Nine Catfish, One Stingray, One Trout and a Big Lizard!

   Early this morning, I caught a few menhaden so Mark and I could go fishing.  The end of the pier is my choice of fishing spots as it is convenient.  If the fish are not biting, I can simply head back to the gardens to work.  This morning, however, we were determined to catch some hardhead catfish to use as crab bait.  It was not long before the fish started biting and I was pulling in one catfish after another. Suddenly, the pull bent downward and the drag started humming.  I knew I had something a bit larger than a hardhead. One nice gafftopsail (catfish) was hauled to the pier.  Then, another good pull and a stingray was flopped onto the pier.  That could be used as crab bait, as well!  At one point, Mark was swishing around in the bait bucket to hand me a minnow, when I heard his line going out like crazy!  I grabbed the pole and pulled in a small trout.  Well...maybe our lunch?  Catfish continued to bite until I had to head back to chores.  All in all, it was a good morning!

  As I walked back up to the pier, I became exasperated.  In the edge of the marsh was a large piece of plastic.  Since it was out of reach, I grabbed my reel and tossed the hook over the edge of the plastic.  The hook slid around and caught hold of an attached rope.  Smooth sailing!  The plastic sheet easily came to the pier.  I picked it up and had to start giggling.  After all of those fish, I had now caught a "Big Lizard"!  It seems this was one of those "boogie boards" or "wake boards" that I have seen young folks using.  (Not sure on either of those terms.)  Anyway, the name printed on the top was "Big Lizard"!  I wonder where that came from? It sort of fit...maybe?  I went from fishing to the garden and caught a big lizard?  Anyway, the morning was fun and now...beautiful rain!  Hopefully, it will rain all night and end this dreadful drought!

Not What I Wanted At All!

  I have a hankering for some good fresh fish so what was there to do but head to the pier.  Things looked promising as I could see a small redfish breaking along the shoreline as it was chasing little mullet.  I just needed to catch some bait and wait for a strike.  Redfish would make a grand meal!

  As luck would have it, bait was hard to come by this morning.  Finally after about a dozen throws of the net, two little mullet were in the bucket.  Well, little was pushing it as these were a good six inches in length.  It was going to be a large fish to take that bait but I baited the hook, tossed the line and settled in for a bit.  It was a good while before I noticed the line easing out.  Picking up the rod, I waited. That was the slowest fish ever!  Well, I figured I would ease back on the line a wee bit to see what was happening on the other end.  Goodness!  It felt as if I had a log!  Reeling in what was dead weight was not an easy task.  There was no fighting, no pulling back...just dead weight.  Yup!  When I got it to the surface, I had just what I figured...a snapping turtle.  Ugh!  Now what!  As I sat there pondering, the turtle regurgitated that whole six inch long mullet with the hook intact.  Whew!  That was easier than I expected.  The mullet looked a good bit worse for wear but I rehooked it and tossed it back out.  

  After a bit, wham!  Ok, so that acted a bit more like my redfish!  When I pulled back to set the hook, the fish busted the top of the water and rolled just like a red would do.  Now, we were talking!!!  For the next ten minutes, I battled my fish and was so sure that I had supper on the other end of that line!  Finally, the fish was near the pier and I could see what I had hooked.  Nope...not a red.  A HUGE gafftopsail catfish was on the hook.  Oh, geez!  That is something I did not need.  Well, best scoop that thing and unhook it.  Yep, a twenty-four inch long, almost eight pound catfish lay flopping on the pier.  Slime was being slung everywhere!  As soon as the fish settled down, I retrieved my hook, picked up the fish and tossed it back into the water.  Fishing was done for the day.  My hunger for fresh fish did not include a slimy catfish.  Maybe I will have better luck tomorrow!

Wow! Just Wow!

  This morning, Mark and I headed to the pier.  It was a beautiful day and he just knew the fish would be biting.  He threw out several baits (all we could catch) then picked up the net to catch a mess of mullet.  If you can't catch fish one way, there is always an alternate method!  After catching about twenty mullet, he started to clean the fish.  I headed back to the Little Bayou House to fetch the minnow trap to catch bait. While I was gone, he caught the "Big One"!  

  He knew he had caught a catfish but without looking at what kind it was, he made the comment that it was "the biggest catfish I have ever caught!"  We are accustomed to catching hardhead catfish from the pier.  These are deemed useless for anything except crab bait.  We usually cut the fish and fill the bait boxes of the crab traps but I am sure glad he refrained from cutting this one!  I looked over to see that he caught a huge freshwater catfish!  In fact, the fish was twenty-eight inches long and weighed in just a tad under ten pounds! While this may not be a record-breaking fish by most standards, it is surely the largest freshwater catfish taken from our pier!  What a great catch!

