04-06-2003, 12:41 PM
[cool]Glad the advice on the neoprenes worked for ya. Sorry I can't help ya with the "GEEK" thing. Geekdom is an earned designation, not easily discarded, once achieved. There is no "UNDO' button for that one.
No justification needed for catching suckers...especially on a fly rod. I grew up in Idaho, where trout ruled and suckers were usually either thrown up on the bank to rot...or had their guts stomped out before being released "unharmed". But, to a kid walking the banks of a little stream that emptied into the Snake River, in Idaho Falls, suckers were the biggest fish available, and they loved the "garden hackle" I wadded on my old snelled hooks. They didn't leap or cavort like the rainbows I occasionally caught, but they were big and they were fish. That's all I needed to get my enjoys.
Several years later, on a return trip to Idaho, on a fly fishing only stretch of the Henry's Fork of the Snake, my sunken nymph pattern was accepted by a large sucker that used the heavy current to great advantage. It put up a better battle than any of the large cutthroats of similar size I caught that day, and earned some respect for suckerkind.
On other occasions, I have found suckers on their early spawning runs, as you are doing now, where they congregate in shallow runs, and will often suck up an artificial that looks edible. Hey, when faced with the prospect going fishless on finicky trout, I would prefer to bend my stick on something else than just get a few hours casting practice. And, even though they are not in the same class as steelhead, they put up a decent fight.
I don't know if you have taken any home for the pan, but I have found them to be far better than my relatives led me to believe, when I was a kid. If you prepare them in a way that eliminates or neutralizes the bones, they have sweet white flesh. Over the yaars I have tried numerous recipes for pickling, smoking, baking, pressure cooking, filleting & frying, etc.
In the early colonial days, the annual run of suckers was a chance to harvest a lot of protein for the family food supply. Even today, there are many folks who load up on suckers for both the sport and the eating qualities. But, if you are not going to use them, it's good to show your appreciation for the sport they provide by letting them return to their business...of making more baby suckers.
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No justification needed for catching suckers...especially on a fly rod. I grew up in Idaho, where trout ruled and suckers were usually either thrown up on the bank to rot...or had their guts stomped out before being released "unharmed". But, to a kid walking the banks of a little stream that emptied into the Snake River, in Idaho Falls, suckers were the biggest fish available, and they loved the "garden hackle" I wadded on my old snelled hooks. They didn't leap or cavort like the rainbows I occasionally caught, but they were big and they were fish. That's all I needed to get my enjoys.
Several years later, on a return trip to Idaho, on a fly fishing only stretch of the Henry's Fork of the Snake, my sunken nymph pattern was accepted by a large sucker that used the heavy current to great advantage. It put up a better battle than any of the large cutthroats of similar size I caught that day, and earned some respect for suckerkind.
On other occasions, I have found suckers on their early spawning runs, as you are doing now, where they congregate in shallow runs, and will often suck up an artificial that looks edible. Hey, when faced with the prospect going fishless on finicky trout, I would prefer to bend my stick on something else than just get a few hours casting practice. And, even though they are not in the same class as steelhead, they put up a decent fight.
I don't know if you have taken any home for the pan, but I have found them to be far better than my relatives led me to believe, when I was a kid. If you prepare them in a way that eliminates or neutralizes the bones, they have sweet white flesh. Over the yaars I have tried numerous recipes for pickling, smoking, baking, pressure cooking, filleting & frying, etc.
In the early colonial days, the annual run of suckers was a chance to harvest a lot of protein for the family food supply. Even today, there are many folks who load up on suckers for both the sport and the eating qualities. But, if you are not going to use them, it's good to show your appreciation for the sport they provide by letting them return to their business...of making more baby suckers.
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