weekend kitties

[catmaster23]

Hit the marsh Friday and Saturday afternoon for a couple hours. Ended up being pretty good. Landed a couple 27s a 26 and the rest ranging from 22 to 25. Also caught the ugliest cat I've ever seen. Kitty time is upon us!
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[not-a-purist]

Nice fish. Finally starting to act like spring...
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[SkunkedAgain]

Nice outings, guess I need to try later in the days the mornings have been really slow. Good report thanks. J
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[Boatloadakids]

Saw those cats posted on the contest page... very nice.

Aaa... you are aware that Yote changed the rules this year so there is no up-grading??? Post your best three cats and you're done....................[]

We'll have a few southern cats posted soon.... if the weather will just warm up a bit.

Nice goin' and keep 'em coming.

BLK
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[catmaster23]

Gotta say you made my heart stop for just a sec. Dirty bugger I actually had to read the rules! Guess using dynamite is out Hope you can get out soon.
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[SkunkedAgain]

Okay ya got me too, had to go read the rules.... Nicely played... J
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[lavaman]

Very good...

The North will prevail (again).

I've been catching them, but they're not over 22", and they're few and far between. I'm just in the wrong areas My go-to spots aren't producing this year (yet).
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[setthehook]

You have given me a reason to get back out there!
And try and catch a bigger one .... Nice cats!!! Well except for one!!
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[catmaster23]

Heck yeah! Went out after work ended up with 3. Two good ones and a pup. Lost one of the bigger cats trying to pull it out using the line instead of lippin it. I gotta stop doing that crap.
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[lavaman]

That big one is nice and healthy. They been eating well!
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[CoyoteSpinner]

[quote catmaster23]Gotta say you made my heart stop for just a sec. Dirty bugger I actually had to read the rules! Guess using dynamite is out Hope you can get out soon.[/quote]

Must not have seen the Patriot. NEVER trust a Southerner to play by the rules! That's just not Cricket!

I encourage reloading. I'm still not going to bother bumping a 22 for a 23.

PS: He's just jealous! Maybe I should draw up the first graph. Not exactly "histogram" material. I'll give it till month's end.

[icesore]

I see the ear buds in and just wondering what good kitty cat music is.
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[catmaster23]

No music this trip, just the podcast of today's DP show.
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[SkunkedAgain]

That one looked pretty good, did it bump any of your others off your list? Later J
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[SkunkedAgain]

Hey Lava, know you didn't ask me, but on that eating question thought I'd pipe in. Tried a nice fat pretty one last week. Filleted up very nice and I didn't have time to fry it up so I smoked it. Bad mistake, it was very fishy and not in a good way. Don't know why but it wasn't my favorite for sure. Think I'll go back to releasing all of them. Or fry them for fish tacos. I'm not a huge catfish fan to start with, but I tried one last summer per TD's directions and really liked it so I was excited to eat this one, but it didn't smoke up as well as I had hoped. Just my take, fish was a 22" female. Later J
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[lavaman]

Thanks for the chime in. Ya, I hear the smaller sized Channels (and most all species) are better eating than their bigger friends. I'll have to try catfish again, it's been too long.
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[CoyoteSpinner]

Did you brine or rub it? How long did you smoke it?

From some of TDs edumications and my own experimentations I've come to learn longer is better for cats. It ain't no Koke or Trout. You gotta let them pups render down. The other key - especially once you get into pound-age of kitty - is to cut out the fatty "grey" line along the lateral. And trim away the belly fat, and the yellow parts. They are the fattiest and fishiest parts. Plus - that would hold the most toxins, if you worry for that.

When I tried TD's smoked kitty I was impressed by how "jerky-like" he'd taken 'em to. They can handle some heavy spice - and I like a good Creole bath for em.

A milk bath for a day or two before smoking helps draw out a lot of "fishiness" too. I'll have to let you try some of my smoked kitty sometime, might change your tune.

I'd say treat them more like Chicken, and you might not be disappointed. This one was baked at 350 for 45 mins to fork-flaky perfection. Tony Chachere's makes some nice spice mix, or if you prefer you can Slap Ya Mamma.

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[SkunkedAgain]

TD told me to cut the fillet into 3/8" thick strips, batter them in a dry coating like pancake mix and spices then fry them in oil. Man that one tasted very good. So don't give up on them just use a little more care in preparing them than what a trout or Koke requires. I think it was the fat I left on this one. Usually when smoking fish I like the fat to cook through the meat it makes them juicier and taste better. That works for the trout/salmon species but not cats. This one was very fat and I thought it would be a good thing but it wasn't. Anyway better luck with yours. Later J
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[SkunkedAgain]

Yote, I brined this one over night with salt and brown sugar, little lighter on salt on this one than usual, trying to cut down a little there... Anyway I think your fat comment is probably right on target... I did smoke this one for 6-7 hours and it had cooked fairly well, not much soft stuff mostly jerky like... Appreciate your tips on the subject I know you have done your share of it so I trust your recommendations... Probably still going to stick with deep frying for now... or releasing since I don't mind more kittens in the pond.... Funny how the cats have seemed to relocate this year I sure can't find many of them yet, but it seems others are really killing them this year... May have to try other waters until the temperatures warm up and stay up... Not sure if this weekend is going to work for Porcupine or not, sounds pretty stormy and I don't like the thoughts of the marginal launch with wet conditions at all... I'll keep watching and see what happens... Maybe cool conditions will slow the run off and Hyrum might fish well this weekend??? Catch ya later... J
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[catmaster23]

Did you leave the skin on that cat you smoked? If you did that's your problem right there. And no the last one didn't make the list due to some shoty photography. Guess I'll have to try again darnit.
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