  Mark cleaned the catfish then caught another three dozen or so mullet.  All in all, it was a good day for fishing.  We had a nice lunch of fried fish, gave my brother a full plate of fried fish to take home with him and brought enough fish for two meals to our elderly friends.  We have always felt that sharing the catch assures that our blessings will be repeated in the future and catching fat fish like this one sure makes it easy to have enough to bestow upon others.   

Dutiful Dad!

  We all hear about how the male seahorse carries the eggs and little ones in a pouch but, most of the time, we never hear about a dutiful dad who does an even more remarkable feat.  The Gafftopsail Catfish is a "mouth-breeder".  The male fish carries the fertilized eggs in his mouth for the entire time it takes the eggs to hatch.  This is quite the undertaking as the fish can be carrying around 50 marble-sized eggs at a time!  Think about that one for a minute, here!  For the 65 days that it takes those eggs to hatch, poor, old Dad cannot swallow!  The male fish does not eat for the entire time that he is carrying the eggs!  Once the eggs hatch and the little fish swim out of his mouth, they will seek refuge there any time there is danger nearby for approximately two weeks.  Ok, so the eggs hatch, a bunch of little, 2 inch long fish swim about eating and growing until they are 4 inches long BUT, if danger lurks nearby, they all scoot right back into Dad's mouth!  This sound incredible enough but usually Dad is a fish that is usually less than 20 inches long, himself!  Now go figure!

  The seahorse get all the fame and glory and our catfish simply goes about doing his fatherly duties without complaint.  To my way of thinking, the Gafftopsail Catfish should be voted Father of the Year of the critter world!  He goes above and beyond just to assure that his little ones are safe.  Personally, I have new-found respect for the fish usually dubbed as "trash fish".  By the way, the one in the photo is a tiny one that I caught this morning.  It could not have been hatched for long as it was a mere 6 inches in length!  Little fishy...go back in the water and be safe!  No more biting baits that are on a hook!

Is That Bait?

  The other day, Mark and I were fishing on the pier.  While we were in hopes to catch a few fish for our lunch, we were also trying to catch "trash" fish to use as crab bait.  The crab pots were empty and, well, to catch crabs, you have to entice them to go into the traps in the first place.  So any fish we caught would be put to good use.  The first few bites we got were pointless nibbles.  The small fish would hit and miss.  Small nips were taken but not the good "run with it" type bites that result in a setting of the hook.  It appeared that it was to be a slow day fishing.

  Then, my line started going out at a nice pace.  This looked better!  I set the hook and landed a nice sized hard-head catfish.  This was not good for our lunch but the crabs would at least dine well!  After a bit. Mark caught a fish.  I had to tease him a bit because his was a tiny gaff-topsail fish.  "Is that your bait?" I ragged him.  Laughing, he agreed that the tidbit of a fish could very well be used as bait.  After a few photographs, the tiny tot was tossed back into the water and told to grow a bit before coming back!

  It seems that the Bay is full of these tiny gaff-topsails and tiny catfish.  It makes you wonder just how these little ones survive out there with no protection from adult fish.  We humans are so protective of our little ones that it is hard to fathom how other creatures have no maternal/paternal feelings whatsoever for their offspring.  In the wild, there are a lot of critters that would dine upon their own young if given the chance.  The recognition of offspring is just not there.  It is especially so with fish and reptiles.  Those little ones had better move along when it comes to meeting the folks.  

Another Plea to "Just Don't"

  Ok, so I am usually pretty tolerant of people.  (Notice that I did not say folks here. Folks do not bother me.  People do.)  I can accept their opinions.  I can deal with their quirkiness.  I am usually ok with whatever people choose to do as long as it does not affect me.  You do your thing.  I do mine.  We get along fine.  BUT....but occasionally, people irk me to no end and I have to call them on the error of their ways...even if it is a public plea that falls on deaf ears.  I will have said my piece and then I let it go.   This post is one of those public pleas.

