Fishing Forum

[font "Comic Sans MS"][#0000ff]I had a pretty good two days of whitefish fishing on Bear Lake last weekend. I thought I would share with you some pictures that I took after I had gotten home.[/#0000ff][/font]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][#0000ff]On Friday, I fished with my neighbor “Vic” and JiggyJus10 of BFT. I just found out today that JiggyJus10 posted this interesting (to me) video of some of our whitefish fishing events. We had doubles and cuts. One thing you must understand though when watching this video is that when I am fishing on an early schedule (which is most of the time) lunch for me is at 9:00 a.m. and my nap is at noon. (RDRRM8E knows what I’m talking about [:p]).[/#0000ff][/font]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][#810081][size 5][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/videos/Freshwater_Fishing_Videos/Other_Freshwater_Fishing_Videos/Whitefishin_1406.html"]Click here to see Justin’s video.[/url][/size][/#810081][/font]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][#0000ff]On Saturday, I fished with Roghet and his son.[/#0000ff][/font]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][#0000ff]When I got around to filleting the whites a couple days later, I set up my backyard redneck fillet table:[/#0000ff][/font]

[inline Redneck-Fillet-Station.gif]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][#0000ff]After a while, I got to the big one that Roghet had caught. Since it was pretty big for a white fish, I figured I would take a picture of it:[/#0000ff][/font]
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[inline Fattie-w-Fillet-Knife.gif]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][#0000ff]She was quite the big Birtha:[/#0000ff][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#0000ff]She measured 20.5 inches and weighed 4 lbs. 2 oz.:[/#0000ff][/font]

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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#0000ff]She was a half inch over the state C&R record and a half inch under the state catch & keep record.[/#0000ff][/font]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][#810081][size 4][url "http://wildlife.utah.gov/fishing/recfish.php"]Click here to see the state records.[/url][/size][/#810081][/font]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][#0000ff]Here are some of those whitefish fillets before they hit the smoker:[/#0000ff][/font]
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[inline Fillets-in-a-Tub.gif]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][#0000ff]Here they are after the smoker and all vacuum packed ready to take for snacks while fishing:[/#0000ff][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#0000ff][/#0000ff][/font][inline Smoked-Fillets.gif]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][#0000ff]I have to tell you Roghet, I sure am looking forward to eating that big Birtha of yours. I plan to enjoy her for lunch tomorrow. Mamma Coot is fixing my lunch for work as I write. She is making a tuna fish sandwich but she is replacing the tuna with smoked whitefish. That sounds pretty good don’t it?[/#0000ff][/font]
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Not having caught so much as a single whitefish before - I had no reference. So perhaps that makes me... almost famous after the fact?? (Anybody speak Latin, is it ex post facto?) Anyway, so close, but yet so far. []

The ones I kept were baked with Cajun seasonings and were good eating that way too. I'll have to taste some smoked some day. Until then, maybe we'll git 'em again next year! I'll catch 'em, and you invite me to dinner. [laugh]

It was a memorable day, and we can't thank you enough for the trip. I think I'm almost caught up on my sleep... almost.. [:p]
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Good on ya Coot! Would a been cool if U would a got the record, U deserve it.
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Great Job Coot my friend. I'll try to get up there next year for that action.
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Nice catch! They boil whitefish in Wisconsin using Dutch ovens and open flame. I hear it is phenomenal. A friend of mine calls it "poor man's lobster." Have you ever tried it? How is the whitefish catch through the ice at Bear?
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"Poor man's lobster" : )

The only other time I've heard that term was refering to Crawdads. Funny to know other meanings.
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That mighta been my monster 'dad to which you refer the reference. [] (added PIC)

Coot - you're awesome to take these guys out. Maybe someday I can partake the honor. I'd love to see that GPS thingy after Curt told me about it. Awesome!
He said you had some issue with the trailer length vs boat length, and you were thinking of parting with your new boat - sounds like you've managed to keep her floating.

Nice fillet's - almost look as good of some of Pat's Carp fillet strips! [shocked] - red neck cutting board. Love it!

So Roghet - no smoked fish sushi? Gotta get me a vaccuum sealer someday - that looks like a great way to package 'em up.
Do you marinade or rub before smoking? Some of TD's superspice maybe?

Haven't watched the video yet but look forward to it. Thanks JiggyJus10 for taking it. We gotta meet up at Pineview one of these days and see what we can find!

Thanks for the followup.

[#0000ff]"He said you had some issue with the trailer length vs boat length, and you were thinking of parting with your new boat -"[/#0000ff]

Not really. There is one thing about the boat that does bug me ... how far out the kicker has to hang. I hope to fabricate something this winter to get it to mount closer in. But as far as the trailer lenght and bunks and stuff, that has all been fixed. I added two more bunk supports and repositioned the original two and now it is spot on.

[#0000ff]"Do you marinade or rub before smoking? Some of TD's superspice maybe?"[/#0000ff]

That is exactly right (well almost). I do use a rub and it is just a slight modification to the rub recipe TubDude uses. I really like it. Thanks TD.
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Oh, something I was meaning to mention too. Recently (this week) BearLakeFishGuy (BLFG) from right here on BFT was working with Adam Eakle to do some video of the annual whitefish run at Bear Lake. I highly suspect that it will air this Saturday night at 11:00 on channel 2. I plan to record it and watch it Sunday. I suspect it will be quite interesting and informative as they usually are.

I think that BLFG is a fish biologist and works for the DWR as the Bear Lake Fishery Projects manager or something like that (sorry Scott if I butchered your title).
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[cool][#0000ff]Nice post and pics ol' buddy. Looks like you have really become a "smokeologist" of the first order. Have you used up all of your new supply of hickory dust yet?[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Just another vote of admiration for BLFG. He had a hip transplant last week and is already back at it. He needs to wear an "S" on his chest. Whatta guy![/#0000ff]
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TubeDude wrote:

Quote:Have you used up all of your new supply of hickory dust yet?

Nope ... just scratching the surface of that great 50 lb. mail order product. Thanks for turning me onto that too!

Man I sure have learned a lot of stuff from a lot of guys here on BFT! What a great resource for everything fishing.
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[quote CoyoteSpinner]
So Roghet - no smoked fish sushi? Gotta get me a vaccuum sealer someday - that looks like a great way to package 'em up.[/quote]

Alas, I am smoker and vacuum sealer challenged as well. [frown] (Though I don't know of a commandment that says it's wrong to covet those specific things - so I'm thinking I'm OK. [:p]) I'd like both one day.

I also learned first hand of those "Y"/pin bones when I fillet mine. I Googled to find out how others did it, but it's still hard to not loose some meat. And I can now understand why smoking is a good way to go for whitefish. I did my best to cut off some of the dark brown flesh/fatty parts, and the white part of the meat is pretty mild, but the dark stuff can be pretty strong. []

But as other/better fisherfolk keep reminding me, I can't learn everything in a day. But I will keep trying to expedite the process. [sly]
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haha the John Deere makes it all the better.

Gotta say I would love to go out fishing with you all sometime. I'll cover expences and you cover teaching a new fisherman : )
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