A Tad Large

  On the Bayou, we fish a lot.  More oft than not, we use live bait.  Buying lures seems as bit senseless as we usually have a never ending supply of minnows swimming about the place.  Usually.  Then there are days like today where I could not catch a single mullet to use as bait.  They were just not here.  I did, however, catch two (yes, only two) of my favorite fish to use as bait...the menhaden.  Normally, I would have settled for two baits just because there is not much use in getting in an uproar about anything especially fishing.  The thing is, I let these two menhaden go free.

  As a rule, to use menhaden as bait, you prefer the fish to be about three inches in length.  Any smaller and most fish will pass them by with nary a look.  Much larger and the fish find it difficult to swallow.  The two caught today were...ummm...a tad large. They were each almost a foot long!  In fact, I pretty much could have cleaned and fried these two!  Not that I would have simply because menhaden are considered bait and not food.  In fact, even though the fish would not kill you, they are not a desirable food fish.  If not eaten immediately, the flesh gets mushy and the oils rancid.  Menhaden tend to decay rather quickly and I am not fond of eating rotten, slushy fish.  This is the reason Pop always called the extra large menhaden "Slops".  Leave them dead long in the bottom of your boat and you will see why this descriptive name is fitting.  They get rather putrid.

  These menhaden were two of a bunch that were visiting the area this afternoon.  As I stood on the pier, I could seen hundreds of the oversized "minnows" swimming below me.  It has been a weird fishing week as some days, nary a fish can be found then the next there are dozens.  Perhaps this latest bit of "no good fishing days" is a way to keep me indoors and make me get that decorating finished for Christmas.  Yep, I would rather be fishing!