  The other day, Mark and I were trying to catch some hardhead catfish to use as crab bait.  There is this unsaid rule about the Bayou that we do not kill anything that we cannot use is some way.  The catfish are considered to be "trash" or "nuisance" fish by most folks but I still insist that they have a right to live...unless, of course, we use them for something.  In this case, if you want to catch crabs, you need bait and it seems that crabs have a penchant for catfish.  So, catfish are caught, cut and used in the crab pots.  If you recall, I recently had a rant about someone putting a fish clip through the gills and out the mouth of a catfish then released it.  The poor catfish was suffering so much with that clip attached to it that Mark worked diligently to remove the clip without hurting the fish any more than it already was.  The fish was then released as we figured it had already suffered far more than it should have.  But, another catfish brings today's rant.  This one was being cut for crab bait when Mark realized that it stomach held something a tad strange.  Something hard and blue was embedded in the fish's gut.  He removed the object to find that the catfish had swallowed a beer bottle cap.    That cap would have created just as many problems as the aforementioned clip.  The fish could not digest food and pass any excrement due to the beer cap causing a blockage.  The fish suffered. Yes, before someone throws it at me that we killed the fish, it is far more humane to kill things instantly to be used as food or, in our case, to catch food than it is to do something stupid that causes suffering.  The blockage would have caused a slow, painful death.

  Now, people!  Use a bit of commonsense!  Why pollute the waters with any objects such as this???  These are the same waters that you fish in, boat on and swim in so why would you toss your trash overboard?  Are you that stupid that you cannot understand what you are doing?  Sure, this was one beer bottle cap but it caused suffering.  And, my (not) friends, you are probably one of the whiners that complains about the waters of the Gulf Coast being polluted yet you find it ok to toss your trash overboard.  Not so smart.  So...just don't.  It is the law to have a covered container with you to hold your trash so it can be disposed of properly.  Throwing it in the water is not proper disposal.  Sometimes, I wish I could smack people up side the head and maybe knock some sense into them.  Yeah, I know...I know...but things like this really irk me. Sometimes, I really do not like people.

Sometimes I Do Not Like People!

  Sometimes, I just do not like people.  Not folks.  I like folks.  Folks are those kindhearted, generous, understanding ones in your life who try to do right by others.  People, on the other hand, are those who don't give a rat's tail about how they treat others.  I repeat...sometimes, I just do not like people.

  This afternoon while we were on the pier, I caught a catfish.  While there is nothing unusual about that, I quickly noticed that something was amiss.  The poor catfish was suffering.  Yep, we will use catfish as crab bait but we kill them quickly and do not let them suffer and we never kill anything needlessly.  But...this poor fish had been maltreated by somebody.  Obviously, someone caught the fish then decided that the fish needed to be on a stringer.  The clip was placed through the gill and out the mouth.  Granted, what happened next may have been purely by accident but somehow the catfish got away with the clip still attached.  

  Obviously, this happened some time ago as the clip was now embedded, not only in the fish's mouth but even in its side.  Where the clip pressed against the side of the fish, there was a great indentation.  The side of its mouth was bloody and sore from the clip rubbing against the skin.  With the clip snapped in the locked position, there was no way for the fish to ever escape this slow and very painful death.  

  Yeah, like I said earlier, we will kill a fish for food or for bait but never let one needlessly suffer.  My heart went out to that poor, old hardhead catfish.  The fish was unhooked and Mark carefully removed the clip.  He tried not to tear the fish's skin any more than necessary to remove the embedded clip. As we held the fish, it seemed to know that we were trying to help it.  Not once did it try to flip around and stab us with its sharp fins.  After a few photos, I gently let the fish back into the water.  It seemed mightily grateful for our efforts to help.  I can only imagine how much easier the catfish's life will be now. 

  It is people who do things like this that I do not like.  There was no earthly reason to stick that stupid clip into the fish.  My goodness!  If you wish to keep the fish, use a bucket or, at least, be careful not to release the fish with that horrid thing still attached.  Whoever did this rates right along up there with the wannabe fishermen who use 5 lb test line with a steel leader and huge cork.  I have caught many a fish with the rig still attached to them.  Pulling that cork around eventually kills the fish.  People....use commonsense!  No wonder I do not like you!  You cannot fix stupid.

Dead Fish Falling From the Sky

  Sometimes it pays to keep a watchful eye on your surroundings.  Other than the obvious threat of stepping on a cottonmouth while traipsing about the marsh, I usually feel relatively safe here on the Bayou.  With it being wintertime, even the threat of a snake is nil.  I do, however, worry about the old dog, Mr. PJ.  He is not accustomed to the hazards that come with living "in the wild".  So...I keep a watchful eye out for his safety.  He is great as protection...when he is aware of his surroundings but with age, his senses have dulled a bit and he often overlooks things.  Just today, that became apparent.

