Fished at Cascade from Thursday through Saturday. Only fished mornings and evenings, but the perch were fairly hard to come by. Had a few streaks where I got a few, but most of the time was pretty bleak. I did catch quite a few suckers on Thursday evening. I caught about 15 in around 3 hours along with about 10-12 perch. All were caught near the smaller island just south of sugar loaf island.
Catching the suckers was actually very enjoyable in that they were great fighters and I was catching them on my ice fishing rod. I've never tried eating sucker and don't plan to, so they were just culled. The biggest missed the state record by about 6 oz or so. Weighed out on my scale at 8 lbs 1 oz.
Also found a few bass near the same island on Friday night. 3 of them were better than 17 inches and they were also great fighters. One had a big lump in it's stomach so I decided to keep it to see what it had eaten. When I cut the gut open all I found was eggs. Turns out the spawn isn't completely over. Made me feel bad to think that I kept it and prevented it from spawning, but I can't take it back now.
Also saw a giant crawdad on Saturday. It is the first I've seen in Cascade (doesn't surprise me to find out there in there, but I had been wondering). I'd estimate that it was around 10 inches long or so. Looked like a small lobster.
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That is the biggest sucker I've seen in a long time.
The fish are pretty good sized too.[angelic]
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Speaking of suckers........ Dude, Dude, you're not getting one!
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[quote Untangler]That is the biggest sucker I've seen in a long time.
The fish are pretty good sized too.[angelic][/quote]
x2 [sly]
Matt
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I fished cascade Friday night and Saturday morning. the night bite was good, but Saturday was tough for me. We caught a few in the 3 pound range and smaller but nothing big. I really think that the "SUPER MOON" had the bite a little off. normally do ok from 5am to 8am, but not Saturday. Never tried for perch. Looked like the bass tourney guys were having a tough time as well, seen a lot of running and gunning. That's my 2 cents.
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Those are huge! That must have been an awesome fight on an ice rod.
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We use to catch them as a kid, my friend's dad ran a meat locker in the town I grew up in and they had a big smoker, he would smoke the suckers for us once in awhile, man they were good. [
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Back home in Iowa we smoked carp and some pickled carp and both were very good so I would think that good sucker meat would also be good. By good I mean as with carp, you would want them from cool or cold water not warm otherwise they are soft and it seemed to change their flavor to a strong fishy taste.
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I have smoked carp from Willard Bay a few years back but I think the suckers from the good cold water of Northern Wis. tasted better, but I was a kid back in the early 60's so what did I know[unimpressed]
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We smoked a carp and a sucker a few years back. They were winter fish from clean water so we figured we try it. Both were edible but the sucker was down right good. We couldn't eat that much carp so I took it to work and it got polished off in no time.
has any one ever tried smoking a catfish i have always wanted to but never have
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This thread has already mutated, so here goes. I Found this on the Fish and Game Recipe Forum.
Originally posted by chefwhofishes
This recipe came up today over on the float tubing forum. It is Tubedudes personal recipe for smoked catfish. It is a great method and recipe from an obviously talented chef and fisherman. I hope he doesn't mind me posting it here!
I hate to take all the fun out of smoking for ya, but I don't do marinades anymore. Many long years ago in California, while working as a semi-guide for a steelhead/salmon outfitter, I picked up on the QUIK-N-EZ smoking system. Some of the clients would come in with fish they wanted to take back smoked, but did not have time to wait for the brining, slow smoking etc. Old Al Kutskey...a legend in Northern California (long since gone to the "happy fishing grounds"...had a system for turning out great smoked fish overnight. I have adapted it to other species, and it works especially well for catfish.
1. Cut large fillets into chunks no more than an inch thick...or wide.
2. Spread them on paper towels and pat the upper surface dry with another paper towel.
3. Sprinkle a fair amount of kosher salt (not iodized table salt) all over the surface of the fillets.
4. Follow with a similar layer of sugar. Regular white sugar will do, but brown sugar adds flavor.
5. I like spicy. I have a mix of 3 parts black pepper, 1 part cayenne pepper, 1 part garlic powder, 1 part cumin and 1 part Mexican oregano. Increase the cayenne pepper if you like fire. (Goes great on meats and other foods too). Season to taste.
6. Allow to set for an hour or so at room temperature. The sugar and salt will draw moisture out of the fish and form a glaze on the fillets.
7. Slow smoke 4 to 6 hours, to infuse the fish with the smoke and cook the flesh. It will still be soft if your smoker is not set too high. I use a little chief and I like to "hot smoke" them for a shorter period.
8. When there is a good smoky glaze on the almost done fillets, remove them to an aluminum foil covered cookie sheet in the oven. Slow bake at 175 degrees until they dry to a semi-jerky consistency.
NOTE: Proper "brining" should be done whenever you want to effectively "cure" the fish, as well as smoking it. The salt helps preserve it longer. I smoke batches that do not last too long anyway. If I don't eat it, I usually have plenty of help. My "buds" are used to sniffing as they walk in. If they smell smoked fish, my supply gets reduced before they leave. It will hold up a couple of weeks in the refrigerator...if it lasts that long.
ALSO: The type of wood you use makes a big difference in the end product. I have experimented with just about everything you can imagine. As long as you don't use wood with too much resin (bitter), you can at least eat the fish. I have come to prefer hickory for most smoked fish...especially trout, salmon and whitefish. I also like hickory for cats, but have turned out a couple of outstanding batches using the mesquite chips I usually use on beef and pork. Apple and cherry are popular with many smokers, and they do put out a good product. Aspen is also used, but not to my liking. Don't even think about pine, unless you like the taste of turpentine.
The one distinguishing characteristic of catfish...especially the big ones...are that they take a lot of cooking to finish them off. In the fryer, you have to leave them until the moisture content is reduced and the pieces give a final little shrink. In the smoker, same thing. Don't serve underdone catfish, or you will notice a distinct catfish flavor. Fully cooked, it is good. Underdone, it is objectionable to some, and the reason why a lot of people who have tried catfish do not like it.
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