbone that was harder to fillet around. Was about a 3 lb channel cat and seemed in good health.

    This afternoon while baiting my lines I was fishing for bait and spotted one of my lines moving around in circles like a gar or small turtle on it. I assumed still had a healthy bait on it. Went over to check and found it was a good sized water snake had grabbed the dead 3" bream. When he got to the end of the line he actually tailwalked like a bass on a line. I grabbed the line and tried to pin it with a paddle and fortunately he was not hooked and ripped the bait off and escaped. I have caught herons, owls, and other odd things but first time ever know of having a snake on the line.

   Did pick up 2 more channel cats about 3 lbs each from the time I baited till I got back to the landing.

[Den Socling]

 "I used to fish for them (Alligator Snappers) for meat and had a 75 lber in Albany Ga on a trotline. He bit through an 8/0 stainless steel hook as I pulled him into the boat then got after me. I got up with one foot on the motor and one on the corner of the boat and almost jumped into the lake. He lunged and bit the corner off my upholstered pedestal seat. I finally got around him and got him by the shell behind the head and kept him under control till I got home with him."

I would have peed my pants and would have jumped out of the boat screaming like a girl!
                               

[Czech_Made]

I stock my pond with cats, good eating 

[WV Sawmiller]

   Special treat this morning when my son and his 4 y/o daughter Molly came with me to run my lines. Sean would net this fish then Molly would drag them in the boat so they were "her" fish. Sampson would bark at them (He only barks at catfish - not other types). We had 6 that weighed about 20-22 lbs I'd guess. Then we went to catch bait and Molly caught about 40-50 tiny bream on her brand new 10' crappie pole. Her dad only caught 6-8 and Grandpa didn't catch any so she was a proud little girl bragging to everyone.

    I baited up tonight. Had 10-12 hooks that had been vandalized - someone cut the lines either to steal the sinkers and hooks or just because they were angry to have them hanging where they wanted to bass fish or such (even though the lines are completely legal, marked and checked regularly). Folks from Ohio are down and put out lines in between mine so that could help chase other thieves away. I met them and talked a bit and told them I was going to take mine up tomorrow but if they wanted to run them another few days I'd leave them out for them to tend but they declined. I had one 3-4 lb flathead when I came back tonight after dark and saw one of their lines had a fish on it.

   I gave away the fish I caught yesterday to my housecleaner for her church to have a fish fry. We do that 1-2 times a year. For planning purposes I tell people to figure about 1/3 lb of catfish fillets per person for a real good fish fry and that has proven pretty accurate. So 30-35 lbs of fish fillets will easily feed 90-100 people at a proper southern style fish fry. Some people will eat lots more, many will eat less but when you add the fries, cole slaw, baked beans hush puppies, grits and dessert, etc. that works real well.

[thecfarm]

Just fish and fries please Sir.    Heavy on the fish part too. 
Sounds lke the kids are having a great time. Sampson too.

[WV Sawmiller]

Just fish and fries please Sir.    Heavy on the fish part too. 
Sounds lke the kids are having a great time. Sampson too.

   Fish and fries are a good start but baked beans is always a good add-on. If you were in central Fla swamp cabbage (heart of sable palm) was a common side dish. Took me a while to develop a taste for it but I sure wish I had some (oops - last time I said something like that a benevolent contributor sent me 1/4 bushel of green peanuts for boiling which we are still enjoying). I very seldom fix hushpuppies but they are expected in most cases.

   Sampson had a good time and I let him bark at coons last night. They are all over the banks eating wild grapes hanging over the lake and some kind of wild berry like a French mulberry. One big old coon was chewing on a carp carcass at the edge of the lake. When Sampson barked at him he scurried up a tree but took the carp with him.

   I took up my lines this morning. Had 10 fish but 2 were small flatheads now residing in my creek under the bridge. The other 8 probably weighed 30 lbs or so. Have a five gallon bucket of fillets downstairs to package up tonight. I'll go again the end of the month or early October when my 86 y/o mom comes out for a visit. She loves to see a green limb shaking with a big catfish on the line. Molly told us she is going too and I suspect she will. She already has her seat picked out in the boat (the fold up seat with a fish on it - I had never noticed till she said so yesterday) and a pole with her name on it. Guess I will have to write "Great Grandma" on another pole for Mom.