  I have always trained the dogs to do their "business" way down near the marsh on the east side of the property.  Here, there are two possible trails and the dogs have always preferred the lower one.  This way, I do not have to worry about a misstep into "their" territory.  My moccasins stay clean!  I usually just tell the dogs to "go down the hill" and do not have to lead them.  This has always worked in the past as it frees me from having to have a leash for the dogs and, also, gives the dogs a bit of "privacy" for their daily business trips.  Periodically, I do a check on the lower path just to make sure no potential hazards have popped up....or in today's case....plopped down.  

  I meandered down the lower path only with intentions of photographing a baby raccoon that was feeding on the mudflats. The little rascal scampered as soon as I neared the site so I decided to do my "path check", instead.  It is a good thing that I did.  That little raccoon could have inadvertently saved Mr. PJ, the dog, a good bit of pain.  The remains of a large catfish were sitting with the spine poking straight up.  Had the dog blindly been running down the path, he could have possibly stepped right on that spine.  There is nothing worse than getting one of those barbed fins stuck in your flesh and this one was a good four inches long.  That poor dog would have had an immediate emergency trip to the vet!  Obviously, an osprey had caught the catfish and carried it to the top of the tall pine along the edge of the path.  Here, the bird feasted but then dropped the hard head with fin intact.  The head fell with the dorsal fin sticking up like an arrow.  That fin and the pectoral fins are the ones that will do damage if they puncture flesh.  

  While it was about as nasty as things can get, I gingerly picked up the fish head by the dorsal fin and tossed it far out into the marsh.  There, Mr. PJ will never step on it.  Sometime during the night, I am positive that an otter or raccoon will make short work of the osprey's leftovers.  What bothers me most is that if the osprey has chosen this spot as its main roost, there will be more fish remains plopping down on that lower path.  This means that I will have to do daily checks instead of weekly or Mr. PJ may just have to choose to use the upper path as his bathroom.  We shall see.

"The Greedy Fish"

  "Its mine!  Its mine!  Its mine!  All of them are mine!", thought the catfish that lived in the Bay.  "Its mine!  I want this minnow and this minnow and this minnow.   I can eat them all and grow up to be as big as my daddy.  Its mine!  One more! Oooh!  There is another.  I shall eat it, too."  The greedy fish ate and ate and ate.  Then, the unthinkable happened.  The greedy catfish's gluttony got the best of him.  Two...yes, two of the minnows that he ate contained hooks.  These two minnows were fishing baits and the greedy catfish gulped them down along with the other minnows.  Now, he was in trouble.  The catfish was pulled this way and that.  Two fishermen (or one fisherwoman, in this case!  Me!) thought they had hooked two different fish.  They reeled and reeled almost competing with each other.  At first, the fishermen thought that their lines had become tangled but the realization that they were catching the same fish soon became apparent.

  Yep, we did.  Mark and I set out fishing early this morning.  Before I got to the pier, he had already landed a nice trout and a beautiful redfish. We were excited about perhaps catching enough fish to share with our elderly friends so we kept tossing out the baits.  Then, both lines went out at the same time.  We both fought our fish only to soon realize that we were landing the same fish.  The catfish obviously bit Mark's bait first then went on to pick up mine.  This was a first for us!  Never before have we had this happen!  The fish had been double hooked. 

  Lucky for the fish, after a few photographs, Mark carefully removed the hooks and tossed the fish back into the water.  I can only imagine the stories that fellow is telling to his friends deep down under the water.  Perhaps he learned his lesson and will not be quite so greedy in the future! Strange things happen on the Bayou.

Does this count? Fish lassoing!

   Mark and I have been up before dawn each morning in hopes of catching a few fish before the sun gets too hot.  Summer has hit the Bayou and it is not playing nicely.  But, the fishing has been "fair to middling" as of late and the best time to cast a line is at daybreak.  Mark heads out in the small skiff to "catch the big ones" while I stay on the pier where I can mend crab traps while watching my lines.  The crab traps have been taking a beating from otters and alligators so my tending them while fishing works well.  If I catch a flounder or trout, it is delightful but even an old hard-head catfish will suffice as those are used as crab bait.  I am forever watchful for that tug on my line.


