Animated GIF Thread 2019

Exactly, the water clarity is everything. I would mainly go on a feeder river to the Illinois, and would wait until later in the summer when the river calmed down and the water was super clear. You would be able to see bottom almost everywhere other than the channel. We would camp out all night, pound booze, and walk upstream to set them. I would either seine minnows or use chicken liver cut in half, baited on circle hooks and then dried in the sun to make it reek and harden on the hook. Going upstream was vital for doing them by wading, that way your milk jug marker bouy floated down to you and you wouldn't get tangled up. We would bait them up on a beach or sandbar strung out, and then just walk them in place next to down trees or whatever.

Everything was homemade using rope for the mainline and stringline for the drops, simply tied in a loop and then girth hitched on. Steel circle hooks so they will rust away if you need to leave a hook on, never use stainless. The circle hook is best because it guarantees a mouth catch, in the corner, everytime. The anchors were welded up steel scrap with an eye even lol. When checking the lines, you would simply walk back upstream, grab the bouy, and as you got to the fish you simply lowered them into a jumbo fish basket and cut the line with a knife, which would be easily retrieved later when dressing.

Turtles were fun, but honestly were often cut free because i was too drunk for that shit lol. We would also catch a ton of longnose gar, which we released too. Years later on a shutdown i got talking to another hillbilly fitter, who clued me in on the fact that the gar were better eating than the catfish! Apparently you take tin snips (i would imagine dedicated ones just for this) and go in their eye, cutting down the back. Then you can fillet them out, and when fried it tastes just like alligator. I haven't had the chance to try this out again, but next time i go I'll have to try it.

It's been years, a decade or more since I've gone out. We used to do them with canoes too, always fun doing that at night often with a healthy buzz on :lol: I wanna try cooking up some of the Asian carp we have here, apparently they are the number one harvested fish on the planet by a very very large margin. Very firm white meat, like cod or tilapia, and since they eat plankton there's very little pollutants. I've had them before, pretty tasty. Up here they will literally just jump in the boat, but i want to try cast netting them too. I've done the bow and arrow thing while they jump, once again usually too "hydrated" for that! Glory days flashback over :lol:
 
@Steve Mack yeah if you are running trotlines you would catch a ton of them. They are very slender but are up to a couple feet long, so there's enough there to make it worthwhile. The carp issue here is insane, the Illinois river that runs through peoria (where i live) is pretty much ground zero for the invasion. Father north on the Illinois they have electric barriers to keep them out of lake michigan, but downstate they are everywhere. They grow very large here, it's been years since i was on the river all the time but the average is over 20 to 30 pounds, and i doubt they are smaller. This footage is literally in my hometown here, it's nuts how bad they've ruined use of the river. Hell even the sound of my sailboat with its swing keel and cable will get them jumping. I have a 20 foot bass boat with a 200 Yamaha on the back that i won't even take out there, the risk of getting hit in the face by a 30 pound fish at 65 mph isn't worth it.

 
get
 
I no longer think a backpack blower is cool now, thx lol. I assume some company values it's workers that much? Obviously European.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

rbtree
Jerry B's Tree House Project -- a Blast From the Past
Replies
22
Views
3K
MasterBlaster
MasterBlaster
Back
Top