[Czech_Made]

Catfish from my pond 

[WV Sawmiller]

Catfish from my pond 

(Image hidden from quote, click to view.)

   Nice flathead. Did you stock them or did they naturally occur there? (I've seen fish in remote ponds where no stocking occurred. I'd heard speculation wading birds may transport them on their feet when they fly from one pond to another with eggs stuck on their feet.) Most folks stock channel cats and I had not heard of many people stocking flathead catfish. I have caught them on my lines up to about 42" long and had them that same length weigh anywhere from 19 to 35 lbs. When they reach a certain length they just seem to start getting a bigger head and belly.

[Den Socling]

I've heard the same thing. Birds stock fish from eggs sticking to them. It must be true.

[WV Sawmiller]

   

I've heard the same thing. Birds stock fish from eggs sticking to them. It must be true.

   When I was working in Cameroon in Western Africa we visited a set of twin lakes in a volcanic crater. The locals called them the Male and Female lakes. They had superstitions mankind walked out of the female lake. It had tilapia in it but there was no stream feeding it so I can only assume that is how they got in there. They said the male lake had no fish but I could not verify as it had sheer cliffs and no easy way down to it. The lakes were separated by a tall ridge that was only 10-12 feet wide at the top. You'd have thought they were fed by the same source but I was told you would find different water levels in each (Not sure how you'd verify that either).

   The female lake had a beach and locals watered their livestock, fished, swam and such there.

[Den Socling]

What was your job?

[Czech_Made]

Thank you:)

I buy fish from Fish Wagon every few years - cats and minnows. The Fish Wagon comes to the Coop several times a year.   There must been some cats left from previous owner, since I buy channel catfish only.  I heard about the bird migrating fish too - we have a pond next door, water lilies surely spread from that pond to our pond

Catfish from my pond 

(Image hidden from quote, click to view.)

   Nice flathead. Did you stock them or did they naturally occur there? (I've seen fish in remote ponds where no stocking occurred. I'd heard speculation wading birds may transport them on their feet when they fly from one pond to another with eggs stuck on their feet.) Most folks stock channel cats and I had not heard of many people stocking flathead catfish. I have caught them on my lines up to about 42" long and had them that same length weigh anywhere from 19 to 35 lbs. When they reach a certain length they just seem to start getting a bigger head and belly.

[WV Sawmiller]

What was your job?

Logistician. Generally a camp manager which meant different things in different countries. In Cameroon we rented apartments and villas (houses) off the economy then furnished and maintained them (which often included completely gutting and rebuilding them there). A lot of my work was in coordination with security for lighting, razor wire, barred windows etc. In Mongolia in the Gobi desert at a gold and copper mine we built them from the ground up and I ran and maintained them. When I left all new units being built were traditional gers (yurts) built on a heated concrete pad in 4 unit pods with a shared bathroom. In Haiti we built the Embassy and built a man-camp across from the Embassy site on leased Barbancourt rum property. We built a 10' wall, shipped in prefab housing units from Texas in 2 waves on a ferry, prepared the site, set up gensets, built a waste disposal unit, dug a well and setup water storage units, built a company store, laundry, gym, rec centers, mess halls, etc. In Iraq and Haiti we built and maintained military camps including everything  except site security. I still remember getting the midnight call about the Koran burning issue at our landfill in Bagram - was not a pretty site. In Norway I rented, furnished them, handled utilities (electric, internet, phone, etc.), provided transportation (Pool cars fro m Avis), etc.

   Basically the job entailed handling housing and building maintenance issues in support of remote construction and military sites. Every location was different based on what was available to rent or buy, otherwise we had to build it and I oversaw the upkeep and maintenance.

    Basically I built and/or maintained man-camps and housing in remote areas.