  Things were going well this morning.  I had repaired one trap and was cutting wires for another when I noticed my line spinning out of the reel.  When I jerked back with the rod, I felt a good tug.  Yep, this fish was pulling hard and perhaps was a bit larger than the previous ones.  Excitement was beginning to build!  Then the fish was hauled onto the pier.  This was no larger than any of the others but it was a lot stranger.  Well, the fish was not too strange but my method of catching it was quite odd!  Even though the catfish had the bait minnow in its mouth, the hook was no where near embedded in the jaw of the fish.  I had, more or less, lassoed my fish!  The line had wrapped around the fish and the hook snagged back on the line making a nice, efficient "slipknot". The more the fish tugged, the tighter the knot became around its tummy.  

  I looked at the poor fish dangling on the end of my line and had to giggle.  You, my fine friend, will live another day.  Go tell your grandkids how you survived the battle with a rod and reel and lived to tell the tale.  I carefully untangled the fish and plopped it back in the water.  Away swam the happy fish none the worse for wear with nary a mark on him!

  My question...does this even count as fishing?  Since I did not actually hook the catfish, can I really say that I caught him or should I just relate the tale of how a fish became entangled in my line.  At least. this is probably the best method ever for catch and release!   Lasso your fish!  There is no need for those sharp, pointy hooks!

What a catch!

  It is a sad state of affairs when I cannot even catch a fish large enough for a meal!  This evening, as usual, I headed to the pier to catch a few mullet for the injured heron.  While there, I thought that I might as well try to catch my supper, too.  A few shrimp were the only things I saw that resembled food.  Well, perhaps as bait those few could be turned into something larger.  While I waited for the heron, I baited my hook and tossed the line in the water near the shore.  I had high hopes of snagging a redfish!  Well, it did not happen!  As matter of fact, nothing happened!  The bird did not show, I did not catch mullet nor did I catch my supper.  My catch of the day consisted of one teeny-tiny Gafftopsail!  This wee bit of a catfish was not much larger than my bait! How in the world did it completely swallow the shrimp?

  It seems that this is a prolific year for catfish of all sorts.  I have caught more tiny, baby catfish this year than any other that I can remember.  This is not the only strange catch of the season. Shrimp..large shrimp..very large shrimp filled the Bay this past month. Every fall, we usually catch a few shrimp but never the size of the ones this year.  Each evening, I spent several hours throwing the net and filling my freezer with the beautiful, white shrimp!  When Mark was home, he would go out in the boat and throw the net.  Between the two of us, we caught buckets full of the delectable critters!  Our freezer is filled to capacity!  There will be plenty of fine eats for us come this winter! Gumbo, jambalaya, po-boys...you name it, it will be served!  

  If I cannot catch a fish, I definitely am not complaining about the shrimp.  There will be plenty of lazy days ahead that can be spent hooking a redfish but shrimp are here only for a short while.  The usual catchphrase around here is "Catch 'em while the catchin's good!"  

 

Fish Tale

  My evenings, as of late, are spent down on the pier.  There, I cast the net for shrimp while fishing for redfish.  This evening, the fishing was nil so I concentrated on catching shrimp.  These are large, fine shrimp and will make nice meals come this winter.  While tossing the net, I noticed that not only was I catching shrimp but also a variety of fish. This evening, the "fish" catch included..one trout, one mullet, two croakers, seven pinfish and a myriad of catfish.  I do not mind catching most fish in the net but those catfish are a nuisance!  The sharp fins catch into the net and make it nigh on impossible to shake the fish from the net.  They have to be plucked by hand making a poke almost inevitable.  

  Most of the catfish tonight, were tiny..very, very tiny! The first one that was hung up in the net was about four inches long.  "That is the tiniest catfish that I have seen in a long while!" I thought to myself.  Then another even tinier fish was netted.  This one did not even reach the three inch mark!  Ok, so THAT is the tiniest catfish that I have ever seen!  

  Just a few weeks ago, the large catfish came schooling into the Bay to spawn.  Thousands of catfish filled the area and now even more little ones are here.  Every toss of the net gave evidence of the quantity of little fishes.  For three hours, I handpicked the little critters from my net and tossed them back into the water. I had to be careful as I have found that these tiny catfish are usually the ones that will stab you with their fins!  That is painful enough but now with the flesh-eating bacteria floating about in the waters, extreme care needs to be taken.  Every evening after shrimping, crabbing and fishing, I soak my hands in a cleansing remedy and then apply an antibiotic remedy for good measure.  One can never be too careful with these matters!  Tonight, I was fortunate.  I did not get finned by the catfish AND I caught a good many shrimp!