After work and taking care of my chores I still had some daylight so I changed my ice poles over to summer mode. (Switched reels to my long poles instead of the short ones) anyway the sun was still up so I ran down to Cutler west of my house. Not a favorite spot, but close. As I got there along a shallow slough I seen all kinds of fish action, jumping and making waves. I knew it was carp, but hey I don't have any fresh bait and the contest is about to begin. So I crawled over the fence and casted out a night crawler on the bottom with a slip sinker rig. On the other pole I threw out a tandem pair of jigs tipped with crawler under a bobber. Shortly after I went to work trying to find a jig hit I got a bite on my bait pole, rared back and laid into it..... Swing and a miss, set it back down and a couple minutes later repeated the process. Bout then my memory kicked in and I remembered I can't hook those stinking catfish on a bottom rig, so I put a bobber on the line and casted back out. That was the ticket, went right to catching fish. Only problem was they were yellow bellies. But I'm claiming them as a skunk breaker. Didn't want a third skunk in a row so I'm good now. Ended up catching a half dozen in an hour and missed several other hits. Only one hit on the jig and I missed it. Fun night and good to see the fish biting. Later J
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Dang good for nothin' Yellow Bellies.
I'd rather catch nasty carp and that is pretty bad.
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I'd rather carp too, they are great bait and fight like a champion. Hey did you see Mikes invite to a northern cat team night fishing flotilla? I think you have been suggesting something similar so it looks like there are a few of us that will do it. Later J
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Any fishing invite is good, especially if it's chasing kitties.
I used to fish with Ben a lot before he moved out of state, and we had some good cat-fishing outings.
Let me know in advance when Mike wants to schedule this. Sounds like a blast!
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Sounds fun to me as well... Been talking to friends that have put LED light strips in their boats under the sides so it keeps the inside of the boats lit, but not over bright or in your eyes... Think I want to try that on my boat... Plus my old lights will eat my battery by morning so I think I need to get LED marker lights as well... Going to start working on that so I'll be ready... I guess the head lamps work if I don't get done in time... Monsters are much more scary in the dark anyway... Later J
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Hey fish are fish.
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Hey don't knock 'em till you try 'em!
Wrap 'em in foil, bake on a fire, a little seasoning.
Tender and flaky. Or you can chuck the fish and lick the foil.
Asian's make up a soup or stew, just toss 'em right in!
"You serious, Clark?"
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[center]YUMMERS!
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My thoughts exactly at this point I'm just glad to have a bite. Later J
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good for garden fertilizer??
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Hey I like bullheads. They always seem to be a little more willing to bite in March for me than big channel cats. No shame in that game and I like eating them too. Thanks for the report and pictures. Lots of great ways to prep those critters for the table.
On a side note, I think it is funny how different parts of the country call different species of fish "yellow belly." Back in my stomping grounds, a lot of guys called yellow bass a "yellow belly." There is no limit on them and a lot of anglers considered them a trash fish. I've also heard yellow bullheads called yellow bellies as well as even some folks calling female bluegill a yellow belly brim. But hey, what do us Southerners know! [
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If I catch a bullhead that is 11" or bigger then I will keep them too. They taste like a catfish just like the rest of them.
I think most people look at them as a pest while they are fishing for other species, myself included, but if I catch a decent sized one I'm happy to keep I and have it for supper. I used to go for bullheads intentionally at pineview for years because they were usually pretty good sized, and when I cooked them alongside the perch I caught everyone liked them just as much.
Mike
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I actually have some hungry cats that stole them before I got the tails filleted... Sneaky sneaky kitties.... But they were so small it wouldn't have made much of meal at all... Later J
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Guess I kind of slipped back into my childhood fish names... As a kid they were always yellow bellies before they became mudcats and eventually bullhead catfish... So I guess I slipped form the politically correct name...
And they are fun to catch when the channels won't bite... I ran down again tonight at 6:00 ish and fished until a little after dark again... It was slow at first, but after the sun went down the bites cranked up... Ended up with 8, 2 lost at the bank and missed about two bites per fish I caught... So it was fast and fun for a while... Kids would have loved it, but the action was mostly from sundown to 7:00 so it was a small window... Tried them around 11:00 this morning but never got a bite in 40 minutes..... So I think they wait until things warm up before they get very active... Guess I need to try a new spot, two days no channels.. time to move on... Later J
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Hey no shame in the "fish name game." I called every fish in the sunfish family (except for bass and crappie) a brim until I was an adult and actually studied up on all my favorite fish species. All in good fun man. Hope you had some good eats.
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Hey thanks, it was fun for a short window to get out and wet a line... I think I need to get down to Willard though, those wipers look like a lot more fun than the bullheads.... Would be fun to know you still had a fish on after you started reeling... Some of those cats were so small, the only way I knew I had a fish on was the ultra light rod I was using... Anyway thanks for the well wishes and hopefully next time we have some real fish to look at... Later J
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Is there enough meat to make it worthwhile filleting them?
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I have fileted some but it reduces the meat available for eating. They are delicious just skinned and cleaned battered in 1/2 cornmeal and flour and fried crisp to well done in oil 1/4 deep or so. The meat easily come off the large boned skeleton, no pin bones to even mess with.. They are my mothers favorite fish and when I keep them that is where they usually go.
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